I've been in Myrtle Beach, S.C. since Wednesday night the 24th of September and spending the time possible to prepare Blue Ox for the next voyage.  My son, John and myself spent some time working out the bugs getting the engine to run.  First we found no spark anywhere in the engine, took the coil off and traded it in for a new one with a lifetime warranty and that didn't fix the problem of no spark.  Finally John took the distributor cap off and found all kind of corrosion caused by moisture so we decided to sand off the corrosion off the points and distributor cap connections and it still wouldn't start.  Such a disappoint as we cranked the engine with not even a hick-up to indicate it wanted to start.  All of a sudden John said "I KNOW why it won't start and I said how can you be so sure as to say you KNOW why?  He stuck his head and hand up to the cockpit where I was with the rotor from the distributor that he had forgotten to put back in and we could have cranked the engine forever and it would not start.  Well he put it in and ... yes it started right up!

Next I have been getting additional parts and provisions ready for the sail down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), look up the story and history of this waterway, it's quite fascinating.  I have been working on the wiring for the mast headlight and the anchor light which is required when I anchor at night, it must be lit up all night so I finally got that working so now I can raise the mast which is approximately 30 feet tall but I must get it to the docking area since it cannot be trailered on the road as it will not clear the power lines overhead.  The last time I was here in Myrtle Beach I made a mast stepping gig that would allow me to set up the mast alone if need be.  Before that, John and I would step it up together and bust a gut getting it up or down whenever necessary.  It was a total killer doing that so now it is much easier. 

 Now I'm working on the running lights however they are not as critical right now since I only need them when moving during the night hours which I don't intend to do on the ICW since it's so windy (pronounced wine-de) and dangerous it is almost impossible to navigate at night.  I will fix the running lights while I'm at anchor each evening until I find the problem and fix it, then I can go ahead on the Atlantic Ocean and sail day and night with the proper lighting on the boat.