A weekend in Alton.... Another boat problem to deal with......

Saturday and Sunday, August 24 - 25, 2019
Day 14 -15 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles)


On Friday evening it was cool enough for me to try out my Webasto heater.   Not that it was chilly, but I wanted to try it out in conditions where at least I might feel the heat.   The heater started up and was producing a nice amount of heat, for about five minutes.  Then it turned off and was flashing an error code.   More on this in a bit......

I went shopping and got sheets and blankets for the quarter berth, after feedback from Caroline and John about what would be more comfortable than the sleeping bag arrangement I had started with.

On the way back to the boat I stopped off at the Alton Visitors' Center to pick up some literature about things to see and do in the area.  Alton was the home of the world's tallest man. Robert Pershing Wadlow, named the "Gentle Giant," he was born, educated and buried in Alton, Illinois. His height of 8' 11.1" qualifies him as the tallest person in history, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.  He died in 1940. 

Saturday evening there was a party at the marina.  They had a barbecue food set up and a band.  I had a quick bite to eat and listened to the band for a bit, but it was pretty loud so I returned to my boat.  I could easily hear the band from there!



An HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile All-in-One printer and scanner arrived for me and I spent the evening trying to set it up so that I can print wirelessly direct from my computer, as well as being able to scan documents.  The instructions seemed simple, but it can't seem to find the driver.    The printing works occasionally, but not the other functions.

Sunday I had breakfast at the marina cafe and chatted with a couple that bring their boat down every couple of weeks.   They also do boat cleaning..... May have to have that done!  :)

About noon the skies opened up, so it seemed like a good day to work on boat projects.  I read more about the Webasto heater problem and learned that I could reset the error code by pulling the fuse.  After some hunting I found the fuse and pulled it.  Once back in, I was able to restart the heater, but it only was on for a few minutes before it shut down and the same error code appeared.  This was hardly surprising, but I thought at least I would try it and now I know where the fuse is (and have labeled it).

Terry, the Training Captain, had given me the contact information for a local Ranger Tug dealership so I will call them to see if they have any ideas.  I have also emailed Peter at Winter Island Yacht Yard.  A heating system, that is not reliant on having electricity, would be very nice before the cooler weather sets in!

Here is the list of things that need work on board Sunny Tug:
  • Steering system
  • Replacement of all house/engine batteries
  • Water leak in the area of the raw water pump (part of the engine cooling system)
With the rain, and the end of the weekend, that marina has become a lot quieter, which is nice.  The cooler weather also means I don't have to have the air conditioning running full time, which is nice as well.   


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