Melbourne

I take the car back to Enterprise after breakfast and we leave at 10:30. Another cool day. Around noontime when Linda is making lunch she notices that the carpet in the galley by the engine is wet. I open the engine cover and see that the radiator cap is loose and water/coolant is running down the side of the coolant reservoir. I tighten the cap and monitor the engine temperature closely, but it stays at the normal operating temperature even though we have lost a fair amount of coolant. So we decide to keep going to Melbourne. Our goal in Melbourne is to have dinner at Squid Lips with our friends Ron and Ginny’s daughter Jessica and her new husband Joey.

Once we get the boat anchored on the south side of the bridge causeway protected from the northwind, I open the radiator cap after the engine cools down some. I expect to see low coolant, but it is filled to the top, but a pale green. Apparently, our heat exchanger has failed internally allowing salt water to pass directly though our engine, diluting the remaining antifreeze. I would have not known that, if the radiator cap had not been loose. I will have to order a new heat exchanger to install at Vero Beach. I had removed the old heat exchanger last spring, cleaned and repainted it and replaced all the hoses, so at least I am familiar with the process.

Dinghy dock at Squid Lips

Jessica recommends another restaurant they like better than Squid Lips so we dinghy ashore to meet them, leaving the dinghy at Squid Lips dock. We drive south to the other restaurant to find they are closed for an employee Christmas party, so back to Squid Lips we go. Have a nice dinner at Squid Lips with Jess and Joey. We always have fun with Jess.

 

Joey and Jessica (I suck at Selfies, the others were out of focus)