BroadAmbition

Tks. We have both solar and shore power. Rarely do we disconnect the batteries, we do have a master breaker switch though Griff

Yes he will have and I hope they give him years of service Having three batteries in each bank I’m going for option one of your two diagrams I’m going to have to get hold of two longer lengths of multi strand ground cable. I’m on it. Tks Griff

Would he then have been "under the influencer" ? Ha Ha, very good 'He' most certainly would have been (Already was) Griff

The simple reason I cannot attend is that on 17th May all day I will be at Lambton on a team clay shooting event which Griffs Growlers are attending, I'm team captain and all four of us must be in attendance. This was booked (And paid for) ages ago now On the upside however the following weekend I will be onboard for a long weekend afloat Griff

Sunday morning 21st April Up fresh, heating and morning tv on - No issues and new batteries held up to full expectations. Did some more bank clearance, I can report that I am now well past that tree and reckon I have cleared another good ten feet - Until the next time then I then produced a FCE for the pair of us, then after clearing up we sailed for the wetshed. No need for a pump out as the heads had hardly been used What was it with the blasted wind? not only was there too much of it, it was just far too cold. I wanted to give the topsides a proper wipe down as apparently it had rained overnight but had to give it up as my hands were going numb Into Wetshed - Quick clean through and we departed for home. I left at 1250 and got home for 1600 so only just made a family dinner in a local pub at 1615 - that was a close call So, a good if short weekend afloat. For those of you that have not yet met 'Aboattime' - He is a thoroughly nice chap (For a southerner), good company an experienced helm, and a former boat owner. It was a pleasure to have made his acquaintance Griff

Saturday 20th April Up and at em early on. Batteries changed over, the old ones were collected and away. Forumite 'Aboattime' arrived as planned, off we went to the Rainbow cafe on Stalham high street, then to Tesco's for victuals to see us through to Sunday forenoon so didn't need much. Filled 'B.A's water tanks, completed our pre sailing preps then set sail around lunchtime with aboattime on t helm. It was windy and the wind was proper cold so the heating was firmly on. Ludham bridge was showing 7ft8" at best which should have meant just 1" clearance there was of course more like 3" clearance so we could thankfully leave the canopy up We arrived with no dramas at Thurne Dyke. However by now I had consumed far more vodka and orange than I really should have. No reason other than it was there and I didn't want it going out of date and I was taking advantage of having an experienced helm onboard too. Add in the fact that I don't really consume much alcohol at home either so not used to it. Two pints in the Lion and I was done for. So I left my helm with some fellow pub customers and staggered back to 'B.A' with Purdey dog in tow. Then it happened. I fell over a blade of grass, it was a particular tough blade of grass to actually leg me up. I was about twenty yards from 'B.A's well deck at the time. I thought to mysen, you know what? I'll just lie her for a while. Trouble with that was Purdey thought this was some kind of new game and proceeded to charge round at breakneck speed puppy like woofing her head off. All that succeeded in doing was drawing attention the the pair of us. Goodness knows how many attempts it took me to find mysen in the well deck but I can assure you it was way more than one. I do hope some bystander was videoing this sequence of events as it must have been hilarious Once inboard I had to snib the galley / well deck doors shut as the wind kept blowing them open, made my way to the wheelhouse which was nice and warm and collapsed into a slumber I was woken sometime later by receiving blows around the dish from one of our draft excluder sausages wielded by the helm. He claimed I had locked him out in the rain/wind, and could only raise me by leaning in under the canopy to reach said draft excluder sausage. You couldn't make any of this up could you? The daft thing was the doors on the sash sides were unlocked and all he had to do was give them a proper firm push and he would have been in! The next issue I faced was getting 'B.A' astern out of the dyke, I couldn't really ask the brand new hem to attempt this as it was his first time onboard and he had not got the feel of her, well not going astern anyhow. Somehow we made it and off we went to Griffs Corner with our new helm doing his thing. By the time we got there I was near back to normal operating capability and we moored up safe and secure on the rhond anchors it was by now 1820. A huge thanks to Aboattme for all his helming skills, mind you if he had not been onboard I would have never got mysen into that kind of mess in the first place I took mysen to task and got stuck into some bank clearance until dusk. We got the goggle box on the go, the heating was on, along with upper deck lights and plenty of inboard lighting I needed to give the 12 and 240v systems a proper long test. Helm produced evening dinner whilst I was bank clearing, Well past midnight both systems were just fine and dandy Lights out for around 0030 Griff

Yes I saw that too. Maybe we ought to alter them to the perfectly balanced connection method rather than the way they are now Griff

Out wi t'old 110 amph 'Travelbatt' batteries and and in wi t new 'Snappy' 130amph jobbies Couldn't test out the new small window vac as - sodding typical there was no condensation Saturday or Sunday morning, but the good news is that the blade is small enough (just) to fit between the canopy ribs, so best guess paid off for once Griff

Ditto wot the last three forumites said Griff

That’s me n Purdey onboard as of 2115. 3 x Hrs door to door which was a good run. Crack on with battery change in t morning Griff

Have you asked Paul? He might ok it Griff

Erm - I didn’t other than Lake Lothing (which is a fair size) It was common knowledge where his boat was moored at OBYS Griff

I know Daniel Austrin's work from other boat owners and they speak very highly of him Griff

Talking of pot holes, in this country we used to drive on the left, now we drive on what's left of the road Griff

Now then, I'm due to arrive onboard this Friday evening I could do with a hand this Saturday morning. I have a portable thicknessing planer to move out of our wetshed locker into my van, its heavy, a two man lift into our trolley than a two man lift into my van. Anyone likely to be around? Then I have six heavy leisure batteries to change over. Then on completion I will be sailing to Thurne dyke (Or maybe another location?)- It'd be easier with a crew member onboard to assist me with lowering the canopy down for Ludham bridge if there is less than 7ft7" headroom Then a hand to consume a few libations in the Lion followed by a return cruise to Griffs Corner on t Ant again through Ludham bridge Then overnight where I'll be doing some bank clearance prior to sunset (Wx permitting) followed by libations and a film of some description on t goggle box prior to lights out Sunday morning, a fairly early start, cruise back to wetshed and home. I need to be back at home nlt 1600 so must depart Stalham nlt 1200 I'll provide the scran onboard and do the cooking Saturday teatime (Unless you wanna do it) So if anyone fancies a river trip with an overnighter - Let me know (Able bodied only please) I can of course do the whole lot on my todd but will struggle moving the planer and thought some one might like a trip out, there is room for up to four crew - You'll need bedding / sleeping bag Cheers, Griff