Portsmouth to Huntington, town wall

The start of the day was way more exciting than we anticipated.

The plan: We were docked on a t-head. The next t-head over, just 150 feet away, was the fuel pump and pump out. We don't really need either at the moment, but "a bird in the hand" type of thing. Remember I was singing the praises of our low draft boat?

The story: Right away I could feel things weren't quite right. Trying just to edge off the t-head I felt resistance. I couldn't move forward with ease, nor out. We pushed off hard, hoping there'd be more depth in the channel. My gauges were blinking, giving me bad readings, and we churned up mud everywhere. So we bagged. Just not gonna happen.

Rain ahead!

I backed her out into the pool behind us, getting reading of 3 feet, and spun her to face the exit. Then we slowly followed the same path out that we came in on. Looking at the banks around us we could see the water line had gone down by nearly a foot. Just as we were about to get to the river the nose of inQuest came up a bit, which pretty much means she's on land. "Push hard!" Russ called, standing on the bow. I gave her some spurs and we essentially plowed them a new channel about 3.5 feet deep. Shawnee State Park, you're welcome.

This is what our AIS looks like
We are the green boat.
All the yellow boats are tow boats.
No, it's not normally packed like this!

Another lock, Greenup, which went perfectly. We hailed, both chambers are working, the small one was open and waiting for us. I love that.

All day the skies were threatening with rain and storms. Personally, I'm thrilled to see them. Once this front moves through we should be getting cooler temps, by a 20 degree drop.

As we sidled up to the Huntington free wall the rain started. Almost perfect timing.

Total Lock Count: 21

Lots of walled towns along the river.
Has a European feel to them. This is Ironton.

Augusta to Portsmouth, marina

We had a choice. We could have taken a shorter day and been on anchor, and the anchor sounded lovely. But we're having crazy heat, and sitting around in 93 plus humidity for most of an afternoon didn't sound like a good time. So we traveled longer.

Foggy morning.

When we woke there was a healthy fog on the river. There was a laundromat in town which I used first thing. Technically, it was a laundry room for an apartment complex that was open to the public. Not great -- wouldn't recommend it. It was hot, one of the dryers ate my $2.25, and there was no phone number posted for help with either of those things. But the clothes got washed -- we dried them on the boat.

Once we got underway the fog had lifted. It was a lovely ride in the Meldahl pool, with lots of quaint towns up and down this section. We didn't see any tows until the end of the day, then we got 3 in a row. All of them hailed us, and from 10 miles away. Clearly our reputations haven't reached this far east.

Blue skies, smooth water, calm wind.
Just bloody hot!

The marina was selected because we need some water. While here we'll also get fuel. We don't need it but... looking ahead diesel for boats will become a thing. Who knew? Russ has already talked to companies that bring a truck with fuel to your boat. You just have to make arrangements with a landing or marina to get it done. Might be an exciting trip back.

Also, just a quick shout-out to catamarans and their shallow drafts! We're in a state park's marina, Shawnee State Park. There's 1 foot beneath our keel. One. Foot.

Cincinnati to Augusta, town wall

The Meldahl Lock has had issues for months now. No reason to think it wasn't going to be a thing for us. We are ever hopeful of such things.

We saw a bunch of AIS signatures stopped along the banks near the lock. "We might just luck out! They aren't moving." Besides, there are stretches along the Ohio where many tows that worked for this or that power company were parked on the banks, not moving. But alas, these were tows, all waiting for the lock. And given we are just a small PC, we were gonna wait, too.

For about 4 hours.

While anchored small storms surrounded the area.

This lock has two chambers. The problem is that one is being worked on. The bigger problem is that it's the BIG chamber that's busted. As a result, all these big tows need to go through the small chamber, and that means they have to break apart their tows, send the barges up or down, have the lock turn around, and the tow boat follows... to reconstruct his tow on the other side and get on their way. Each tow that goes turns the lock twice. Thus the major delay, for everyone.

The great news is that we were able to drop and anchor during that time, just outside the channel. We ate, Russ took a nap, I played games, we did the dishes... So it all worked out.

This is in 2 parts. First is our journey to and through the lock.

The second is docking in Augusta.

The lockmaster called us up, asking us to tie up on the wall close to the doors. The plan, as we understood it, was that the tow behind us was going to park on the wall with us, so we had to scooch as far forward as we could, right up to the lock doors. The tow captain, however didn't follow us and tied off on the larger wall. While no longer necessary, it was thrilling seeing the doors that close. In the video below watch the water -- you'll see it being lowered.

Downtown Augusta, KY

Once through it was a short jaunt to Augusta, where we met Terry Lowe. He and Russ connected in the AGLCA forum as he's interested in catamarans and possibly doing the loop. He came aboard, got a tour, then we three went out to eat at The General Store, which was a daring diner/general store. In fact, the entire town is picturesque.

That made up for a long and hot day.

Total Lock count: 20

Cincy!

Once it gets dark the waters got calm, so we slept without much bouncing. Even the occasional tow wasn't that bad. 

The next day was explore day! First we had breakfast in town at the Wild Eggs. I had a favorite I don't get often, the stuffed French Toast. Russ had a veggie Benedict. Both were wonderful.

From there we walked over the Roebling suspension bridge to the Kentucky side, then headed up river, crossing the 4th Street bridge from Covington to Newport, then back to the Ohio side via the Taylor Southgate Bridge. We wanted to get that done first thing, before the heat came.

Findlay Market

Around noon we got out the scooters then headed into town. Our destination was the Findlay Market. Findlay is a little market, akin to the French Market of New Orleans. A permanent structure houses some of the vendors and the street around it is closed for tents. We went for fruit. We got chocolate and bakery. Hey, have you met us?

Great visit, and a great little city. We were impressed with Cincinnati.

Lunch. A specialty of Cincy. Chili, which
they serve on spaghetti. We got a vegetarian version.

On the city wall. Great location, but get out ALL your fenders!

Rising Sun to Cincinnati, city wall

The wind was up yesterday and remained up today. That made getting off the dock at Rising Sun a little tricky -- the wind was pushing us up the river hard enough to over come the current, which was minimal. But we got big engines and managed, backing away from the pier with a roar.

The rest of the trip was fine. We passed a couple of tows, who have stopped hailing us. We figured by now they all know inQuest is a PC and (we hope) not a crew of bozos so no need to coach them on where they need to be. We already know.

Anyone know what the heck kind of boat that is?!

We got to the Cincinnati wall around noon. The city wall very close to the baseball field. It's Saturday. Oh, yeah, game day. For most that would be thrilling, being right next to the baseball game in a metropolis. But then we live in San Francisco 2 blocks from that city's ballfield, so we knew about the hustle and crowds and fireworks. Been there, done that, not that impressed. 

Getting to Cincinnati and on the city's wall.

Also, it turned out to be a glorious day, except for the wind. So everybody and his brother who owns a boat around here races up and down the river as fast as they can. Needless to say, we've been bouncing like crazy. We assume it will calm down once it gets dark. We'll see.

No locks today. The count remains at 19.

Turtle Creek to Rising Sun, town dock

Very short day today. Almost feels like cheating. But making for Cincinnati would make for a really long day, so we opted for easy.

Known for Hoosier Boy, a speed boat that broke records that still stand today, Rising Sun is a small town. Not as well kept as the others we've seen recently, but they are trying. The true downside of staying here is I'll have that song in my head for days.

No traffic on the water, and no locks. And to our surprise, little current. We managed to get almost 8 knots while underway, which is the fastest we've traveled up the river since getting onto the Ohio.

We ate a late lunch at Tequila's, a Mexican restaurant. They too had Camarones al Mojo de Ajo. Nope, not as good as the version in Owensboro.

inQuest in Rising Sun. Another boater (headed down
river) on the dock, and a tow in the back.

I love an easy docking job!

Madison to Turtle Creek, marina

Since we couldn't get pumped out yesterday, that was our quest today. Our first stop to get it done was just a half mile up river at the Madison Town dock. It has a pump out.  But, alas, we could not get it to work.

One of these days I'll teach her how
to use her bed.

We wanted to get all the way to Rising Sun, but they do not have a pump out. Moreover, between the kickin' current which remains a burden and the Markland Lock which has a broken chamber, that would make for a really long day. So we decided to stop at the Turtle Creek Marina, who's only real claim to fame is a shuttle that takes you to the nearby casino. We'd had a couple of great meal out lately so eating Impossible Burgers on the boat with my homemade steak fries was just dandy.

Markland Lock was a bit of an issue. We arrived wanting to go up just as they were loading in a tow heading down. We stood station for about 30 minutes, which is not the worst we've done even on this trip.

Upon leaving Madison we went to the town dock. You an see Russ getting out the gear but nothing is working. So, we jet off.

Getting into Turtle Creek was a little exciting. We were warned it was thin. But, boy howdy! Was it thin. At one point I read 1.5 feet beneath the keel. And the pool is 5 feet over normal levels. They have plans to dredge but said they did it just last year. Rains and floods all year long have silted it back up in no time. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the new norm for them.

Here's something odd. In the last couple of places we met folks who live in Indiana (in these quaint towns) in the summer then snowbird to Florida for the winter. That's not the odd part. What's odd is a number of them go to Bradenton. Not Miami, not Tampa, not Jacksonville -- Bradenton. I think that's odd.

This video is longer. It shows from when we got the go to enter the lock (you can see the tow leaving) to just beyond the lock where we dock in Turtle Creek.

Total Lock Count: 19

Louisville to Madison, marina

With the exception of lots of wood and stumps and branches and detritus in the water causing us to dodge and weave and zig and zag all day, it was a pretty mellow trip. Not too long, which I like. 

We changed our plans en route. There's a restaurant here that has a pier that's open to transients. That was our goal. But more pressing goals was 1) getting fuel (all this upward pushing burns the gallons!) and 2) getting pumped out. The town of Madison also has a public dock with a pump out. The plan was to pump out there, then go back the 1/2 mile to the restaurant for the night, and fuel up in Florence tomorrow. There was a marina that claimed they had diesel, Rivercrest Marina, but the did not answer various calls Russ made over the last couple of days to get a fuel price.

Fancy water pump house for Louisville.
Everyone remembers the flood of '37!

While underway, and just 3 miles away, Russ called them again. Wouldn't you know it! They had fuel and were willing to do a bulk deal for us, making them cheaper than Florence. They also had space for us AND a pump out. So, serendipity! Well, the pump out didn't work... so close.

It took a long time to tank up on fuel, almost 2 hours. First because we needed it -- the port tank was at 15% and the starboard at 25% so lots of space in the tanks to fill. Second, the pump wasn't fast. But more importantly, they don't get big sales like us usually so there is a shut off (the pump assumes it's just spilling fuel everywhere). They had to close out the sale then restart the pump for us to keep going. To that end, we're seriously hoping the fuel is okay. Diesel, like fresh fruit, doesn't last forever.

inQuest fueling at Rivercrest

We walked into the town of Madison and toured their downtown. Gotta say, another cute Main Street with restaurants, ice cream shops, clothing stores, appliance stores, nail spas, banks, pubs -- the works. We ate at the Off Broadway Pub and had a wonderful salad, a fish taco, a sweet potato taco, and a caprese sandwich. All wonderful.

This Fountain. As far as I could tell,
that was the name.

A couple of days in Louisville

Heigold House Fascade.

We arrived during a heat swelter but managed to take a walk and go have an early dinner. The next day the heat continued in the morning followed by rainy weather in the afternoon and evening. It brought much cooler temps today. We went out a bit.

While there is no doubt lots to explore in Louisville, Russ had a couple of errands he needed to run (dropping off oil samples at a post office and picking up transmission oil at an auto store) and both of those were easily done by foot... in Jeffersonville. 

3 bridges, from the 4th

In the center of Louisville are "The Big 4" which are the 4 bridges that cross the Ohio to Jeffersonville. One of these was a old railroad bridge that they've turned into a pedestrian and bike crossing only. (Note: while electric bike are fine on the bridge, electric scooters are not. Guess which ones we had). We locked up the scooters and walked across the bridge, which was just lovely. If you come here, do not miss that! 

Just on the other side is Jeffersonville. Every been to Disneyland? When you enter the park you first walk along Main Street which was a recreation of Walt's child town of Marceline, MO. Every building was as he remembered it: drug store, fruit stand, ice cream parlor, Hall of Presidents, the works. Well, it could be Jeffersonville. The little downtown is full of useful stores, restaurants, pubs, bakery, ice cream, and what made it wonderful was that today, a Tuesday, the place was bustling. I explored the downtown while Russ ran his errands, then we ate lunch at Parlour, a pizza place. Best pizza we've had in a really long time.

Former railroad bridge.

We'll head out tomorrow. This has been a handy marina but not a great one. It has potential. The employee we've been working with has been here for 5 years. He said they recently got a new manager who's doing a much better job than the last one. It's obvious something is off. It's the height of the boating season here and there are, well, no boats. In our experience, if you build it, they will come. We came to learn that the last manager was taking money to allow stuff (dirt, sand, whatever) to be dumped in the marina. There are no boats here because it's so shallow. They have plans to dredge. I hope they do.

Other weirdnesses are the washer and dryers, of which they have 2 pair,s that do not work. The ship store is almost never open. We had mail sent to us and we had to go through all the marina's mail (in the mail box next to the road) to find it. Just a little off.

But the place is easy to access, off the river, and conveniently located. We'd stay again.

Where are all the boats?!

Salt River to Louisville, marina

We learn all the time while on the water. We learned quite a bit about the rivers yesterday and today.

Odd things we noticed yesterday.

1. About 3/4 of the way through the day more debris filled the pool. We passed that off as "getting closer to the lock" but it was still a bit far. Even as the day started we're 20 miles from it. 

2. About that same time we noticed our speed decreased. We started the day running over 7 knots, but by the end were only getting 6.2 to 6.5. We passed that off as "the river is narrowing, so the current is growing."

3. Our anchorage, on a tributary, ran opposite of what we believed it ought to be. We just passed that off as "the waters are higher than usual" and ran with it, anchoring facing the Ohio. We didn't move all night.

Um, where those trees like that when we
went to bed last night?

What was really happening? They were filling the pool. There were massive storms to the north of us yesterday and odds are those dumped a bunch of water. Or, due to the high heat, they were generating lots of power at the lock and dam, McAlpine, to deal. Whatever the reason, they started pushing as bunch or water down river (and at us). All our weirdnesses were explained by that fact. When we woke we noticed the water was nearly 2 or 3 feet higher than when we went to sleep. 

We were a bit worried about getting through McAlpine. While they have 2 chambers, 1 is in repair and will be until November. About 2 weeks ago boaters we know who are ahead of us has to wait over 3 hours to get locked through here. Our lock luck held out -- as we approached the doors were opening.

The RiverPark Marina. Note how tall those 
pilings are. Everyone remembers the great
flood of 1937!

The marina sat just behind a small island, which protects it from passing traffic. There was a small miscommunication between the linesman and the pilot, but no damage or incident occurred. On our second attempt we docked just fine.

Despite the heat we had a late lunch at the Silver Dollar, a local cafe run by SoCal transplants. Vegetarian menus options abound there. We had the chilequiles, and vegetarina biscuits & gravy, and a side of hashbrown casserole. 

Total lock count: 18

Welcome to Louisville!

Sinking Creek to Salt River, anchor

Longer day today. But no locks. A bit more traffic due to the weekenders and, for some reason, and a few more tows. Oh, and back into Eastern time.

Right off weather looked like it might be an issue for the day. Our weather apps showed massive rain to the south of us (from the tropical storm) and massive rain to the north of us. While we traveled the north storm dipped down just a bit. It looked like we were going to get a deluge. The winds kicked up into the mid-20 mph. But we got a spritz of rain ad that was it. Clouds parted, and the day remained mostly overcast but pleasant. It wasn't nearly as hot as it had been predicted.

Looks like rain, don't it?

The Ohio is receding but still well over it's normal levels, which means travel for us is much slower. We are constantly running up a really big hill.

All these anchorages are new to us. Russ reads reviews of them on various guides so we're as prepared as we can be when we get there. Salt River was no exception. We were told there were a number of bridges, all of them high, and that the last one had a "none shall pass" sign on it warning about it being a military area and you just might get blowed up! 

We traveled all the way to the "blowed up" part, seeking anything looking like a reasonable anchorage. The problem was, while the river wasn't crazy wide, it was crazy deep. Mostly 25 feet or more. We have the rode, so we can do it. But setting it is always tricky, since you need to let out a LOT of rode to be able to pull the anchor more horizontally instead of vertically. Also, once set (say to a 5:1 ratio) that makes for a big swing circumference. I already mentioned, the river is not that wide. To deal with that you set a stern anchor or "med moor", which is to tie a line to something solid on the bank, like a tree.

The bridge has a warning sign.
Turns out, that's Fort Knox!

This river was bizarre. The further back we traveled the deeper the thing got. We tried to anchor at the "none shall pass" sign, but couldn't get the anchor to dig in. Taking that as a sign we came back out and found the shallowest spot we could. Dropping an anchor there worked but it took a bit of coaxing. None of that made us feel good about dropping a second anchor. With me at the helm holding position Russ dropped the tender and we attempted to med moor. But (crazy thing 2) the river ran in reverse. You'd think it would run TO the Ohio, but no, the current came from the river, turning the boat to face our entrance. Moreover, it looks very stable there. So we just shut off the engines and walked the dog.

Check out the debris. It looked like we wouldn't be
able to get through. The left side was open, though.

So. Here's hoping that all works fine for the night. (Did I mention the tropical storm south of us?)

Total lock count remains: 17

Owensboro to Sinking Creek, anchor

When we woke this morning we noticed that the river had receded about a foot. Good news, since that should allow us to travel a little faster.

Our next stop was an anchorage about 50 miles up river, Sinking Creek. But the day was supposed to be crazy hot and we thought hanging out in the heat of the afternoon didn't sound like much fun, so we had a secondary target about 10 miles further upstream. But... boater life.

Yep, about a foot lower this morning

We arrived at the only lock today, Cannelton, around 11:30 am. The doors were a bit slow to open but we basically were able to glide right in. We got secured to the wall, then I called the lockmaster and confirmed we were ready. Waiting... waiting... waiting... the doors aren't closing. I asked Russ if the lockmaster responded to me (we've had that happen, where they didn't hear my call and didn't close the doors). Nope, there was an acknowledgement. Waiting... waiting... waiting... The lockmaster hailed us. There's an issue with a valve so this might be a few minutes. "Copy that, inQuest standing by on 13." Waiting... waiting... waiting... Lockmaster hails us again. "So, we think a log is blocking the valve and if it doesn't close I can't fill the chamber. There's a tow in the big chamber coming down. As soon as he's out you can go to that chamber and we'll lock you up." "Copy that. And you'll tell us when that is?" "Yep. Stand by on 13."

This shows 1) how high the water had been and
2) how much wood is in these waters

So, we made lunch, played with the dog, drank some iced tea and waited for about a hour while the other chamber got ready for us. When we heard the horn (indicating the tow could leave the chamber) we untied, spun around in the lock (a first for me), slowly made our way out the in-door. We watched as the 15-barge tow crawled out of the lock, then we scurried in behind him and secured ourselves again. During the wait the lockmaster talked to another tow, also wanting to lock down. He told them we were going to be in the lock but they could tie on the wall, just make sure they leave us enough room to get out. So when the big doors opened, we could see the wee gap we were supposed to get through to get out. But we managed.

Lock doors open... drive around THAT!

The delay was about 90 minutes, so getting to Sinking Creek was no longer going to be too early. 

All day long Russ was training his battery remote, which meant we have to burn the batteries down to a certain voltage before charging them. Throughout the day he checked their levels. Took a long time, even with running the AC upstairs and down nearly all day. But that's why we have these new batteries. So we     can run the AC all night if we have too without power.

Total Lock Count: 17

See how we did it. Movie below...

Evansville to Owensboro, town wall

Technically, we docked along an old lock wall (Lock 46) that is no longer being used. More on that in a bit.

Getting out of the Evansville marina was a little tricky. We made 2 attempts. When we docked we slipped in between 2 boats, all of us parallel on a pier. The one ahead of us left yesterday. The river flowed pushing us down stream and into the boat behind us. Our first attempt felt too rushed, and we didn't want to have the current push us into them. We move forward, rolling on our fenders along the pier until we could swing the stern out and let the current ease us backwards and clear. 

Farewell, Evansville

Once on our way we notice a lot more traffic than we'd seen a few days ago. At one point there were 4 of us almost side by side, 2 up and 2 down, passing each other. The next lock, Newburgh, was about 15 miles from the marina, but a number of tows were on the water heading up with us. They looked spaced out enough that we didn't feel we'd have much of an issue. Moreover, all the locks we've been through on the Ohio have had 2 chambers, a big one (1200 feet) and a small one (800 feet). All the tows need the big one. And we are just a tiny PC by comparison. We called the lock about 2 miles out, and the doors were open and waiting. We went up a whopping 6 feet.

The Wall at Owenboro. More like "The Curb."

The description of the Owensboro Town Wall said there was over 1000 feet of wall to tie up onto using the ballards. However, the pool is about 5 feet higher than normal. As a result, most of the wall is just at the water line, which is impossible to fend off. There were a couple of 80-foot juts that are a bit higher. We tied up on one of them.

Then we hoofed it into town, which was about a mile away, and enjoyed a fabulous Mexican dinner. I originally wanted pizza (for those who know me I always do) but I noticed this place had Camarrones Al Mojo De Ajo (Garlic Shrimp). And that's just a dare! We judge our Mexican restaurants by it. And this one was in our top 5. Possibly our top 3.

Total lock count: 16

Oh yeah! Check out the ajo! Outstanding dish.
Can't wait to come back!

The lonely boat on the Ohio.

A Day in Evansville

The Nu-Plaza Yacht Club marina

A number of packages had been shipped here for us, not the least of which was a new battery remote that would give Russ actual data from the new batteries. The app he'd been using was suspect, and we don't want to trash these bad boys. He opted for "more data is better". As a result we'd planned a day layover so he could hook up the new device and get that working. Also, there's a Costco here, so a bit of reprovisioning was done.

Oh, and recall the shower I was gonna take? Pump died again, thankfully when I was only wet and not sudsy. Russ attached a hose to the shore water, which got us through the night, and did a bit of research to discover that the pump's issue is a switch in the pump. He also discovered it was less than a year old and had a 3 year warranty. After calling the manufacturer they started the "trouble ticket" process, but that wouldn't get us up and running. He called around and found a marine store that had water pumps. Using the handy courtesy van here he went there, bought a new pump, and installed it. So far, so good, fingers crossed, and knock on wood.

We weren't totally unprepared for that. We did have a backup pump which used to be the primary one. And we hated it. So we really didn't want to use it again unless we were desperate.

We expect to get to Louisville by Sunday, and stay there for a couple of days. Another round of Amazon ordering has already begun. Such is boat life.

This awesome graphic is posted at the marina.
It shows all the locks we'll go through to get to Pittsburgh,
the nearby towns, and elevations. Another 17 to go.

Wabash to Evansville, marina

subtitled: Every Day is a Frickin' Adventure!

The anchorage last night was lovely but, yet again, there wasn't much opportunity to take a dog to shore. I could tell she needed to go when she stared at the front door to the bow, where I'd put all those pads. But we went out for about 30 minutes and she refused to do anything. Since her buddy passed away about a year ago she's been sleeping with us. Oh, yeah. You know where this is going. We woke to a mattress emergency around 2:30 am. Thankfully I have spare sheets.

At the town wall in Mt. Vernon.
The tow with the new crew it in the distance.

We got underway about 6 am, later than yesterday, but still early. Got through the John. T. Myers Lock without issue -- the chamber door was open and waiting. We had a reservation the Nu Plaza Yacht Club in Evansville, but after a little research Russ found a highly rated laundromat in Mt. Vernon that was just a 5 minute walk from the town wall. We decided to stop there, get all the bedding washed, then go on.

As we approached the town wall we noticed some people with luggage walking down to the very dock we were headed for. There wasn't a boat tied there so where were they going? We then realized a commercial tow was headed their way and Russ put together that that tow was doing a shift change. We didn't want to be in the way (the tow would clearly take up the whole pier) so we bagged our docking/laundry plans and headed out. Once by the tow we saw it's tender, what they were actually taking to the dock, and we definitely would fit with that. So we did a 180 and made for the dock a second time. Went like clockwork. 

You can't tell but this is a yellow finch.
Landed on a safety line right at dawn.

While I walked the dog Russ started the trek to the laundromat with our wagon full of bedding. I met him there where he took another walk to the local IGA grocery and bought some blackberries. About 90 minutes later we were firing up the engines and heading out.

Side Note: Awesome laundromat, and I highly recommend it to any boaters. I've been using laundromats over the last 5 years, including our RV adventures, and I rate it among the top 5.

Just before leaving I used the head ... and discovered the boat no longer ran water. We left anyway since we have some drinking water stored and Evansville is 4 hours upriver. Russ went to see if he could suss out the cause quickly while we were underway. Within 10 minutes of leaving the dock the starboard engine sputtered and died. Just died!!!

Logs everywhere. Eyes open if you're at the helm.

I ran slowly on the one engine while Russ took a look at that problem since he thought the two were related (the water pump is located in the starboard engine room). They were ... in a sense. While mucking with the water pump he bumped the engine's fuel filter selector, which effectively shut off fuel going to the engine,  thus starving it. The engine turned over right away when put back into the correct position.

We got docked by 3 pm. Wind came up a bit, blowing around 16 mph, but fortunately it was on our nose at the marina so docking was smooth.

Russ took apart the water pump to find a small piece of solder in the relay. Once removed, it worked like a charm. I'm off to go take a shower.

Total lock count: 15