Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Barefoot Landing Marina - at a dock

The source of goodness from Greg Norman's Australian Grill
Pirate came out again today! We still haven't figured out where he lives, we think it's in the port dorade. He was out so briefly that I didn't even get a photo. The big news today is the non-working windlass. It slowed down and then quit altogether this morning when I tested it. I took the covers off but the gears look fine as well as the motor but you can't tell if a motor's working just by looking at it. So it appears I need a new motor for the windlass. It draws 1000 watts at 12 volts, not a small amount.

The marina here offers a free ride to the nearest Walmart which we took advantage of and I stocked up on oil for the diesel, it's due for a change of oil. Walmart carries the exact same oil as Westmarine that I use but it's $10/gallon cheaper! Diesel prices have nosedived! It's around $2.59/gallon now - or cheaper. That is some difference over the $4.50/gallon price in the fall.

The "Source of Goodness" being served, delicious!
Wednesday will see me try to find a replacement electric motor for a windlass that's been out of production for 6 years! Hopefully, Lewmar keeps an inventory of motors for obsolete windlasses (why does that sound no ridiculous when you say it?) I'll start calling at 8:00 am.

We had our Greg Norman Australian Grill fix today. Both of us ordered filet mignons, the best on the ICW. Wednesday is a layover day to to predicted rain all day long. Thursday is looking better and in sync for the trip north up the Cape Fear River (with a flood tide).

6 comments:

Unknown said...

If you still need the Lewmar motor, try SL Spares in England. John is very helpful. You will need to pay a duty tax on arrival. sl.spares@btconnect.com
http://slspares.co.uk/index.php
He helped me replace my motor on my 2003 Hunter (after I rebuilt the gears for no reason). Good luck!

Anonymous said...

North of you near Shallote/Supply is a starter rebuild shop, the name escapes me, he is fast and reasonable. Also in Southport is one but he is neither. Try NAPA in Myrtle to cross match the motor,.

philb said...

Nice article by Active Captain pointing out your contributions to ICW travel!

Unknown said...

Contact me if you need transportation to and from Shallotte. Richard
United Stares Power Squadron member
rg28469@gmail.com

SVLightReach said...

Saw the write up about you on Active Captain , we used your input last fall when we came down the ICW . Our first trip . Wish I had known about your blog then we were in Marathon when you were would have loved to have met you. May I ask how much your boat draws? Safe travels
Scott and Sally
SV Light Reach

Bob423 said...

Fleetwing draws 4 feet, 9 inches - double checked with a sounding line. It has a flat bottomed keel so it can slide over shallows if not too thin, I've done that coming into Caesars Creek in the Keys.

On my windlass, I found a replacement motor even though Lewmar discontinued the model. I'll know if that fixes the problem on Monday. I would still like to get the old one fixed as a spare. Thanks for the contacts!