MWNN is on the boat

despite breaking down on the way to the Tunnel yesterday.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Autumn weather is usually fine. We have had some lovely cruises in England and France in September and October. This year, even if the weather had been better, there is no time for a cruise as the boat needs so much work before winter sets in.

There are a million and one things need doing, not least of which is to find and repair the leak in the cooling system. We were getting through litres of coolant every day during the cruise and, eventually, had to use plain water to top up the radiator each day.So MWNN has returned to find the leak armed with one of these. You replace the radiator cap with the cap on this device, pump up the pressure and watch where the water spurts out of the system to identify the source of the leak(s). Of course, the bilges need to be completely dry, as some of the hoses are below water at the moment.

The boat also needs getting ready for coming out of the water for blacking. We've decided to come out with the other boats in the Club Nautique de Haute-Picardie because it's the most cost-effective way of doing it; the cost is shared between everyone for the hire of a crane on a day in November. The down side to this is that the boats don't go back in until April 2011, so all the water systems will need draining down. The last time we spent a winter out of the water in France, the water filter under the sink cracked because it had a residue of water inside.

The battery management system needs an overhaul. It wasn't charging the batteries correctly during the cruise. The fan had long ago given up the ghost which meant that when we were plugged into shore power, the system was overheating. MWNN will have to remove it and send it back to the manufacturer who will give it a thorough 'upgrade'.

We've had a new cratch cover made but can't afford to replace the wooden cratch-board at the moment. MWNN will have to re-do the window beading on the board and give the whole thing a lick of protective paint and it will have to see us through another season with its new cover protecting the front deck and its content from the wet weather.