Maintenance issues......

Friends warned me that the maintenance of Viridian was going to be a constant headache and a full-time job whilst we were travelling. As Jan will tell you I am not particularly handy (in fact, even I would have to confess that my DIY skills are quite poor) so I tried to get everything working before we left in order to postpone the moment when I first had to try to repair something on the boat. 

Well we left Portsmouth just over two weeks ago and already quite a few repairs are required. This afternoon we arrived in Port Joinville on Ile d'Yeu and I couldn't turn off the engine. I have to confess I was flummoxed, all I could think to do was turn off the fuel. After about 5 minutes that hadn't worked and our neighbours were beginning to grumble a bit about the diesel fumes contaminating their aperitifs and nibbles. Fortunately a local marine repair operation was nearby and still open, so they sent Patrice who solved the problem in all of 30 seconds (and for the very modest charge of E10) by pulling the engine cut-off switch. At least I will know where it is the next time that happens.....

Other issues,..pretty much whenever we plug in to the marina shore power we trip the RCD so we can't get any electricity. Apparently the French boxes are set at 6 amps, which isn't enough for anything very much. However I don't think I dare run the generator  to charge our batteries tonight and risk irritating our neighbours even more.

The air-conditioning has failed - but I think that is an airlock in the water intake and it may be solvable by yours truly - I will brave that task tomorrow. The water-maker won't work in spite of us spending ridiculous amounts to get it serviced - I will name and shame the firm who did the work if we don't get some help from them.

I think that's all for now, but it is probably enough to be getting on with