Preparing!

It has been lovely the last few days so Derwent6 got a good polish. It also gave us some time to clear out the cupboards in the engine room. Del also found water in the bilge which turned out to be the weed hatch drain tubes blocked..
The button on the bow got straightened and the prop got polished, yep polished.. We were getting a lot of wash from the prop after Derwent6 had been in a marina for six weeks.. When you felt it you could feel a roughness on the blades which was causing drag in the water and not giving the blades that cutting edge.. Just a good rubbing down with some wet and dry sand paper and it was like new again..

So the reason for clearing out the engine room is so we can have the new lithium batteries fitted and also two 340 watt solar panels fitted on the roof.. We are booked in tomorrow and can't wait to give Derwent6 an upgrade..

I think we have said before that this is not just a battery upgrade because you have to fit a management system to protect them.. The diagram looks something like this and will be linked to an app on the phone to monitor what is going on all the time..

It has involved a inverter upgrade and also all the wiring has to be able to take heavier loads so needs changing.
So we will try and fill you in with what goes on.