I left home about 7:00 this morning and had a rather uneventful drive to Portland, OR to pick up my friend John. Since our wives had no interest in driving to Alaska, we both decided that we would do it together. At least, partway. John will be flying back to Portland out of Anchorage in about 2 weeks, as I continue my journey with Mike and Tom.
When I arrived at John’s house, I wanted to make sure that my battery was charged while driving here, so I insert my Battery Monitor into the 12v receiver in the galley. DEAD! Nothing! No power! None of my lights nor my Fantastic Fan had power. So, I started the process of trying to track down the problem. I found that my #6 fuse was burnt out, so I replaced it. (I should preface this with the fact that I had a new WFCO Converter installed last Spring; replacing the Hung Elixir that went out twice.) I hooked up to shore power and another fuse blew. I hooked up to my generator and the fuse blew again. Still, no power to my 12v system. I disconnected my battery and took it to Battery + Bulbs and had them check it. The battery is fine. I was getting very frustrated and thought about bagging the trip to Alaska, but decided to go ahead anyway. Since my LG seems to work fine plugged into shore power AND when I hook it up to my generator, that should be good enough to get us through the 6-weeks. It’s just frustrating trying to figure out why things aren’t working like they are supposed to. I planned for surprises, but this was not one of them!
Tomorrow will be an interesting day. I was surprised at what Mike and Tom had to endure when they passed through Customs. I brushed up on what we can and cannot take into Canada and was even aware of the egg-ban; but not bear spray. We are carrying two cans of bear spray and I have a copy of the Canadian Rules & Regulations dated January 23, 2013 Memorandum D19-13-2(c) that allows for bear spray as long as (i) the label of the container indicates specifically that it is for use against animals only. I’m thinking, too, that the Canadian Customs in British Columbia may be more lenient on this subject because of the number of bears in their Province compared to Manitoba. We can only wait and see. Stay tuned!