This is a reminder that it's the time of year when members are putting their boats away for the winter and are installing agitators. Since agitators use a submerged, electric motor, they are notorious for developing ground faults as they get older. Our dock electric system is fully compliant with the latest Code requirements for marinas, in particular with respect to earth (ground) current leakage detectors. This protection system is critical to everyone's safety.

In theory, the multi-tiered system should isolate a ground fault issue at the slip pedestal without interrupting power to the entire dock. In practice, sometimes the protective devices do not coordinate properly and the main breaker trips.

If you are installing and testing your agitator, PLEASE make sure that it does not trip your pedestal breaker and ALSO, please make sure it does not trip the main breaker for your dock (Rodeo East, Rodeo West, Boardwalk, or Sunset). A good way to do this is to make sure an AC device on your boat (for example your battery charger) remains on after you're done installing and testing your agitator. We had a case yesterday where an unknown something tripped Rodeo West, although we could not pinpoint or replicate the problem.

You can easily tell that the main breaker for your dock is tripped if the red light on the associated main panel (at the head of Boardwalk) is illuminated. If this happens, please notify me, Doug Simons, Bob Sharkey, and Gary Templeton as soon as possible and one of us will either restore power or attempt to walk you through the power restoration process.

Fair notice to slip holders. If we determine that your agitator or boat is tripping the main breaker, your power will be unplugged at the pedestal and we will immediately notify you. This is so we can restore power to the remainder of your dock. It is your responsibility to diagnose and remedy the reason why your equipment is tripping power to the docks, although we will assist you as much as practical.

Especially now that the season is winding down due to the lack of members present, we might go several days before we discover power is out on a dock. Please, everyone do your part by being on the lookout for issues, and letting us know as soon as possible.