Oh My!

Today's blog has a theme. Harken back, Dear Readers, to the tales of Charles Dickens. Let me begin today's story with - It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Follow along with me as I share our tales of happiness...and woe!

We had a great dinner last night. It was followed by a hot game of 500 rummy- which Peggy won.

The crew is convinced that I need to start doing blog entries on recipes. I take that to mean that last night's roast beef with cherries was a hit with the crew. On the other hand, I just keep coming in last in rummy. Everyone says you should play for the sheer enjoyment of the game. However, that enjoyment begins to vanish if you KEEP ending up last.

We are headed south, and it is getting warmer. It's raining, and we're melting.

One of the best things about heading south is that it does get warmer. This morning, it is already 75 degrees. At home, it's only 59 degrees. Here, we are wearing short sleeves. The down side is that it's humid. Everything is wet to the touch. At this point, Dear Readers, you are wondering why we don't run the air conditioner. 

LUX has more creature comforts than most boats. Creature comforts don't work without power.

Last night, it was not only humid but it was warm. Of course, it started raining. And, it plans to rain all day today. Here's the view from inside LUX this morning.

 So, you could not open the hatch to take advantage of the wind that was really blowing. Back to the air conditioner. We were anchored out in the South Edisto River. No electricity from a marina. Here, Dear Readers, you may feel free to ask about the generator. It's not working. And neither is the port engine- from whence the fuel for the generator is derived. It appears that we got some bad fuel along the way. Now, we need to have some fuel conditioning done. Mike did buy some 'Liquid Gold' for the tank. No, it' not really that. It's fuel conditioner that cost a fortune.

Speaking of engines - the starboard engine appears to not mind the bad fuel. The port engine is another story.

It appears that refueling was less on starboard than on port. Yes, we do have 2 tanks. However, the port engine was already cranky- as you might remember from an earlier blog. We do have a crack in the bell housing. In fact, here are some pictures- with my added comments.

Terry did find the part on eBay. Now, we just have to figure out how that part will be replaced. As you know, I do not speak engine. However, I can recognize a debate. This debate went back and forth between 'get a professional' and 'we'll just buy some comealongs' - both of which did not comfort my heart.

So, we continue to limp along south on one engine. We will try to get to LUX's winter home. But, we are coming up against Thanksgiving- another impact issue when it comes to the get a professional part of the debate. Stay tuned, Dear Readers.