We have been somewhat stranded due to the minor electrical issue and US Thanksgiving weekend. However, our neighbour, Brent, returned today from his weekend visit with family in Tuscaloosa.
Brent is a friendly southern fellow who owns a large yacht which is parked across from us. He learned about our troubles just before he left for Thanksgiving and popped in to see if he could help (he a bit of a boat mechanic / whiz). Unfortunately, he couldn't discern the problem on Thursday, but offered to come by again today once he got back.
Sure to his word, he appeared shortly after 11:00 this morning to poke around a bit, prior to an arranged call at noon with the technician who installed all of our wiring & equipment back in Kingston. After a brief discussion with our fellow back home, Brent had figured out the issue and resolved it quite simply. Engines started without an issue and we were very happy. Not to mention that he didn't charge us a cent and didn't want anything in return for his trouble. We already gave him a nice bottle of wine at Thanksgiving and will pick up a gift card as well - he saved us hundreds of dollars!
Early this afternoon, we took Catan out for a spin upriver and made sure that everything was performing normally. We then stopped at the fuel dock and added 400 gallons of diesel fuel for the onward journey. Initially we had planned to depart in the morning however the winds & weather are not favourable for tomorrow. We'll plan to head out on Tuesday morning at first light and use tomorrow to gather some final provisions (and get my nails done). Priorities of course.
So, we will sleep well tonight knowing that Catan is back to normal! We have some friends who will likely be leaving with us on Tuesday, so that will make the day a little nicer travelling along with friends. Southward bound!
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