Jacksonsville, Florida - Paying it forward

On arrival at Jacksonville it was not long before other boats tied up where all introducing themselves and then along came Browne Altman.  Browne lives locally to the dock in Sisters Creek and comes along to the dock to see if there is anything he can do to help out the people that are staying there.  It was not long before Mark had shared our woes and Brown had offered to drive Mark into the town the next day to see if he could source a new alternator.

Magnum at the free dock

Bright and early Monday morning Mark called Browne and off they toddled into town, approx. 15 miles so without Browne's help we would have been snookered.  Mark returned a few hours later, he had found an alternator shop but the price was twice as much as he could get one on-line so Browne had offered to let us use his address as a postal address and Mark got on ordering online.

So whilst we were waiting we had yet another problem to fix, we had a leaking oil seal on the engine, Mark went to work on gaining access to this as he had already a new one which he bought in Norfolk. No luck yet again! He could not remove the bolt required to gain access, he needed different tools.  Other cruisers where as ever super helpful in offering tools we could use but Browne brought along various options we could use.  It was a battle that went on for another day.

That afternoon Jay on Kenlanu caught us up and stopped for dinner and a night on the dock, it was great to share stories on what we had been up to for the last few weeks.

Tuesday came and went fighting to remove the bolt and change the leaking seal, even with Mark borrowing (and breaking!) tools to do the job it was still stuck!

Wednesday started with a rainy run, the free dock is in such a remote location that all you are able to do is run down a main road and back again but it was nice to be off the boat, especially for Amanda who was stir crazy being stuck in one place.  The day continued with miserable weather and we just sat and watch a film whilst as there was nothing Mark could do to progress the alternator or the oil leak.

Thursday morning and Browne delivered the alternator to us, hurrah we thought but not for long, Mark took them (he had ordered a spare) out of the box to see they were not what was pictured on the internet and were not going to fit our engine! So again we called on Browne's help and he took Mark into town to get a new alternator ordered locally. There was also more battling with the bolt, which we eventually removed using a very ingenious compressed air tank and impact driver that Browne cobbled together from kit in his workshop.

Once the nut was removed, we then couldn't shift the pulley, back to the drawing board.

That evening we also had a chance to meet Browne's wife Nancy as we went out to dinner to thank Browne for all his help.

Mark, Amanda, Nancy and Browne

We tried relax in such beautiful surrounds and take in the wildlife but when there is a problem with the boat and you are under time pressure to keep on moving this is difficult but it was great to see dolphins in the river, vultures flying over head and a whole range of sea birds on the marshes surrounding the boat.

Beautiful view of the marshes from the boat

Vultures overhead

Pelican having a rest

Flyby from the Pelican

Friday arrived and with any luck the alternator.  Nancy was very kind and offered to take Amanda out for the morning to see some local sights, Gee-Gee the lovely little Chihuahua was also brought along for the day.  

 The Jacksonville coast is made from a string of small islands which are connected by road bridges.  One of these islands is Fort George Island and this was bought by the State Parks after there was a fight to preserve the island rather than being taken over with development.  In the 1920s the island had an up market golf/country club built for the rich to holiday, the Ribault Club was used for a number of years and passed through various hands but when the land was bought by the State Park it was in a state of disrepair and needed complete restoration.

Pretty church on Fort St George Island

Club Ribault

The interior of Club Ribault

The entrance to the Ribault Club

We also visited Kinsley Plantation which is on the island; this is owned by the National Park Service.  During the 1800 this 1000 acre island was used primarily for crowing cotton.  The plantation was manned by slaves during this period and both the main plantation house and slaves houses are still standing.  The slaves houses are made from a material called tabby which is made up from the oyster shells which were available from the river, this is obviously pretty hard wearing as the houses are still standing. 

The slaves quarters around the perimeter of the plantation  

The house sits on the bank of the Fort George River which would have been used to transport the crops in the 1800s.

Beautiful riverside location

The plantation house date from 1798 and is the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida.

Kingsley Plantation house

The new alternator arrived, was fitted and WORKED !
The oil seal didn't get changed as we were unable to remove the pulley, Browne and Mark tried various car parts shops to buy a different pulley "puller" but they were all to small, eventually they made one in Browne's workshop. Trying it out would have to wait another day though as the weather was favourable for us to leave and we were both keen to make miles south.

A huge thanks to Browne and Nancy for their patience, time and endless miles in the car ! I hope paying it forward works for them and if they ever get stuck a good Samaritan is on hand to help them out.