11 Jun 19

If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. Yesterday when we got in and plugged in the shore power, I noticed the batteries were not already fully charged, which is a bit strange, as we had been motoring for nearly 2 hours. So, this morning, when we disconnected shore power and started the engine, I checked the battery monitor and, sure enough, the alternator was not putting out any amps. I then started the 5 kW generator, and it was putting out 20+ amps and the battery voltage went right up. We got away from the dock about 11:00 and after pumping out the HTs, headed north up Puget Sound into an 18 kn north wind. We sailed most of the way to Blake Island, where we picked up a mooring ball on the SW side of the island at 14:10. After we were tied up, I spent the afternoon doing a bit more trouble shooting on the alternator; it is definitely not working, although whether it is the alternator or the isolating diodes or the voltage regulator or the exciter, I am not smart enough to figure out. And then it was happy hour. We had a nice dinner aboard and enjoyed watching three raccoons foraging on the beach and a beautiful view of the sunset over the Olympic range.

47-32.305’N, 122-30.109’W; Log = 18.0, Sum (2019) = 141.0 N-m