Tried to fire up the stove to make coffee. No gas. Pulled empty tank and connected the spare. Hm, no gas. I had Sue operate the switch, but the solenoid wasn't engaging. I wiggled the wires and noticed the solenoid would click on and off. I pulled, gently, and one of the wires came off. I checked the other one. Oops, it came off too. So much for coffee today. I pulled the solenoid valve off and we hopped into the dink. Off to Charleston city marina. As we walked over to the ship's store, an Amoco station actually, a truck stopped and a gentleman got out. The truck had "Charleston Boat Works" on the door. I thought maybe this guy would have some idea where I might get a replacement. Turns out his name is Teddy Turner, originally from Atlanta. Hm, wonder if he's related. I didn't ask since I figured every one else that has ever met him would have asked also.
He picked up his cell phone and called his office and had the parts man start looking for a replacement. He then took the old one with him and left. About 1300 he came wandering back on the dock with a new valve! Cost was less than the West Marine part. I can highly recommend him and Charleston Boat Works as very friendly.
Got underway about 1300. Didn't stop to replace the valve since I wanted to get some miles underway. I got really lost in Charleston harbor. I eventually wound up in a little channel that ended in a fishing village. About 1500 near the end of this channel the engine started to run funny. It acted like we were running low on fuel but that couldn't be. I switched tanks and it seemed to run fine for a while and then started acting up again. By this time we were back in the ICW. To make a long story short we were out of fuel. I guess we lost a lot of fuel into the crankcase. Fortunately I was near a marina. I called them and they delivered a few gallons. The engine started right up and we put in to the marina and refueled both tanks. The specs for this boat say the tanks are 70 gallon. They are only 50. I know, I put in almost exactly 100 gallons of fuel. 50 in each.
We anchored a few minutes later at Inlet Creek. Exausted.