BANG ! and The Battery is Gone !

Woke up in the early hours to a 'Bang'. 

I thought that something had fallen from a great height and smacked on the deck. 

    Couldn't see anything. Still dark. Alison shot up to see what had happened. As we wondered, Alison noticed shredded bits in the cockpit. A cockpit stereo speaker had exploded and the deck shower compartment lid was down. 

    We looked at each other 'The battery box'. 

   Once it got light I carefully opened the battery locker. 

One of the batteries had exploded shearing the top off it and spraying acid all over. 

What a mess. 

I wasn't even playing any Heavy Metal. 

Unhooking the shore power lead and switching everything off we surveyed the damage. 

The blast had taken out the affore mentioned speaker and blown the shower cover down. 

A quick Google showed that this isn't unheard of and water and bicarbonate of soda was called for. 

   We went to the marina office to tell them and see if they could dispose of a partial battery. Yes, but leave it outside. 

   On carefully removing the damaged batt. With protective gloves and upmost care. We put it in a battery box we had spare and trollied it to the office. 

     The onboard shore power trip had activated, so after a thorough clean up I insulated the hanging terminals and tried the electrics. Everything worked. Thank God.  

   Now a warning to others in a similar situation. 

We had heard a whistling sound for a few days before, when the batteries were on charge. I had Googled it and 'Nothing to worry about' was my conclusion. 'I was wrong!!'

The battery in question had been inspected by myself a few weeks earlier. Topped up with distilled water, terminals cleaned and the the green ok indicator was showing. 

It was our oldest battery and seems the noise was the acid bubbling under charge. It could of boiled too dry, 'been overcharged. ( it was the first in line in a bank of three ) or just become defective due to age. Don't know which. 

    With a replacement battery fitted I carefully checked the wiring. Also swapped the largest battery over to the electronics side and put the new one on the engine, as it has a Green indicator for quick checking. 

New battery installed

    Found the battery charger, under the settee in the saloon. Sterling Marine Power, battery charger/power pack. Looked online for an installation guide to check that it had been installed correctly. Couldn't find the right model. All seem newer than mine.

 I am going to give the company a call or email tomorrow and check a few things out. 

    Also, after my activities in the battery compartment, Alison noticed holes appearing in my jeans. Going to clean the locker again with more bicarb. 

     Down below, our bedroom woodwork was showing damp patches. The water I had put in to dilute the acid hadn't found its way to the bilges but sat behind the hanging locker. How annoying. 

Lots of screws and panels were removed and any water soaked up with paper towel. 

Water has got in there before by the looks of it. Will be checking that out. 

You've still got to eat. 

A day out at the Chateau Museum

German mini sub from WW2

Parle' vous English

Ok. I'm sick of talking about the weather so lets just say we wanted to visit France!

Brest in Brittany to be exact. Nice place and the food is gorgeous. 

Marina du Chateau. 

Plenty of people speak English. Thank goodness Embarrassing isn't it when your French is atrocious ! But we are making an effort - just wish we had been more prepared in that department. 

  Our jib furling mech jammed on the way here. Tut! another thing - so have just had it repaired. 

We realise what it means to have too much sail up on this Hunter Legend 37.5 now. She rears towards the wind like a Stallion.  After a reef she regains her composure and sails beautifully. 

Tied the headsail up as best we could till we moored up. 

Bit of excitement today when a huge trimaran turned up. Due to leave shortly on a circumnavigation world record attempt. 

Falmouth

Set out for Falmouth - Friday 5th October 2013. 

Found a bike for Dad. 

The wind was in the wrong direction again so we had to put a few tacks in. We left Plymouth escorted by Dolphins.

 

http://youtu.be/zilDUh90VXA

http://youtu.be/wArh4-kKiwk

A very pleasant sail non the less. 

We wanted to get there before dark so put the engine on for the last hour or so. 

We arrived at Falmouth with a rainbow. 

Missed the rain though!

Palm trees aplenty!

Good name eh Gene! Probably some stinking rich Chemist. 

Got the sail parts we ordered and ordered a valve for the bog (toilet). 

Having a last check over and re-stock before Biscay. 

Our Pal Peter, we met at Brixham has arrived today - Sunday - and says he's leaving in the morning. We were hoping to go together. So we have put up a notice at the marina to try and find some yachts going in the same direction. We'll see. 

Plymouth

We arrived at Plymouth Yacht Haven looking like 2 drowned rats! We had problems with the mainsail again and it was lying in a mess, just about on the boom. 

Good news! The marina has just started its winter rates so mooring charges are less than expected. Thanks for the goody bag and free wi-fi. 

    Booked in for 2 nights, looks like its going to be a third as there is thunder and lightening right above us at the moment. Tomorrow looks better. 

Shotting it down. 

We had just hoisted our still wet oil skins up the mast to dry, then straight down again as the heavens opened. 

On with the 'air con'. We'll see if we can dry them hung up in the cabin. 

Alison's happy with a book. 

On our last night at Brixham some local kids had the bright idea of launching 100 floating candles from a slipway next to the marina. 

I think it was in remembrance of a school kid who had committed suicide. Our deepest condolences. 

The wind blew the floating flames in our direction. I'm not sure as to how much of a hazzard this would cause, but I didn't like the thought of a naked flame nestled up to our plastic boat. 

A guy from the marina office came down and extinguished them when they came within range of his hose pipe. The few he missed I got by splashing them with the deck brush. The don't go out that easily. 

This photo is after most were extinguished. 

The marina said that they have had problems with Chinese lanterns also. 

   Did you know that you can apply to the RYA for an ICC ( International Certificate of Competence ) by filling in a form and sending them photo copies of your Day Skipper Practical certificate and Passport?  We've just found out. Why didn't anyone tell us before?

Thanks Keith from 'Black Diamond of Durham' and Peter ( S/v Elshar ) we met at Brixham. 

Sending today. Fast track.