Arrived at Port Charles 9am on Wed. Had props off and sent out with a promise of return on Monday by noon. They arrived at 1:30 and were back on in half an hour. After a test run, they discovered the packing in the shaft was getting hot. So hot in fact that Paul (the marina owner) got blisters on his hand when he touched it. Tried other sizes and felt it was fixed so we started for Alton around 5:15pm. After half hour it was hot again so we turned around and went back and stayed on the gas dock. Within the hour we had terrible winds and downpour. I was glad we were there as I don’t think we would have made it to Alton before the storm. Paul was right there Tuesday morning to lift us out, tried other size packing and did a test run and headed out again. Headed back downstream to Alton at 11:15; 11:45 turned around because it was hot again. Finally got on our way after another size packing installation at 2:15 and everything has been okay. On our way to Alton we saw Asian crap jumping high out of the water. Glad they can’t reach us.
Alton Marina is a very first class operation, kinda wish we could stay a couple of days, however we should head south to make up lost time from prop repair. We will decide in the morning depending on weather.
There are 3 other Loopers staying here. One from Minnesota, one from Connecticut and the other we haven’t met yet.
Happy to hear the mechanical things are beginning to iron out for you. It's great to get your location and updates. Eddy & I saw the Asian carp in that location also. Looking for your next posting. Paul & Eddy J
ReplyDeleteWell I think I could handle the Asian Carp jumping high out of the water, but I don’t think I want to see any Asian Crap jumping anywhere. I know, everyone’s a comedian.
ReplyDelete