All at sea – a blog about boat repair, sailing and cruising the high seas.
So, this has been a long time coming, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. Last week, the surveyor completed his survey of what will very soon be my very own Hallberg Rassy 352! She is currently on the hard in a yard in Imperia, Italy. This was so the surveyor could complete his task. Her current home berth is a marina in Santo Stefano al Mare in Italy. Over the course of the next year to eighteen months, she will make her way to Ireland.
So, another word (or thousand) on batteries, following on from Part One. This time the focus is on LFP batteries. We have pretty much exhausted the conversation on lead acids! I mean, my previous post on this subject was over 4,000 words long. This one will be shorter because we’ve covered the basics already.
I have a decision to make. Work on the Achilles has slowed to a standstill for a variety of reasons. Do I continue, or do I get on with my life and direct my sailing attentions elsewhere? Neither alternative is particularly ideal. Let me explain, why.
If you read my most recent blog post about Nikea, you would have picked up a certain “vibe” regarding the syndicate. Nikea is an old boat. A Beneteau First 345 built between 1984 and 1988. As a fibreglass hull, and a great engine, she still has a lot of life in her. However, what she needs is time and money. Money to pay for some more modern equipment and the time to fix a lot of small but niggling issues. We could probably hire someone to do a lot of the work, or we could fly there and do the work ourselves. But Greece isn’t what it once was. It’s overcrowded and getting very expensive. Sure, you can still eat out and have a carafe of wine very cheaply, but mention “boat” in any purchase, and the price matches the worst excesses of everywhere else. But really it’s the overcrowding which ruins it for me.
I am of course being sarcastic when I say “a word” about batteries, as entire books have been written on the subject, and many more could still be written. As we had some excitement with two flat batteries last year, I thought it might be a good idea to add to the extensive number of “words” written about batteries. This is the first of two parts, on the subject. I will start with an introduction to the technology, and a fairly detailed discussion of lead acid batteries. In Part Two, I will talk about Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries.
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