We departed Hennepin around 11am. Today we were traveling about 35 miles toward Peoria, specifically the I.V.Y. Marina, which is known to Loopers for it’s hospitality. We made the trip in about 5 hours, and have noticed the currents have been helping us both with speed and fuel consumption. We are using less fuel due to the extra push. Our arrival was around 4pm, which was enough time to settle in and get cleaned up, have dinner and relax.
The next morning, my project at hand was this generator. I removed the covering over the belts and went to work trying to remove the pump. I used some NutBuster which is like WD-40 and let it soak for a bit. Then I muscled the bolts loose. This allowed me to remove the whole pump, and slide it free of the belts. Once this was free, I removed the bolts on the rear of the pump and opened it up. The impeller, or what was left of it, came right out. All of the paddles had disintegrated and broke off. I spent some time getting all of the pieces out of the pump and heat exchanger. I sure hope I got all of it. Then I took the pump and the broken impeller in a backpack to a marina a half mile down the street. The ride there was a little scary as there were no sidewalks and I was on a main thoroughfare. Once at the marina shop, I showed the mechanic what I was looking for. He had several options of all sizes, except the one I need. He offered to order one, but it wouldn’t arrive until Monday, and today is Friday. That was not a good option for me. I decided to try another marina in the opposite direction by about 3 miles. Nothing like a long bike ride in 85 degree heat and sunny- (on a side note: we’ve been experiencing a ‘heat wave’ and it has been HOT way more than anywhere in Michigan!) I made my way there and was very cautious as again there was no sidewalks or bike lane to travel in. I found the marina and went to the shop. Music was playing, but no one was around. I found an area where they had impellers and searched through them all. I finally found one that matched, I think. Now I had to find someone to pay. At this point I had been in the shop for about 30-45 minutes, looking over everything and trying to ensure I had the correct part. I wandered down to the dock and saw someone on a boat. I asked if he worked there, and he said yes, he was the only one here. I explained what I was looking for and thought I had the right one. He followed me back to the shop and we confirmed it was indeed the correct one. He explained how it is a bit larger than where it fits in as the paddles bend, which cause the suction, pulling the water through. This made sense, and I was going to buy a backup but I wanted to make sure this was correct before I dropped another $40 for something that might not be right. Hopeful I biked back to the marina and went to work. I installed the new impeller and put the pump back into place, re-connecting the belts. Now was the moment of truth. I fired it up and went topside, holding my breath. I was greeted by the sound of gushing water! It worked! I let it run a bit to make sure. It was running beautifully and I shut it down after about 20 minutes. I re-assembled everything and went to the pool to tell Lauren the good news. Now that this project was done, we were able to relax a bit. A little later I got a phone call from the shop asking if the impeller worked? I replied it had, and he offered to bring me a spare that I had said I would want if this one worked. We arranged for him to drop it off around 5pm when he closes up. This was awesome that he cared and wanted to help us and save me another bike ride (and make the sale!). He even offered to pick up anything we might need tomorrow? I declined this as we are pretty well stocked for now.
The next day, Saturday, we were supposed to depart. Upon our arrival, they had told us we could only stay two night, as they were full and had reservations for others coming in the next couple of days. When we woke up, the weather was not good. We had been watching the forecast, and knew some rain was coming, which we really don’t want to travel in if possible. We did our normal departure preparations, and at the last minute decided to go ask if we could stay. We had seen others depart in the last day, so were hopeful some space had opened up. At their office I spoke to the harbormaster and he at first said there was no availability, then changed his mind and told us we could move to another dock and stay there. This was good news. We moved the boat to another slip and re-tied up. Now that we were here another day or two, we decided to go into town. We ordered an Uber and got dropped off at an old church which has been converted to a restaurant/brewery. Obed and Isaac’s was a neat place to have lunch, and then continued to The Caterpillar Museum, as in the tractors and machinery. Propaganda at it’s finest. We continued on to to see some public art, and then wandered down to the waterfront. There was an Oktoberfest going on, and as we were making our way there, it started to pour down rain! We mingled outside the gates, debating whether or not to go in. Due to the forecast, we decided to call and Uber and head back to the boat.
The next day, Sunday, was not so great weather-wise either. This was okay with us, as we would stay here and watch the Browns game. In hind sight, we probably should have done something else as I get quite upset watching them lose. Anyway, we spent the day watching football and Lauren made chili, and we got the boat cleaned up. We looked at our next stop, which will be Havana, Illinois. There is not a lot there, but they do have a free wall to tie up at on our way south.
Here’s to hoping the generator works…