" When Pigs Fly"

We last wrote in mid October with me on the boat and Anna hugging grandkids in Missouri.  After a week or so in Columbus I rented a car and spent a weekend in Orlando visiting friends.  It was a long drive for a couple of days but it was great to see Mark and Sherry and get away from the water for a bit. 

Anna was due to return October 30^th but with the weather kicking up a little, compliments of Super-storm Sandy, we agreed she might delay her return a few days.  I picked her up at the airport in Birmingham Sunday afternoon (11/4/12) with the idea we would be back on the water Tuesday, (11/6/12). 

We were getting a few TV stations in Columbus, so we decided to stay over another day to watch the election results.  Just as well because I realized on Tuesday that we had a problem with the bilge blower.  I tried to troubleshoot that one myself but it didn’t take long to decide I needed some help.  The marina master/mechanic only took a few minutes to announce the good and bad news.  Good: although both blowers were toast it would be an easy and not-too-expensive fix.  Bad: we weren’t going to be leaving the dock on Wednesday.  He had to order parts.  He could get them in and installed the next day but the trip to Demopolis would take two long days so we’d wait to leave early Thursday morning. 

Thursday morning rolled around and we were up before dawn.  T, the marina master promised to be ready to gas us up around 6:30am so we could be ready and waiting for the lock down as early as possible.  It was cold when we were unhooking and I started the engines to let them warm up.  Once again, we had a little trouble keeping the port engine idling. I wasn’t too worried as it had run smoothly the three days between Aqua Harbor and Columbus.  My outlook would change as we tried to make our way to the gas dock.  Every time I tried to put the port engine in gear it died.  We finally limped to the gas dock on the starboard engine only. 

While we were taking on gas one of the mechanics played with the engine.  The bottom line seemed to be that there was still a problem with the carburetor.  Yes, the same port carburetor that was serviced at Aqua Harbor.

 

The mechanics had another gig and wouldn’t be available to work on the boat till later in the day.  There was some speculation among all of us about the chances that the problem would work itself out as the engine ran more and we debated the wisdom of moving on down the river.  I think I’ve mentioned before how I feel about those magic words, “maybe it will go away”.  We decided to stay and fix the problem.

With the mechanics away from the marina for the majority of the day, my frustration got the better of me and I ordered two rebuilt carburetors.  We haven’t had any issues yet with the starboard engine but I figure we might as well be proactive. That one isn't getting any younger.  They’ll be delivered tomorrow and we’ll get them installed.  With any luck, we’ll be back on the water Saturday.  The weather forecast for the weekend is excellent.  So, with a few more bucks invested, Demopolis, Mobile and eventually Marathon await us and we’ll get going as soon as we can. 

See ya on the water.