Delays and developments

We had only a few days on Erin Mae in mid-April, and various commitments kept us in the south for longer than expected. But we were able to come up a couple of weeks ago for a few days, and again on Saturday, continuing with preparations for this year's travels.

My research into under-sink water filters was interesting and successful. I found a supplier with the exact model of the casing I had cracked. That's now properly installed, and the water flow is as fast as it's ever been – so fast that I even went back to my research to check I was using the correct filter element.

We've almost completed the conversion to 12 volts of all possible systems. The first indication that everything is going to be hunky-dory came following what could have been a calamity. During the winter I'd left a small heater on anti-freeze duty, only to find on our first spring visit that it had used up all the mains electric from the meter. We arrived too late in the day to get a top-up from the marina office, but the SmartGauge showed the batteries were fully charged anyway. One up for the solar panel! We had some perishables with us, so we decided to turn on the new 12 volt fridge and see how things went overnight, with just the batteries for power. In the morning the SmartGauge showed 85% – under the old regime with the inverter running a 240 volt fridge the batteries would have been well down by the morning.

I think technical reports are best in small doses – so I'll continue the 12 volt saga tomorrow, as my blogging gets up to speed for the season.