Sorry that I dashed off at the end of the last post without finishing or proofreading. I found some grammatical errors and fixed those, but there may be others I've missed. Just as most people won't go back to read the corrections, I find it difficult to reread and edit something that I've already put out there. I'm moving on.
Since I dumped the bad news and then left everyone hanging, I'll address that first. I couldn't write about it when we first learned about it or even for a few days afterwards, because I wanted to relate what a great time the first day was up to that point with appropriate perspective that included the good and bad as a package, because that's the way life goes.
It's insufficient to say that we were all very bummed about the breakdown. Chuck could hardly talk or just didn't want to, but everyone was a bit grouchy or just wanted to process the bad news on their own, and it completely ruined my ability to write about the good parts. Now that I am able to see beyond the bad news and reflect on the day and the trip so far as a whole, I can describe both the good and bad in their appropriate lights.
After recovering from the initial kick in the gut of the bad news, I jumped on the Internet and searched for service options for our steering system. I left phone messages at two nearby search results, but we also learned that Indiantown Marina is a "full service" marina, and their service department would be able to look at the problem on Monday and let us know what could be done about it. The reason I ran off this morning was to get to the service manager shortly after they opened and get on his calendar.
The service manager came down to survey the problem within 15 minutes of our visit, and he had a mechanic assigned to work it immediately after his visit. The mechanic returned a little after 8 and completed removal of the broken part a little after 9. And then the service manager came back to the boat to explain that the rebuild kit was out of stock at their supplier's but that a new unit that appeared to be a drop-in replacement could be picked up and at the boat Tuesday morning. I went for the replacement option.
That's where we are, waiting for the new part, for it to be installed, and then have the fluid in the system replaced, air bled out of the lines, steering checked, and then sent merrily on our way. I'm hopeful that all of that will occur in time for us to make the two-hour transit to the next lock before it closes at 5 PM. Once through the lock, we'll continue on the path I outlined earlier, possibly heading into the open sea sometime tomorrow night or early tomorrow morning. That's the optimist in me talking, and that's what I'm going with for now.
I've stories to tell from the trip to get here that I skipped over, and I need to list all that we've accomplished while we've been here at Indiantown, but I'll have to save that for later. When we weren't doing projects today, we were visiting with Nicole and the grandkids (thanks for coming by), Todd and I had father/son time, the four of us at once or different pairs of us had guy time, and that didn't leave much time for blogging. Now it's time to go to bed.
Be well.
Greg.
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