As one would expect, we both had some time off over Easter. Since we both work shifts, actually having time off together is a rare occasion. This Easter was a bumper one - we both had 5 days off and they were the same 5 days! So, off to the boat for the period. We had decided not to go cruising but to spend the time doing some of the "little jobs" that are always there. So I cleaned the Bubble Stove, dismantled the Wind Generator, and spent hours (it seems) with the Marina "warden", Ralph, talking about why our mains supply kept failing. He suggested I was taking too high a current and tripping the whole Marina. When I explained that

a) Only our battery charger was on at the time,

Our charger / inverter has a limiting system, set at 5 amps and our supply is supposed to be 6 amps.

c) There was a fault with one of the other circuits on our pod where the breaker trips even with nothing plugged in to the outlet,

I think he got the message that it was not us and started looking elsewhere for the fault. Let us hope it is fixed soon.

We took the boat over to Baxters for a pump out and as usual when trying to get back onto the moorings pontoon, there was a strong cross wind. So, more paint scraped off, but not as bad as last time! I will have to get an old tyre fitted to the sharp corner of the metal pontoon soon.

We drove up to the Canal museum at Stoke Breurne for a look round. I must say I was slightly disappointed with the Museum. It gives the impression as being designed for 14 year olds to look round and not adults really interested in the Canals. But still worth the visit.

On the opposite side to the Museum, there is the remains of a boat weighing instrument. This must be a rare surviving artifact. Yet it is totally ignored by the Museum. There is not even a information board near it to say what it is, just a notice saying keep off the gates! I must find out more about it.

We tested out our Mobile Broadband on the boat, using the external antenna I bought from Ebay to attach to the USB modem. worked a treat most of the time but there was a different signal strength during the day.

We took the Rutland back to the makers, Marlec in Corby, on the way home. The intention was that they would fit new bearings to the rotar. But when they stripped it while we waited, the rust bug had attacked the inside of the rotor quite badly, and the permanent magnet was distorted. So the option was a new rotor assembly at £220 or a total new generator at around £520. I did think about the new one - it is a higher output, but it would have needed a different regulator and a different mast mount. So the total cost would have been about £650. So we opted to get the old one repaired. After all it is about 25 years old!!

All in all, a great 5 day break, with a few of the jobs done. But next time it will be electrical jobs, sorting out which fuse does what, testing the repaired generator and inspecting the alternators on the engine. Joy.