August 21st, 2013

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What a difference a day makes.

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

My frustrations started with starting the motor on Saturday morning after finishing the job under the Travel lift. My batteries were down after the four months of being on the hard. But after hooking up the solar panel I had no problem starting the motor. Three people checked the electrical system and concluded that I needed to replace the five year old batteries I had purchased in Beaufort, N.C. But that did not make any difference. Wim, the port captain at the “Amsterdam” Y.C, towed me to “de Schinkel”. Last night at close to 10 p.m., under the full moon, I got the motor going again. I had taken the starter motor off and had it checked and replaced the plus cable from the batteries to the starter motor and cleaned up several of the connections. But the whole affair set me back a day or so in getting the boat ready.

We are having a great summer here. Yesterday was another gorgeous day. My friends, Arthur and Marianne Wijnans and Blanda came to wish me farewell. Blanda, their dog, was my buddy last January when I housesat for the Wijnans. They treated me to dinner on the “Veranda”, near “de Schinkel”. I expect to motor to Lelystad on Monday/Tuesday to have the mast stepped.