Thursday, June 22, 2023 Algonac

Not a good sleep night last night. I was awake a lot it seemed. I had to get up twice to walk off a cramp in my leg. Perhaps too much dinner and partying on Voyager last night? Fitbit only gave me a 65 sleep score. Definitely too much partying for Kerry as she was pretty sick last night.

Peter gave me a new little plastic solo cup last night. I keep one in my bilge to catch water that drips out of the water heater pressure relief valve when the engine runs. I found the cracked servisignal while emptying my little cup. The cup I had been using has several cracks in it, so I am all set now. Except, that is, for finding a piece of screen for my air filter.  

Peter and I had our Captain's Meeting over coffee, cappuccinos and little white donuts. When it was time to leave my autopilot would not come on. It was dead. All the other instruments worked fine. Try as I may, I could not get any life out of it. So I decided to leave on time for Algonac and deal with it there. I hoped it would be as simple as a blown fuse. So for 4 hours and 16 minutes I hand steered to Algonac. Well, maybe foot steered a little too.

I figured Port Huron would be the best place to attempt a repair if the fuse and connections were OK. I could call the Port Captain from GLCC and get a recommendation on a technician. Kerry decided we should replace everything that is old. Well, since we have a 20 year old boat, I told her that would be a lot of stuff. I wonder if she was including the captain? She recalled that one time on our way to Lake Michigan our autopilot on Excalibur broke in Port Huron and we scrubbed our cruise, coming home for a repair in Vermilion. 

Once in Algonac, I shut the instruments off as usual before I started the task of trouble shooting. But when doing so, I saw that the searchlight switch was on and the autohelm switch, right above it, was not. After a nanosecond of analysis I flipped the autopilot switch on and the heavens opened as the autopilot came to life. As Peter pointed out, the punishment for doing old people things was not too stiff this time, just hand steering for 32 miles and 4 hours. The Albaneses and Orros were quite happy that our cruise will not be impacted by this problem.

The trip today was 32 beautifully steered miles at an average speed of 7.5 knots. I left the rpm's at 1600 and our speed varied from 6.8 to 10.7 as we went against and with the strong river currents. We've done 108 miles so far. 

There was a boat in our assigned dock when we arrived. We ended up getting a location about 250 yards closer to the bathrooms so we are quite happy about that. I was also pleased to see that the wifi works great. Here's Voyager steaming into Algonac. 

Lunch was on our own boats. Then we all unpacked our bikes for a trip to the hardware and grocery stores. I was looking for a small piece of screen to put over the broken air filter pressure valve. But all they had was screen in big rolls which was way more than needed. But in a turn of luck on our return we biked past a stack of wood by the street that had a busted screen door in it. I decided to return with a knife to cut the piece of screen I needed. 

The Kroger store is very nice and a great place to provision. The mates came away with lots of goodies while I bought some beer that hopefully will last me through Canada. It's very expensive to buy beer there, so I try to avoid it. We loaded our bikes with all our purchases and walked them back to the boats. 

Cocktails were on Voyager before dinner. Peter and I laughed about the autopilot. He had been thinking in his mind how we could use his meter to track where the power stopped entering the lines to the instrument. We wondered how much time it would have taken for us to trace it back to the switch. Marianna and I debated weather apps. I find the Weather Channel app to be very accurate. 

We had made reservations at a restaurant called Catch 22. It's very popular here. Their menu is huge, the prices are fair and the food is delicious. I had liver and onions for the first time in probably 20 years. Ill have to take an extra gout pill tonight. Peter had perch, Marianna a big salad, and Kerry a grilled cheese. We were all pleased with our meals. Peter left with a key lime pie to go. I don't expect any to be left when we visit tomorrow.

On the way to the restaurant I stopped and cut a big piece of screen from the door, It turned out to be fiberglass screen which is what I was hoping for. Tomorrow I'll wrap it around the remaining part of the air filter pressure switch. 

Rain is forecast for much if not most of tomorrow. I hope the forecast changes because we love to go to downtown Algonac. There is a wonderful restaurant we really enjoy, The Flaming Grill, and an antique/consignment store that is fun to wander through.