Jos We are on our way! Motoring along the ICW, stopped in St. Augustine for a couple of days, put up the new Genoa for the first time, headed into Georgia…
We anchored in Shellbine Creek, GA, on 6.7.21, leaving on 6.8.21 at 6:40 AM, with no issues, tide on the rise. Meandering our way from Shellbine to Jekyll, ultimately heading to Johnson Marsh anchorage for the night.
WTF??!!??
4 PM – WAIT! Why did the engine die??? God damn it! It’s a brand-new engine!
We were south of R142 and west of Blackbeard Island. Then, we grounded while anchoring for safety. Got in touch with USCG to tell them we were just at the edge of the channel and were not in distress. David went to troubleshoot. Gas in tank. Check! What’s the problem? Could it be a cracked hose and air in the line? David bled the lines and added 6 gallons to the tank just in case. Got her started and continued.
Anchored in Johnson Marsh and started out around 7 AM on the 9th. We didn’t get too far, only a couple of hours before the engine died again. This time there was quite a bit of excitement. The engine died, and David did the same things he did yesterday to get her started again, to no avail. We were drifting toward Ossabaw Island, and then the tide began to run out. Really run. Like, Usain Bolt running. Dropped anchor, but we still drifted and grounded. And oh…what a grounding it was.
SeaTow 1…
We had already called Sea Tow while we were troubleshooting. Capt. Jim came and at least got us turned around and facing the channel around 1 PM before we ran out of water completely. He said he would come back for us at 7 PM and tow us to Buckhead Creek anchorage.
At least we were completely upright. David got in the dinghy while we still had some water and moved the anchor further out in preparation for when the tide would come back in. Then he went to explore Ossabaw Island while he was there. Luckily, he was spared any encounters with wild boars or snakes. I decided to make an egg tortilla because what else are you going to do to kill time before the tide comes back in??
SeaTow x 2…
Capt. Jim came back at 7 and towed us to Buckhead Creek anchorage. We dropped anchor (in water this time!!) around 8:15.
The following day, Capt. Troy and Chris picked us up around 8:45, and we got a ride to Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah. Arrived around 12:15, and let me tell you, Thunderbolt is fantastic if you have issues. They assigned us a project manager (which had me puckered just thinking about the cost). The project manager arranges to have the mechanic or whoever you need come to the boat and get shit done. It’s pretty snazzy.
It´s all about the Krispy Kremes…
Scott Marine Services came and did lots of boat yoga around the engine, trying to pinpoint the issue. Took a little bit, and you know what the problem is???
Our brand-new engine does not have a strong enough lift pump to get the gas from the lower third of the tank to the engine. So even though we had gas, it didn’t matter because it couldn’t get to the engine. Scott put a hand pump in for us until we install a more robust lift pump.
We’re super happy that it wasn’t an engine issue, and working at Thunderbolt was great. A project manager and Krispy Kremes! If you’re gonna have problems, try to get them taken care of at Thunderbolt!
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