Ha! Ha!Ha! The gremlins couldn't do it! Beth and I didn't kill each other! We didn't even go insane! (Although some of our relatives would disagree because we are on a boat! No. We relaxed, read books and watched old movies ie. Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, a long time favorite.
I worked on the smoking generator, changing fuel filters, checking out the air silencer for blockages but in general, just worrying about the possibility of running the generator and having a major problem. A major problem to me is anything that might cost more than a BOAT buck. (Bring On Another Thousand!) and a new generator could easily run $10,000 to $20,000 or most likely the end of our adventure.
We changed the navigation to take us to Portland Yacht Center. After talking with the service manager Rob, I felt confident that they could handle the problem, no matter how serious, since at their second facility, they were not a marina but a full service yacht repair. He assured me that he would get his mechanic, Dan Brackett to look at it as soon as we arrived.
Heading into Portland Harbour
It was a pleasant smooth ride on an outgoing tide, so minimal ocean swells and less than 1 foot seas. The sun was shining, but I couldn't really focus on anything except generator problems. Thankfully, we were going to have it checked out.
Rob met us at the dock and helped us tie up. He explained where things were located such as the parts department, the dog walking paths, and where the locals like to eat. He assured me that his mechanic would be down to the boat right after lunch.
Dan Brackett, a tall stocky man with a relaxing smile, slithered into the generator room and began examining the generator.
Within minutes of starting it up he asked, "Where is your water intake:"
"Right behind you', I said with a quizzical look in my eye.
Within another 5 minutes he handed me a bag of seaweed that had been clogging up the intake.
"You should be fine now," he grinned."
"How much do I owe you," I gulped.
"No charge." he said walking away as he looked over his shoulder.
"Whew! We dodged a bullet, and saved a boat buck!" I quipped to Beth
Then......the generator quit and could not be restarted. I looked in the generator room. Dan forgot to turn the intake valve back on.
Dan immediately returned and began working. The new impeller I had recently installed was destroyed and the motor was hot. Within a half hour he replaced the impeller and although he worked to restart the motor, it took another 2 hours for it to cool down, the reset button to pop out and the generator to fire up.
Now, here is the most important thing. Dan immediately said, "I feel responsible for that. No charge!"
Honesty, integrity, courteous, and efficient is the only way to describe how people are treated at the Portland Yacht Center. If I need to service Doc's Holiday in this area again, I will definitely use Portland Yacht Center.
Beth and I immediately began washing the boat, filling the tanks with water and tidying up the inside. Spencer and Sophie got to go for a walk and by the time it started to get dark we were exhausted.
One final observation, I had seriously considered not writing a blog on this trip. I just felt that the first trip from Galveston, Texas. to Eastport, Me was a new learning experience for us and therefore exciting, and it came across . This trip would be a rehash and maybe not so exciting. Really who was interested but us, anyway. On reviewing the Google stats, apparently 838 of you read the blog last month bringing the total hits to over 23,000. I guess somebody else is either bored to death, with nothing to do....or interested!
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