Kaimusailing

Geoff and I worked on the Honda CRV, which stands for Constant Repair Vehicle, and eventually got the suspension fixed, but there was still a persistent Check Engine Light and the vehicle going into LIMP mode. In the past the CEL would be cleared by using a product called Cataclean to clear an O2 sensor problem. Now it was something else, the car would not shift higher than 3rd gear, the speedometer stayed at zero, cruise control was unavailable, I found out that this was LIMP mode, designed to protect the engine and transmission when it sensed that there was a problem internally.
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The car worked normally after the suspension strut repair. I was ready for our trip down to Ormond Beach, FL. Only about 2 ½ hours, they say. I left in the morning, leaving extra time in case the CEL and LIMP mode affected us. They did.
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The Check Engine Light came on and the car went into LIMP mode as soon as I went forward with it to get out of the boatyard. I had a plan if that happened to keep on the local slower roads. I made it to RT17 instead of the Big Road, I-95. The speedometer stayed at zero but the tachometer was operative and I figured out that we were at 30 MPH when the tach was at 3000 RPM, so I could use that to estimate my speed.
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We went down RT17 as if going to Amelia Island, but continued, ending up going on I-95 through Jacksonville, traffic was slow and we were not slowing anyone else down. It was like driving to St Augustine on RT1, which we ended up on, but we kept on. Kept on keeping on. Engine light on. See that old guy driving below the speed limit, have pity on him.
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I ended up upping my limit to 4000 rpm and keeping in the right lane following a pickup truck with some loose cargo. They were going slow and I was following. I could blame them. It’s not me and the Constant Repair Vehicle, it’s them, that pickup truck. Then they exited. I was the slow one.
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I wondered if I was wrecking the transmission on the CRV. They say not to do what I am doing. I took an Ormand Beach exit and ended up driving down the beach after crossing the Halifax River. Halifax River is the ICW and I had come through here some time ago on a yacht delivery. I was looking for the Chateau Mar Beach Resort now, not an anchorage.
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The hotel came up on the left and I drove in.
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My daughter, son in law, and most importantly, grandson, arrived while I was up in the suite looking down on the parking lot. I was evaluating all the cars, which was the most derelict, which was the most luxurious, the CRV was, you know, not the most luxurious, then a nice white BMW rolled in. How nice, my phone rang, it was my son in law, we’re here, no, it can’t be, yes, they rolled in with a BMW rental and I went down to greet them and ended up helping them schlep up tons of gear. The baby needs a lot of stuff.
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The reaction of them when they saw the suite was, as I expected, wondering where the furniture was, no furniture.
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When I booked the 2 room suite at Chateau Mar, I did it through Priceline and jumped at the chance for a 2 room suite on the beach at Ormond Beach at a 3 ½ star hotel. To get a deal like this Priceline will not name the hotel and the booking is nonrefundable.
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After I booked I was able to identify the hotel and look at the amenities. It looked great with a pool, beautiful rooms with water views, really great. Then I began reading the reviews.
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Strangely there were a lot of 5 star reviews but also a lot of 1 star reviews, and 1 is as low as you can go. I began reading them and became concerned. Some said don’t believe the photos or the 3 ½ star rating. Concerns included cockroach infestations, rooms with no mirror in the bathroom, bathroom door punched in, grimy floors, stained bedding, no chairs or tables in the room, doors that won’t lock, doors that won’t latch, no phone to the front desk, no one at the front desk after 8PM, groups of partying druggies, loud at night, loud motorcycles. And here I was booking for the week following Daytona Bike Week, and the week I was booking was Spring Break.
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So, it is important for me to give my own review and what I think is really going on at that hotel.
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My first impression was that the facade and entrance to the internal parking lot was impressive, columns, tiled driveway, looked the part of a 3 ½ star hotel. I checked in about a half hour earlier than scheduled with no problem with the staff. It seemed like the staff was very busy and occupied, but I had my keys to the room and I went up to see it. On the 3rd floor.
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There is a small elevator, but large enough for about a half dozen people or maybe a couple of staff with a cart and it took 15 seconds for it to climb from floor 1 to floor 3. The room was a short distance from the elevator and provided a view of the Atlantic Ocean and some nice surf.
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The room had two bedroom spaces, a living area space, and of course a bathroom and a nook with a full sized refrigerator. There was a microwave oven and a small coffee maker. They were situated on top of the fridge. Each of the two beds had a flat screen tv and an end table. The only other furniture was a small patio table and two chairs outside on the balcony. The floor was large tile and was not super clean. Anyone who walked into the suite with their shoes on would leave beach sand etc. I do believe the staff mops each room or suite when they turn them over, but I don’t think they provide any maid service, although if you ask them for anything you can probably get it. I was paying for a two room suite for less than half of what a lot of other hotels were charging for a single room. But I got what I paid for.
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The sunset view was marvelous. We had great weather, not quite warm enough to go jump in the ocean, for me, but there were a few who did, no spring break
crowds, a couple of bikers, some motorcycle noise from the local streets.
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The bathroom was a perfectly normal motel bathroom, a little threadbare here and there, but in good shape with good flow of water, hot and cold.
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The main street here is bleak, but we are not here to see that, we are here to see the beach, that is the 5 star view.
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At some point I asked my daughter how she would rate the hotel and she said “1”.
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3 and 4 star hotels have gyms, spas, maybe a restaurant, room service, laundry facilities, but not this one. It is not a 3 ½ star hotel, at this time. At some point when I was down to the car I was asked to move it for a truck to enter. I asked jokingly if it was our furniture. It was furniture.
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My guess is that this hotel was purchased after storm damage and is under renovation and maybe considering recent years of storm damage on the Florida coast, maybe renovation is a never ending thing. Perhaps another storm will come through and the suites will need new furniture again. The staff said internet and wifi have been out of action for 6 months after a storm last Fall.
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It looks like the hotel is offering cut rate rooms and slowly completing their renovation with what money they have. Staff said there are two suites complete, two that are bare, and ones like ours that are half complete. He said maybe in two months, July?, all suites will have all their basic furniture.
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What we did was add a folding table from Walmart and a couple of camping chairs. We weren’t there to hang around in a hotel room anyway. It worked out, not luxurious, but Spartan.
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All I can say about our stay is that my grandson is a gem of a kid, just a little tot, learning how to crawl and trying to verbalize. Charming. He waves at me and smiles, I tickle him.
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We had excellent food at the local restaurants. We put-put golfed at Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf, very recommended. My grandson enjoyed it while we played through, developing a thirst. Next door was Riley’s Coney House. Hot dogs and more. Really good.
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I was cajoled into going to Charlie Horse, right down the street. Excellent choice. Lots of kids. Grandson in his high chair interacting.
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He seems to attract other kids and also adults. He’s going to be a troublemaker soon. Charming, and going to take apart everything he gets his hands into.
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Other activities included the boardwalk at Daytona Beach, hiking at Ormond Beach Environmental Center, and hiking at Tomoka State Park. The state park reminded me of Crooked River up in Georgia. I was bushed by all the hiking.
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The next day I disconnected the battery on the CRV to clear the Check Engine Light and maybe get it to run properly and not go into LIMP mode. The engine light did not remain cleared for long, as soon as the car rolled forward it came on.
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To drive the car any distance in LIMP mode can lead to mechanical damage. I needed to keep the car down slow, at 3000 RPM’s or less. I planned a return route to the boatyard along slower roads, like the beach roads. We had a long way to go, so I pored over the street maps on Google all the way up the coast from Ormond Beach, FL, to St Marys, GA. There were a couple of sections where the slower beach roads weren’t available and there I had to go more inland and try not to get onto I-95, basically an 80 MPH road.
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I could drive along the beach up through Ormond by the Sea, Flagler Beach, Hammock, Fort Matanzas, and on into St. Augustine. There I had to cross a bridge to Ponte Vedra where the golf Players Championship was underway. The traffic there was thick and slow.
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Most of the way was very pleasant driving, stuck in 3rd due to LIMP mode, going along at about 35-45 mph. In some places I was holding up traffic and pulled off. I found I wasn’t really holding anyone up much at all, except on the faster sections.
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I planned to go North from Ponte Vedra to Mayport near Jacksonville, take the little ferry there and proceed on A1A onto Amelia Island and then take RT17 to St Marys Road, the rest being local driving to the boatyard.
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At some point I manually put the transmission into D3 mode to try to help it from self destruction. In LIMP mode the car is trying to shift gears, etc., with the caveat that some of the sensors are bad, so whatever algorithms they are using to manage the engine and transmission are going to use stock generic values. It’s as if the car’s AI has gone dead.
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After the ferry ride, which was very nice and not too long, I refueled and the speedometer began working again, although the transmission would not upshift when I took it out of D3. Then a while later it shifted with a bang noise and the car was operating normally. It didn’t make much difference in my rate of progress, these roads were slow, that’s why I chose them. Still, I was making very good time. I needed to shop for food, the boat was empty.
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I went to the Walmart at Amelia Plaza and found it had very few groceries. I went up the road to Yulee and shopped at a much larger Walmart. I was looking for langostinos. Unfortunately they didn’t have them there. I settled for shrimp as a replacement for the Trader Joe’s Langostino Bisue Pasta recipe. Try saying that 3 times fast.
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I arrived in St Marys with the car operating normally and picked up a car part at the post office. This was the output shaft speed sensor, a likely culprit in the Check Engine Light problem, but the other sensor, the input shaft sensor, was on its way from Jacksonville, and according to the post office, due to be delivered by 9PM tomorrow, Saturday, only the post office closes at noon. If the part wasn’t there early I wouldn’t be able to get it until Monday.
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I asked the clerk would I be able to pick it up before noon tomorrow and he nodded and said yeah, it should be here. I asked him if he wanted to bet on that and he laughed. It ended up not arriving.
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The image is of the full moon which later was total eclipse around 2AM. I got to see it.