Up early...

Well, I wasn’t the only one up early - little Izzy was on patrol, keeping the boat safe from ducks and mice...

After a big breakfast, we cleaned up and shoved off.  Again, no schedule, no destination.  Just for fun, I would poke into a tight canyon - to see if Joan was paying attention...

Yes, she’s always paying attention.

We stopped at Dangling Rope Store.  I wasn’t sure why, other than the fact that during our other visits to Lake Powell, we had never been there.  The reason presented itself: ice cream.  Joan got another container of Cool Whip, to put in my morning chocolate coffee (well, mostly hot chocolate).  When we got back to the boat, she said, “There is a little Cool Whip left in this container, and I don’t have room for both...”

Let me tell you, Cool Whip mixed in with a chocolate/vanilla swirl is quite tasty!

Joan made lunch while we were underway, still enjoying the scenery...

Around 1:30, it was time to talk about places to settle in for the day.  We tried a couple interesting canyons, but found no good place to beach it, or houseboats already in there.  We kinda prefer some seclusion.

Into another canyon, all the way to the back... and a small houseboat was there.  Oh, there was room for another boat or two, but we figured they’d like their privacy, too.  On the way out, we spotted a place that was pointed the right direction for sun and the predicted wind.  I eased up to it... 50 feet... 45 feet... 20 feet.  This had all the makings for better beaching (I had to do some serious pushing this morning), with a steep slope and a small sandy area.  We slid the bow on, with 4 feet off the stern.  Nice.

Joan got out to set the anchors and when I pushed on the windlass control... everything went dead.  As in: dead.  This is not good.  Joan said, “Come on, let the anchor out!”

I went back to the battery switch, switched it to the other bank, and stuff came back on.  Just long enough to get the anchor out.  First we’ll get the boat settled in, then I’ll see what’s going on with the power - I carried a second anchor forward, tied from the stern on the windward side, and Joan set it.  OK, we aren’t going anywhere.  We tied off the downwind side (‘cause you just know the wind is going to shift during the night - it did last night).

I checked the main fuse - yep, it’s tripped.  I reset it and had Joan check the voltmeter.  Yep, it’s good.  Back to the house battery bank.  Pop.  Yeah, that’s going to be an inconvenience.  It will let me run on bank one and both - bank two blows the main.  Checking around, I am thinking there is a problem with the battery switch.  We have a generator and a jumper battery.  Still, I don’t like putting the battery on both when on the hook (even if the hook is stuck on the shore).

This may shorten our time here.  We’ll see in the morning.