Why are we 100 miles of the coast of northeast Florida? We had so much fun last time bringing Harmonie north from Florida, we decided we just had to do it again! Well, this time it is actually “work.” We are delivering an Amel 54 from Florida to the same marina in Maryland where Harmonie is waiting for us. An Amel 54 is a boat that is basically Harmonie’s younger, more sophisticated, sister.

Deliveries are always a bit of a crap shoot. You can never be 100% sure the boat is really ready to go. We had an advantage on this one, because I had spent a fair amount of time on board fixing systems for her new owner, but on a boat that has sat tied to the sales dock for the better part of four years, there will be surprises. We did the best we could checking systems at the dock, but as Captain Ron said, “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

We had some trouble with the engine not developing full power. Several things had already been done to sort this out, with what looked like good success, but when we motored away we still found it an issue. After “a little of this, and a little of that” it seems happy. Except… a day later we find the alternator is only intermittently, and ineffectively, charging the batteries. Bypassing a relay gives us the solution to that problem.

Overall we’re making good time, and so far have had excellent weather.