Unexpected Trouble

the castle on the cumberland, Kentucky prison

our slip our first night at Green Turtle Bay Marina

the transient dock, sunrise Friday the 20th

Juanie imprisoned

Her Serene Highness Magdelaina von Night Music (Maggie to friends)

It is seven o’clock on a Saturday morning. Friday had some terrible moments. We were in a good slip at Green Turtle Bay, the cats could easily get ashore and feel the earth under their paws instead of concrete docks. Showers were awesome, laundry right beside, hardly any walking to do as at the other marinas. Had a heart stopping 30 minutes when Juanie went missing, but found him and got ready to leave. 8:30 saw us underway but not 10 minutes into the voyage we were pulled up short by smoke coming out of the engine room. We hastily anchored and shut down. The marina came out to tow us back in and put us at a working/live-aboard dock, no charge. The mechanics came after lunch which gave us plenty worry time to imagine worse case scenarios. Fortunately, the problem was fixable. A crimped crank case pressure release hose  caused pressure to build blowing out the dip stick and spewing oil. Replaced the hose, put in 2 1/2 gallons of new oil and started the engine no problem. Jack used a hand held bailer to get out most of the oil which ended up in the engine bilge. A cool front started passing through bringing buckets of rain, so we also had a chance to discover any leaks. Only one place, a deck prism in the aft cabin, easily fixed.

We want to thank Carol and Bill Gary the Third of Green Turtle Bay Marina for their most wonderful hospitality. Bill came out and very expertly towed us in and even remembered to find us another dock with easy access to land for the cats. And many thanks to Gary and his cheerful band of mechanics. Their expertise was invaluable.

I’ll leave you now to finish my coffee and put on warmer clothes, it’s 58 degrees y’all!