Days Events:

Wx - cloudy, 68/78 forecast. Foggy early a.m. Then sunny.

Marina - busy place; not only a large boatyard, they have restaurants, townhouses [see photos], yacht sales, great ships store.

Photos - one of a boat passing through the VERY narrow channel under the RR drawbridge - it is a one lane only and had a tidal current to be aware of. Some shots of the townhouses - really nice place. Marg has her nocturnal one; she also took one to show the crazy NJ boaters that we've been warned out - weekend boat traffic is insane and creates wakes which really rock all the boats in the marina - all the staff here complain about the uneducated boaters who ignore the 'no wake' zones.

There's a great shot that our buddy boat sent after they had to get towed yesterday when his port engine quit. You can see a large quantity of clam/crab netting impacted around the port side shaft and blade; also some chain and line around the stbd. They pulled into the marina today so obviously no major damage to their undercarriage. !

Admirals Desk:

Y'all, we are no longer in the slow smooth drawl of Alabama! It's now the fast clipped accent of New Jersey! And hard to understand! After 25yrs. my ears are tuned to Southern.😁

An interesting observation is that the folks on our buddy boat, from Ottawa, sounded very Canadian to us. I'm sure we still sound Canadian to others but we don't notice it.

Another Uber trip for groceries. Nothing remarkable, but this is another very charming and old community. Our marina is in Brielle NJ.

We are definitely heading into the congestion, sounds and commotion of NJ/NY. A commuter train runs right next to us, therefore the RR bridge has to close/open wail its siren regularly. More of everything. Including people loudly swearing in the grocery at people who cut into the checkout line, not enough checks out lines open....

And the marina is a zoo. Hundreds of boats in the channel, none paying attention to the no wake restrictions and party boats paying no attention to covid safety.

Our Canadian neighbors are coming for a nitecap. Boaters love to talk to other boaters about boats and share boating stories. We have an instant bond and rapport. It's nice.😊

Good night all. Stay safe.

Hope for little waves for us tomorrow.

Maintenance:

Electrical Problem: Well !! It has been quite a morning. Called Hoffmans staff and they came almost immediately with dockmaster and master electrician. To make a long story short, there were two problems: first, the white wire in the 50amp shore power plug had pulled out of its connection slot, causing essentially a reverse polarity [the warning light was 'on' ] and a crossing of power with the one line having 150v and the other 75v; the 150 surge tripped the line circuit breaker as well as 'burned' the aft heads GFCI, found by them; we would smell the 'burn' - see photo. We were incredibly fortunate there was not a fire. !! The CB did its job fortunately.

The 2 fellows were excellent at diagnosing and fixing the problem. I learned a bit more today; will not delay replacing the other GFCI's [I had already replaced two, but not the two in the heads nor the one in the pilothouse]. I went via Uber to ACE Hardware today and bought GFCI's; I replaced the aft head one, and initially everything worked then it tripped the CB again. Had to be my fault, of course. Removed it and bingo, not really my fault, but one of the crimped connections that were already there had separated at the outlet; so I cut it back and connected the power wire again to the new receptacle, and everything worked without anything being tripped. However...the plug in the aft stateroom has no power, but all the other plugs on that line are working fine, and the new GFCI is not working. So I think it likely means the line and the load wires are reversed; will un-reverse them likely tomorrow. For now, the Admiral can again use her hair blower. :)

Travel Plans - we leave in the morning for Raritan Bay Marina, 43 miles; the wx forecast is in our favor, and better than the one 2 days ago when we had an unwelcome offshore excursion.

That's all today.

Stay safe.

Comments:

Ernie R - 9 Aug 2020: Wow, diesel mechanic, plumber, meteorologist, and now electrician! Not to mention desert connoisseur extraordinaire! (Not sure what alcohol specialists are called!). Yes, lucky no fire! You all heading into foreign land! And lots of rude people! Be safe!

Duane - 9 Aug 2020: You are now a journey men electrician. Congratulations on passing your course!