I'm not sure what Jim said before he left me this blank screen, but I'll start off with "sweet" Monday where I left off last. My sister Cyndi had left us a bag of great apples that we had been working on since the start of the trip, but they were past their "use by" date. I made up some apple crisp out of them, using packaged oatmeal, Splenda, cinnamon, and syrup, cooked in the boat's microwave/convection/baker/broiler/boiler/griller/smoker/warmer unit. (Pretend there is a photo of it HERE.) It was really pretty good, if I say so myself.
Tuesday we put on 117 serious miles, some going fast as there aren't a lot of places to stay around here because this spring's flooding took out many marinas. (It's nice to spend the night where we can plug in and get heat.) We docked at the Keokuk Yacht Club, a nice facility with a nearby fuel truck that will drive right down to the dock with bargain fuel prices. We were in heaven!
Then came "sour" Wednesday; the accounting of which was assigned to me because Jim doesn't want to replay it again. He was moving the boat from the fuel dock where we spent the night out in front of the facility and more convenient for the fuel truck driver. I was on this dock ready to catch the lines as he slowly approached, since it was a no-wake zone. (This next part is hard for me, too...) Suddenly the boat stopped, hard and quickly, the bow dipping sharply into the water in a way that could only mean that he had hit something big and hard. (I went over there to see what he had hit and promptly slid into the water, but that's another story.) Later investigation showed some bad vibrations coming from the port drive train, probably indicating damage to that prop and/or shaft. We then got fuel and limped down here on one engine to the Quincy Boat Club dock. (This paragraph has too many parentheses in it.)
This sounds like yet another long explanation of yet another unfortunate event occurring to yet another boat operator in a futile attempt to justify his/her mistake or inattention, doesn't it? But this happened in less than 4' of water right out in front of a dock where boaters came in and out for at least a whole season after the work was done on them. I'm going out on a limb and saying that someone at that facility has to have known about this obstruction. I can't see this incident could have been avoided. (Sally, my wife, said this sounds like just another day on a boat.)
So tomorrow we're off to Two Rivers Marina in Rockport, Il to get hauled out and fixed. We'll be right next to a casino and buffet and will keep you posted.
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1 comment:
That is not good news. Sounds like this was on the outside wall toward the Yacht Club house? We stayed on the inside, which is probably where you were overnight right? There was plenty of water in there when we were there, but we never had a reason to approach the dock on the river side, but it sure looked like it should be ok. I'm sorry you had to experience that...it was my worst fear too, to hit something (we lost both engines on the river twice, but luckily we never hit anything on our 1,000 miles). The other marina sout of you that has full service yard, with lots of mechanics and equipment is the Port Charles Harbor marina. There is also a good prop guy in Iowa, I had researched that before I left, let me know if you need the name.
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