We hear that Screech will be continuing alone today. They have some more urgent family matters to deal with up north and as such they feel the need to make wakes. We are anticipating that we'll be able to catch up with them somewhere either around Norfolk or NYC so all the best to them on this leg of their trip.

Well, as for us, at first we were going to be staying for 4 or 5 days, then we weren't and were going to be heading out with Screech and as of 17h00 this evening, we are back with plan A the 4 or 5 days here. What happened was really an adventure. It began with JD, the mechanic, a really great guy, by the way, coming to the boat and noticing that much of the bolts holding the heat exchange to the engine were pretty old and he was worried about getting it off. As it turned out his worries were justified and one of the bolts just wouldn't move for him and he didn't want to continue for feat of breaking something. Instead, he recommended the Perkins dealer in Charleston and even put me in touch with his contact there and we had an appointment for Tuesday. Suddenly our plans were to continue with Screech as far as Charleston, but when we started the engine I noticed that the alternator wasn't charging and I remembered that at one point when he was trying to get the heat exchanger off JD had shorted one of the terminals on the alternator. So, we called him and back he came to test the circuit. It turned out that it was defunct and we took it off. The local electric fellow that he uses locally wasn't available so we couldn't get a complete diagnosis but from the symptoms it looked like the regulator had been damaged, but we could know for sure. I asked him if we could get a replacement alternator and then we could get this one fixed and used as a spare. He called the dealer in Charleston and they can get us a replacement for about $350 by noon on Monday, so we are back to plan B - staying at the dock here for a couple more days. JD was pretty good about it, but if I say so, so was I. It was an accident that could have happened to anyone so I am paying for the parts and he is providing the labour to make it right. I felt that is pretty fair.

Tonight is Dock Roast and we have a couple of steaks in a marinade and I have made a garlic bread to contribute to the party. There is another tomorrow that we will be doing hamburgers for but for tonight this is our first exposure to this party for which the marina is apparently famous.