In January, my wife Colleen and I, joined our friends Tom and Mary Mitri in West Palm Beach Florida. Our plan was to sail their boat Glory, a Mason 44, east from West Palm across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

The plan was to sail with the Salty Dawgs, a group comprised of like minded sailors doing ocean passages while taking advantage of safety in numbers as well as some well documented comradery.

Our plans fell through, we were waiting for a good weather window, the planned departure time was looking a bit tight, early morning cast off, a fairly calm 30 hour sail followed by some high winds and rough seas soon after our hopeful arrival time. Tom and Mary decided that we would wait for the next, hopefully better, weather option that looked promising for us to cross the gulf stream to the Berries, a group of cays in the Bahamas, in 2 days time.

While waiting out the weather it was decided to take Glory for a cruise in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Glory had been having a battery charging issue. The “house” batteries where not charging. So our trek along the ICW was 2-fold, sightseeing and to see if battery charging through the engine’s alternator charging system was working properly.

The trip was only half a success, we saw some sights. We motored along the ICW from West Palm north to Riviera beach and out into the Atlantic through the Lake Worth inlet. After a quick jaunt in the open ocean we turned back through the inlet, heading south along the ICW to our original anchorage directly across the channel from the Palm Beach Sailing Club.

However, the batteries didn’t charge. This is a major problem, especially when the plan is to travel throughout the sparsely populated, expensive to do any kind of boat repair area like the Bahamas. On a trip like this, where the Mitri’s are planning on spending the next 2 plus months traveling throughout the islands of the Bahamas. The “house” batteries are the designated energy source for all of the “house” needs; pretty much everything except starting the engine, which has its own designated start battery. Lights, refrigeration, navigational equipment, coffee maker, phone chargers etc. all run off the house batteries.

Heading to the Bahamas with “house” batteries that are not charging could be a frustrating and costly mistake.

We spent the next couple of days trying to figure out what the issue was. We checked all of the battery and charging systems electrical connections, tightening up a few loose-ish connections, found a blown fuse; these minor adjustments were not the culprit.

With the help of another mechanically inclined member of the Salty Dawg group we replaced the alternator. Being in Florida, on the coast, it was easy to find a new alternator. Tom found one within a few miles and was able to catch an Uber and pick it up with no hassles. Glory’s engine is not easily accessible, it’s located under the cabin sole (floor), which for reasons such as weight distribution is great, however, for ease of doing any kind of maintenance is a royal pain. With a bit of effort that only included a few cuss words the exchange was made. Unfortunately the alternator was not the culprit, the batteries were still not charging. Looking at the bright side of things, now the Mitri’s had a spare alternator.

At this point, Colleen and I were aboard Glory for the better part of a week and our time was running out, we had to get back home; work and kids were waiting for us.

When we weren’t trying to fix the charging system we took advantage of our time hanging with the Mitri’s, we checked out the surrounding area, having lunch from a taco truck, checking out the very large famers’ market in downtown West Palm, libations overlooking the harbor and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant helped make the stressful not-sure-what-the-problem-with-the-boat issue more enjoyable. One of the best characteristics of a great sailor is their ability to to run with the punches, being outwardly pissed off doesn’t help.

The batteries were still an issue when Colleen and I headed home. Tom had a few leads on getting a fix, a local mechanic was scheduled to come by, daily phone calls with a mechanic who, this past winter, in the Chesapeake, had done some extensive work on Glory, as well as Wayne, another sailor whose boat Gwayne, a 44′ Lagoon catamaran, was anchored a few boats away from Glory. Wayne and his wife Gwen have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures from the Great Lakes to the Bahamas and beyond.

While back in Arlington, shoveling snow, I was getting updates from Tom. The progress was slow, it took a couple of more weeks and several attempts to figure out what the problem was. Ultimately with the help of Wayne the problem was figured out; a grounding wire that attached to the engine block was internally corroded. It looked fine, was secured tightly and in no way seemed to be the problem. However, once the grounding bolt was removed, cleaned and re-attached, all was good.

The Mitri’s spent hundreds off dollars on various parts and a mechanic, to in the end, find the fix at of no cost. So often that’s how the cookie crumbles.

Now it’s time to get to the Bahamas.

Three weeks after Colleen and I arrived in West Palm for a sail to the Bahamas that didn’t happen, I headed back, sans Colleen, to make the trip. Hopefully…