It's always a bit of a concern to be visiting the boat after so many months being left all alone. This made more concerning after dreaming Percy had sank in a lock !! In fact on checking we were last with Percy on the 9th October 2023.... See here
I'm so ashamed I/we left the boat all winter - thats 165 days or over 23 weeks - more than 5 months. Wind rain snow ice. The storage box had twisted in the wind other than that externally she looked very well. Inside the same - we stripped the bed and turned and vacuumed the mattress. I cleaned the bathroom after filling and testing the water heater - always a weak point. I blow any water out of it via the shower hose and wrap it in my dressing gown thankfully it survived, some orange flames on startup but other than that worked a treat. I also gave the kitchen a good clean while Rachel vacuumed the boat and the curtains.
Outside I added a bit of oil to the genny and it went on first pull and ran the vacuum perfectly. The delta 2 portable battery was plugged into the afternoon sun and was getting 250w off the panel so that bodes well for summer on board. The batteries were at 100% confirmed by the Smartgauge and also the Victron shunt that showed just 2.3 amps going in from the Delta 2 running the shore line into the boat.
We didn't stay aboard as I've DIY here and at my youngest house tomorrow but we would like to be back on Sunday for a few days . I want to strip the engine to get into the crank case. I'm uneasy starting the engine after leaving it so long and I'm sure the 'book' says open the crankcase door and oil the main bearings after a long lay off. It'll mean removing the water pump started motor and alternator but I've done that before Hopefully I can get the door off not trashing the gasket as they are only available in kits of full gasket sets which are expensive....
So well done Percy, you have done us proud - lets hope the donk after a little TLC - I'll check and adjust the tappets starts and behaves! More to come hopefully
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