WHAT A DAY TO GO SAILING! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

What a day to go sailing! The temp was in the mid to high 70's! The humidity was a little high but aside from creating a little haze, it was no big deal. The wind was out of the SW 10-12Knts, gusting to 15 or so. It was in a word, perfect!

I go to the boat about 11:30 and took the launch out. Opened the boat and turned on the radio to check the weather . . . .for the 30th time. But no sound from the radio. In fact it didn't even light up. I checked the battery switch. ON! I checked the circuit breaker and even reset it. It was close as it should be. Turn the battery switch to "House BATTERIES" . . .. . Nothing. Tried the engine starting battery . . . Nope! Tried both . . .No joy! To put it in simple terms all three batteries were dead . . . no juice . . . . NADA!

And I can't figure out why? When I left the boat on Friday, I left the battery switch on "BOTH" so that the wind generator would continue to top up the batteries. I thought that I had clicked off all the breakers and switches but I must have left one or more on and they drain the cells. There wasn't enough juice to light the backlight on the radio left alone receive. Forget about transmitting. I could have called the launch by cell phone but I decided that since I was out there, I might as well do some work. Nothing major, little diddly stuff but things that were on that never-ending project's list. And when I ran out of stuff that I could do without electricity, I worked on my tan and enjoyed the day! It's one of the reason to have ABISHAG in the first place. Tomorrow, I'll bring my battery charger and re-power the batteries with the portable generator. It will take a while but it will give me an opportunity to clean the hull and the prop.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I was sure looking forward to going sailing, but such was not to be the case. I guess all that frustrating work this winter, the problems and all the practiced patience paid off. The battery problem could have easily ruined the day but it just changed what was to be done. While it was not the day I anticipated, I still got to enjoy it. I suppose it is like that poster that says , "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" It was a good day. Any day you spend on a boat on the water is a good day. The first of many to come!!!!