John, the manager at River Forest Yachting Center in LaBelle is prompt. As promised he pulled Doc's Holiday at 08:30 and within 45 minutes the crew had the bottom of Doc's Holiday pressure washed. It wasn't really dirty and our loss of 1 knot at cruising rpm was most likely due to the damaged props. Not only was their a piece curled over (Beth can claim it!) but it was obvious that we had touched bottom a couple of times with the tips of the props shining from the abrasive sand shoals.
Our prop damage is minor compared to this boat. He happened to be beside a boat that caught fire that spread to his.
Floating the boat, we waved good by and headed for Fort Myers wanting to get their before the afternoon thundershowers. We thought the delay at the Ortono lock was no longer in effect.....wrong! We took 2 hours of idling the motors and holding position in the middle of the river, waiting for the lock to open.
Lightning with rolling thunder started just as we entered the Fort Myers basin so we throttled up and made it into the marina, just as the lightning storm passed behind us. As we tied up and finished filling the forward fuel tanks the rain started as another storm passed near. The Internet radar showed MUCH more headed our way, but we were secure.
Beth contacted our daughter Jennifer in Naples. She and our grandson Cameron drove up to see us and join us for dinner. They arrived just as the heavens let loose. For the next 2 hours we couldn't leave the boat as the 40 mile an hour wind swept the rain sideways into a torrent of water pounding the windows. Finally, we were hungry enough to brave the downpour and the boat bouncing off the dock. We jumped off and got soaked running for the car.
Stopping at Mel's Diner, chilled from the drenching and the air conditioning, we were still able to laugh and joke at our predicament and enjoy a filling meal. Still, I was surprised when Cameron and Nami ordered ice cream for dessert! Now they were really cold!
With unsettled weather predicted for the next few days, we elected to stay in Fort Myers to get the props repaired. Hurricane Erica is predicted to be near by Monday morning so we may have to stay put until things settle down next week. Maybe the atmospheric turmoil from Erica will settle down the thunderstorms long enough for us to get the boat across to Port St. Joe.
Tom the diver removing props.
With the props off we can't move the boat which presented us with an opportune time to work on the boat. I started on getting the motors in optimal condition for the crossing. This meant addressing the issue of the port motor heating up at full throttle. It is strongly advised that the temperatures do not exceed 200 degrees They should run between 185 and 195 degrees. I struggled to get the intake and output hoses off the heat exchanger and finally hooked up a 12 volt bilge pump to push phosphoric acid through to clean up any rust or debris that might be impeding flow and heat transfer through the coils. I guess I underestimated the capacity of the chambers because the 5 gallon pail kept emptying....Not sure of just where the acid was all going, I let the acid sit in the system for 45 minutes than flushed it all out. It is supposed to circulate via the pump for 2 hours, but time will tell if my technique worked. First chance I get. we will throttle up and see where the temps stabilize.
The prop repair shop initially indicated that they might be able to have the props back on in 2 days. Just got word that they won't be ready until Monday....oops!
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