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I called Fort Wengler Electric this morning. It was one of the places recommended for boat repair. They are located about 40 miles away in Parker's Prairie but being as my problem is electrical, they seemed like a good choice. Besides, all of the other places are about that far away as well. I explained my situation and they agreed to look at the boat and see what they could do. It was about 11:00 am by time I got there. They were working on another boat that had to be done that morning and would get to mine this afternoon. Because of the distance and the fact that I had already partially disassembled the control, I wanted to be available to answer any questions while they worked. I told them that I was going to do some shopping and be back in a couple of hours. That was fine with them. I went to Alexandria, a larger (population around 50,000) town that was 20 miles to the south. It was just after noon and I the few cookies I'd had with my morning coffee were proving insufficient. I found a Godfather's Pizza that offered the same lunch buffet with the "broasted" (seems fried to me) chicken as we've enjoyed in Fergus Falls during previous years. Since I hadn't been to Godfather's yet this year I decided to eat there. I was disappointed as the chicken was a bit on the burnt side but I managed to cure my hunger nonetheless. After that, right in the same shopping area was County Market. We needed a few items so I stopped in. WOW!!! A real supermarket with PRODUCE!!! This stuff looked as good as what we get back home. I don't think of myself as a big fan of fresh fruits and vegetables but when they're not readily available, I really miss them. I bought bananas, limes (need those for drinks), a grapefruit for Denise, and stuff for green salad including cucumber, tomato, and red onion. If we ever come here again (I know I said we wouldn't but...), I think an occasional trip to this market will be worthy of the extra 20 miles over going to Fergus Falls. I got back to Fort Wengler Electric around 1:30 pm. They were working on the boat but not having any luck tracking down the short. They'd replaced the ignition switch, cleaned out the sand and grease but were still stumped. They had never seen a symptom like this before and were curious how I figured it out. I explained that on one occasion when I had the boat running, I was moving the throttle and got a big jolt as my body completed the circuit to the ground. That's when I began testing and concluded it was the throttle control. To be sure it was the throttle control and not something else, they used a brand new one for testing. Problem solved. So then they started scratching their heads. I asked what the new one cost and they said $230. I told them to just install the new one. Hell, the original was nearly 20 years old, still full of sand, and had been submerged in the lake along with the whole wiring harness. The new one solved all those problems and cleaned up a good portion of the electrical spaghetti that came with the boat. Plus I intend to turn in an insurance claim anyway so what's the difference? They had the new one installed within an hour and fixed various odds and ends that I'd wanted fixed anyway. I highly recommend their shop for any service they'll do if you're in the area. In addition to boats, they work on all kinds of small engines like chain saws, lawn mowers, snowmobiles, ATVs, snow blowers, etc. It was after 4:00 pm when I left Parker's Prairie so it was almost 5:00 when I returned to camp. Too late to test out the boat as I was expected to barbeque steaks to complement the shrimp scampi Denise was making. It was a good supper but a fairly calm night finishing around 9:00 pm. We were taking it easy as we wanted to get an early start fishing tomorrow. We agreed upon 8:30 am (I know, it's not that early but everything is relative) and Lewie went back to his motor home. I sure hope the weather is good. |
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