And then it was 2024 - how did that happen?

We had a quiet Xmas planned, bar a lovely Xmas eve dinner with Simon and Nikki at their house. As it rained and then rained some more, we didn't even get off the boat on Xmas day. However, it was a good one.

Between Xmas and New Year, Martin and Inge who own the other Nordhavn 47 here (Malaspina) were around so our social activities picked up, taking them to Castell Coch and then to Cardiff central for their massively delayed train to London.

Just as the world was waking up again on the 2nd, we drove to the Land Rover dealer near Hay-on-Wye to drop our car in for some work. We picked up a loan car, had a nose around the showroom and proceeded through flooded roads to a hotel near Tewkesbury. There was plenty of standing water, some deep areas to slowly wade through and generally, it was pretty horrid. We would have stayed on board if we hadn't been booked in to the dealer (sorry, they like to be called retailers now). Typically, during the worst weather in ages, we were not in our Defender with a 900mm wading capability but a Velar loan car.

The following morning we drove into Tewkesbury and went for a wander as the incessant rain had finally finished. There was plenty of water in places that it should not have been - the large car park was not really useful:. 

and camping or caravanning would have been tricky:

Luckily the Abbey was all OK and very beautiful too:

The rivers had well and truly flooded, up to the lower window level on this converted building:

and we doubt that anyone will be disobeying the "no parking" sign:

There are so many lovely old buildings in the town and there was a pretty famous boat builder too:

No, not the playwright, this W Shakespeare was famous for powerboat racing and for building speedboats. Have a look at Website history  for a bit more information on him.

We left the town and headed back to the boat, this time via the motorways in case the flooding on the prettier route had got worse. That proved to be a good decision as the day after we left, Tewkesbury was pretty much cut off. See this Yahoo news weblink

As it had finally stopped raining (the torrents were replaced by near zero temperatures and chilly winds), we dug out the little folding bikes and used them for trips around Cardiff and beyond. When the wind finally calmed down too, the boat had a much needed wash to remove all the green gunge that had grown in the strangest of places. A seriously tiring day's work. The boat needed a run out so we did our usual up and down the bay thing. When the crew fired up the kettle, we got the highest output from our domestic alternator that we have ever seen:

157 amps (it actually went up to 160). Normally when we are underway with the kettle on it hits 130 or so as a maximum but this time we were also running the heating system so the demand was higher. The alternator was pretty cold (as they heat up they always generate much less than their rated output). which helped it churn out so much power - it is rated as 175 amps at 24v so it is a pretty powerful beast.

Pottering up and down the bay, drinking tea was good until we tried to start the wing engine to give it a run too. It happily turned over on the starter but would not fire up. No obvious cause either. Bad words were said and we headed back to our berth. Here is the usual strange track we followed:

with the bend in it to follow the deepest water in the bay. Some areas get very shallow.

Although it was cold, the sun tempted us out on the bikes again, suitably attired:

and we consumed much needed coffee and pastries before returning and washing the salt off the little bikes. Cycling during the week is so much nicer than at weekends though, Why do so many people think they can walk / jog / run / exercise their dog on the cycle path when there is a perfectly good pedestrian bit too?

Maintenance News:

Well, despite the poorly shoulder, the captain needed to figure out why the wing engine that has been so well behaved for nearly 15 years decided not to start during our run around the bay. The starter would turn but the motor refused to fire up. A little investigation was undertaken on the basis that to run, old tech diesels are simple beasts, liking some air, a little fuel and a teeny bit of electrical power. There was no good reason why air could get into the filters / injection pump but that was checked first in case the system needed bleeding. Nope, all was good. The feed to the stop/start solenoid on the injection pump rack was disconnected and tested for 24v power when the ignition was "on". Only there was none. That suggested a dead "run" relay. The challenge was identifying which one of the two relays in the little box was for run and which for start. The Lugger documentation didn't tell us and the wiring diagram helpfully identified the wire colours but as they were all enclosed in a plastic chafe protector.....

Never having won the lottery, you could predict what happened. The first relay was swapped out for a spare and still no start. Then the second and the wing happily burst into life. Result. we left the new replacement in the start position too - they are of the same vintage and have been shaken around in exactly the same way thanks to the little 4 cylinder poorly balanced engine so it made sense to do a pre-emptive swap.

Here are the new relays in their home, before the cover was refitted:

For the folks who might just be interested, the one to the back (gearbox) end of the motor is the run relay.

Feeling happy the engine had an oil and filter change. Only when it was restarted, the new oil filter leaked! Not at all amused. It looked as though the filter had a little split in the sealing ring - not from over-tightening it either. So, clean up, put another oil filter on and all was, finally, well. The sore shoulder was unimpressed with so much leaning over the engine and "doing things". Yes, the filter and the relays are on the outboard side of the wing engine and there is a nice wiring loom running in front of the filter to make access even easier.