Day 349: Going in Circles

New Smyrna Beach to Palm Coast Marina, Flagler, FL (docked)

December 30, 2022

Good thing we had a shorter trip today: we had two mechanical issues that required immediate intervention while we were moving. Once again, John is Mr. Fix-It Wizard but it has been a really long, trying day.

The George Musson Bridge opens on the hour and half hour. It’s just past the marina and we didn’t time it just right, so when we arrived we had to wait about 20 minutes. Normally John is able to sort of keep Lailia in place by alternating between forward and reverse, except today we “lost reverse.” As John went below to diagnose the issue, I had to circle Lailia while keeping her in the channel as we waited for the bridge to open.

Boat repairs are never really easy – things aren’t easily accessible. John knew what had to happen but he couldn’t remove a rusted screw, so he fashioned a fix using a pair of vise grips which he wired in place due to boat vibrations that could loosen them. Of course he had to do this on his hands and knees because this part of the transmission is really low and only accessed through a teeny panel.

A few hours later, an alarm went off. Lailia’s engine was overheating. John shut off the engine and had me take the helm – as if it’s actually possible to steer much when there’s no power. We were in a narrow channel of deep enough water and might have been okay until we got waked by a large powerboat which changed Lailia’s trajectory – we got turned sideways. John was down below changing the alternator/water pump belt as we started floating sideways around a channel marker and potentially into shallow water.

John managed to change the belt quickly and Poseidon kept us off the channel marker. I never want Lailia to get damaged and I especially don’t want to be at the helm if something nasty happens.

After a long, slow-moving day, we got to the Palm Coast Marina. We were given our slip assignment, a slip that’s adjacent to the fuel dock…where a boat was getting fuel. This time John got to make the loop as we went back into the ICW and circled around to give the marina time to clear the fuel dock.

We’re docked for the night in this tiny little marina. We’ve fueled up, done some laundry and disposed of our trash.

There’s some street noise here but our sound machine will take care of that. We have a shorter ride of 25 miles to St. Augustine tomorrow.