PaulG

To be fair to our marina, the staff do go round all the pontoons on a daily basis to clear duck sh*t etc. If my boat was flooding to that extent I'm sure they would notice it. They did once ring me to let me know that I'd left the padlock off the rear doors. This was deliberate, as it happens, but it might not have been.

Is this the boat? clicky If so, I'd question how long it was on brokerage, as it may not have been on the landline for a long time and so the batteries would self-discharge and become sulphated and therefore knackered. Don't ask me how I know this! It does have twin alternators, so there's potential for a decent charge rate when running the engine.

There are canals in the north?

Are you sure that they were 4.5mm? It's non-standard AFAIK.

Skull and Crossbones flag.

Apologies if this one has been visited before. I did a quick search and couldn't find anything relevant. I was talking with an electrical engineer the other day about my Kestrel alternator controller that has gone U/S. (I've disabled it for the moment and I'm considering fitting a Sterling unit in its place.) In the meantime, he suggested linking out the split charge diode on the domestic side. I'm not sure about this. I can see that it will get rid of the diode drop on the domestic side and improve the charge rate, at the expense of the engine start battery. Alternator is an A127 with a 13.8V regulator, charging 1 x 110AH AGM start battery and 2 x 110AH AGM domestics. Comments appreciated...

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Much appreciated.

Exactly how high is that horse you're on David? I already indicated that I was not going down the "single conductor" route. Or maybe you just misunderstood what I was saying...

A boat with a horn that doesn't work seems to me to be a bigger risk than a missing conductor... Anyway, all things considered, I'll probably leave the wiring alone, put the horn on our workshop power supply and see if I can adjust it so that it operates at a lower voltage as Nick suggested. There was plenty of grunt there when I tested it on the boat the first time as I was on the landline with a Sterling charge running. Thanks for your input folks!

Hmmm. Thanks Martin. Depends on whether my mods can be seen, really...

Bought new horn, drilled and tapped holes in roof, applied plenty of siilicone sealant, mounted horn. Stood back and admired the nice neat job. Pressed horn button to be rewarded with a brief and barely audible "ponk" noise. Many swearwords later, new horn is removed from roof, and 12v power applied direct from socket results in an ear-splitting blast. Seems to be voltage drop from the parsimonious builder's wiring. Couldn't actually measure it as arms and meter leads not long enough, but all connectors new, bright and shiny so that is the conclusion that I have come to. Can't get at the wiring as it's all behind the fitout. I'm thinking of rewiring it to use both conductors as positives, and then use the hull as the return negative. Seems to me that the total operation time of the horn is probably 30 seconds a year at the most, so it seems unlikely to cause too many problems. Anyone else done this? Any BSS issues? Anyone care to comment?

There's a H*ds*n in our marina that has put his centreline across to the next pontoon so that he's not actually touching the one that he's moored to. Makes me smile every time I walk past.

Went last year. Didn't like it. Doubt if we'll go again.

You don't get a paper one automatically, but I understand that the examiner must provide you with one if you ask for it.

Software engineers have carried on that tradition to this very day...

^^^ What he says, esp. Namaste curry house.

Strewth! You look more frightening than a GSD?

I use Sky Go an a tablet, mostly for sports. It does give your 4G wifi allowance a bit of a battering (a Grand Prix is about 2 gigs worth).

I have to say that I have found this topic most intriguing. I am far from being a CRT-basher, and, quite frankly, I find some of the constant carping and moaning more than a bit irritating. The initial seizure of the boat and subsequent events appeared to me to be just another case of a freeloader getting his comeuppance. However, as things have progressed, I have slowly changed my mind. I've read through Nigel's court paperwork fairly thoroughly, and I have to say that, to my (non-legal) mind, I find many of his arguments to be very persuasive. Those of CRT and their legal advisers less so. I know that everyday logic sometimes goes out of the window when it comes to application of the law, but I can't see that this will end well for CRT.