Winter Warmers

Well since my month at sea with my skipper and crew, things have been pretty quite.  I've been out a few days but apart from that nothing much.

My whole charging system has had an entire overhaul since my skipper worked out why it was I was chewing through my fan belts and all three of my charging systems, be it wind, shore or engine power, comes complete with an intelligent regulator.  That ensures that all eight of my batteries not only get re-charged , they're subjected to a conditioning phase and a trickle (floating) charge.  Apparently the science behind this is to prevent the build up of chemical deposit on the plates within each cell of my batteries and so keeping them fresh.  Also my skipper has fitted an ammeter that measures to the nearest 0.1amp whether the batteries are discharging or charging.  He can also interrogate it further such that he can enquire as to how long at the current rate of charge/discharge the batteries will be either fully re-charged or at the level when they need to be recharged.  This will be useful when sailing long distances in light winds when the wind generator isn't capable of  keeping tabs on demand and also at anchor, ensuring that there's enough power to keep the instruments on anchor watch etc., over night.

The new 100amp alternator and Balmar ARG-5 intelligent regulator has an additional two sensors to inform it of both battery and alternator temperatures, this ensures that the whole system is delivering the right amount of power at all times whilst the engine is running.  When it is, a healthy charge rate of a  14.8v is seen once more.  The faulty battery mate my skipper replaced whilst in Plymouth this year resolved the fan belt issue.  This could all be down to the 3.5 tonnes of water I took on board during my passage down from Scotland all that time ago.

Weekend before last my skipper came down on his own and then disappeared as he heard cries for help and ended up pulling a fellow sailor out of the river a pontoon or two down river.  Then proceeded to show his guests around me afterwards.

This weekend as twilight was settling in on Sunday, my crew arrived.  My engine fired up and my lines made ready to slip.  All my navigation lights and some cabin lights turned on.  Where was I going, surely it was far to late to go sailing, the wind was northerly and varying in strength.  Never the less with lines cast I was heading down stream.  The inly black surface and lack of any other vessels in the river made for an eerie prospect.  We came across The Craftsman the 60 foot + ketch that I share the pontoon with during the summer and I was swung in to the entrance of the north basin of Cowes Yacht Haven and before I knew it tied up to N5 pontoon.  Although yet again the wind just caught my bow, but the lines prevented me from going to far before the bow thruster brought me back in to line and the remaining springs could be set.

Today the crew brought a new oven down and I assume this is where I'll be over winter.