C'est la Vie is a 1966 Charlie Morgan 34.

Her home port is Everglades City, FL. Our typical cruising area is Southwest Florida, the Florida Keys, the Southeastern Atlantic Seaboard, and the Bahamas. We are C'est la Vie's third owners and purchased her in 2005. We continue to maintain and update this classic vessel. Please post any questions or comments about C'est la Vie or our travels via the comment links below.


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Act Two: Installation


Our primary reason for returning to Boot Key Harbor was to pick up our new wind generator.   Our old wind generator, silenced by a squall in the Dry Tortugas, was so old that Southwest Wind Power no longer offered parts for the model.  They offered to sell us a replacement unit at cost.  We accepted and had the part shipped to the Marathon City Marina.   This is the second time in three years we have had a manufacturer ship replacement parts to Marathon City Marina (last time was a Balmar regulator in 2008).  Both times the system has served us well – thanks City Marina.   When we registered for our mooring ball the package was waiting for us.  Despite the continued threat of more squalls, Anne and I dove into installing the new unit.  Since we were simply replacing nearly identical units this should be a quick fix, right? 

If you answered yes to the question above, then my guess is you are not a boat owner.

We did manage to have the wind generator installed and producing power by dinner, but not before blowing C’est la Vie’s 200amp fuse.  I could take the obvious out on this mistake and blame the previous owner for locating the wind generator’s 50 amp fuse on the wrong wire, but ultimately I was the person that did not check the wiring and caused the direct short to the battery.  Fortunately everything worked properly and the only casualty was a $10 fuse.    Perhaps I should be thanking the previous owner for installing a proper fuse in the house bank installation.

Thanks again to Marathon City Marina and Southwest Wind Power for their excellent customer service.

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