Craighill Keeper’s bLog

Why do I feel like a damsel in distress?! I hate that feeling. I usually pride myself on being able to do anything. But it seems I can’t do anything right with the lighthouse. Or rather, the boat, I suppose. This is just an awful time of year to try to get anyone to go out with me (new rule after last trip: don’t go out by self). I desperately needed to get out one more time to fix the roof for the winter and offload supplies from the boat into the lighthouse in case I managed to get another trip out in someone else’s boat over the winter. I promised the marina they’d be able to take the boat out Monday (tomorrow). The boat ran fine a couple weeks ago, although it gave me fits starting in the cold. I expected it to give me fits again, but not as bad as it did.

A friend agreed to go with me. I was looking forward to it! Two chicks working on the lighthouse. Awesome, right? Well, I picked her up this morning and she was sick and hungover - not a good combo. Yuck - I feel bad for her, but she probably should’ve just canceled on me! (Of course, then I probably would have tried to go again by myself). After a stop along the way, we made it to the marina. The weather was perfect - calm seas, very little wind, sunny!

The boat wouldn’t start. After what seemed an eternity and with the engine barely even turning over anymore (and hardly catching like it was about to start), it finally started sounding like it might start. I switched the battery and with a little more coaxing, it finally started up. Woohoo! I thought that was the worst part and it was over.

While the engine warmed, I hooked up the GPS/depth finder, disconnected the power line, and started undoing the dock lines. Finally, I climbed up to the flybridge and put it in gear. The boat began moving forward, and then the engine died. I asked my friend to run up front to keep it from crashing into the dock in front of the slip while I tried to restart it. “Just a minute,” she called and I realized she was hanging over the back of the boat. Oops. I ran up front and held it off, then pulled it back into the slip.

I managed to get it started again, but wasn’t liking the sound of it. It would only crank once and then nothing, rather than the constant “chrr chrr chrr chrr” a starting engine normally sounds like. But it started. Undid the dock line and put it in gear again. Again it died. And then it wouldn’t start anymore, despite which battery I switched to. It would turn over once then nothing until it wasn’t even turning over anymore. Crud. It occurred to me later that I should have changed the fuel filter and tried again, although at that point I would have needed a battery shot, probably, and never saw the marina owners. Given the condition of my friend, it’s probably best we didn’t go out anyway.

So I hauled everything out of the hold and pulled out the roofing materials and some tools and a box of toilet bags and loaded them into the car. Just in case I somehow manage to convince someone to take me and a volunteer or two out. But I am.so.disappointed. I could just cry (again!) - and feel like a failure yet again. Sigh.