Fowey to River Fal

On the "you can have too much of a good thing" theory, it had to be time to move on. Question was, when. There was a traditional boat rally in Falmouth so we expected the harbour and the upriver moorings to be busy hence we planned to arrive on the Sunday evening when it ought to be a bit quieter.

Knowing that we would be on another mid river mooring with no water, we headed down into the town to top up. There were several small sports boats on the outside of the two pontoons with water taps. Why they cannot berth inside as they are supposed to is always beyond us. However, we got a spot after a little bit of circling and then filled up. Zephyros slipped into the slot as we moved over to a mid river location:

After a leisurely lunch, we left in perfect conditions for motorboating.  Sunny, calm, little wind. Heading into Fowey were some old lifeboats  (there had been a rally for them the weekend before, maybe these guys were a little late or confused):

A perfect run followed, only an annoying stern gland that refused to drip nicely and got warm spoilt it a little. It was also warm in the engine room for the poor captain whilst backing off the follower and sorting it out! Time to repack the thing probably. Grr.

Zephyros looked good out to sea and you can judge for yourself how calm it all was:

Falmouth had been hosting a classic ships event and so we expected things to be very busy. Sure enough there were plenty of boats out enjoying the sun, guarded by St Mawes castle:

We headed upriver and were amazed to find space on our favourite mid-river pontoon above Smugglers Cottage - space for both Nordhavns in fact. It was one of those lovely flybridge trips that remind you why you have a boat, pay the bills and do the polishing.

Maintenance news:

Well, for no obvious reason the log decided to work and the wiring repair to the exhaust temperature gauge worked too. So, good news so far. For those strange people amongst you who love diagnostics, we have a small and quite rare treat so pour a coffee and settle down.

However, there was an interesting little set of circumstances underway. The Microcommander main engine control let out a beep. Not normal. Then it went quiet again. So, the captain checked the control unit in the engine room and instead of the normal pretty light show, it said "Er65".

Oh. Looked that up and it meant " a voltage >30v for more than 2 seconds". On a 24 V boat that normally runs at around 27.8v whilst underway and under charge, that was not right. Checked the engine start battery alternator output and it showed 0 instead of the normal 2 amps. Checked the battery voltage and it was 26.0 not the normal 27.8v . Not good, must be a dead alternator - probably the rectifier as there was a big voltage spike when it died. So, we kept a careful eye on the alternator temperature until we arrived and paralleled the engine start battery to the main house bank so it was being charged by the big and happy domestic alternator. When we arrived, we isolated the battery again. Some proper diagnostics and checks to do.