Meeting fellow boaters

There we were quietly sitting in Waiouru either browsing the internet or doing some knitting (I’ll leave you to work out who was doing what!) when Jan suddenly exclaimed “Muleless is moored in front of us!”  Last time we saw nb Muleless was in the middle of the year when we were on the Soar moored opposite MGM.  The yard was still finishing her but already you could see she was a lovely boat.  Gary & Della were blogging about the build <here> and we had been reading the blog with interest.
Since then there was a brief exchange of emails regarding the lighting of Lockgate Refleks diesel stoves and now we find Gary & Della within stone’s throw easy walking distance.  An invitation was extended and accepted with the remainder of the day spent discussing all things boating, including toilets!  Muleless has a hybrid drive (diesel/electric) and is ‘all electric’ (oven, induction hob, washer/dryer, dishwasher, etc, etc……  Gary explained they had an 800Ah battery bank to power everything, including the boat and they were easily self sufficient for three days.  I was puzzled how they could get so much electrical power from 800Ah when Waiouru has a 900Ah battery bank and we don’t have anywhere near the same available energy.  Then Gary mentioned their system was 48 volt and the penny dropped.  Electrical power is volt x amps.  The rough comparison for both boats is:
Muleless   48 x 800 = 38400VA
Waiouru   12 x 900 = 9600VA
Muleless has almost four times the stored electrical energy as Waiouru.  It’s now easy to see how they can be an ‘all electric’ boat.
Gary then explained when they are running the diesel engine the electrical motor becomes a generator and recharges the batteries.
It was a most informative conversation.

Della & Gary
Great to finally meet both of you!
This morning Jan was hailed through the side hatch by a passing boat.  It was Andrew and Michelle on nb Ashdown.  We last met them in Chester when passing in opposite directions.  Time to put the kettle on and find out their cruising plans for the tail end of the current cruising year before they had to head towards Rugby and an appointment with Tesco.
The afternoon was warm and sunny so we decided to go for a cruise whilst charging the batteries.  First stop was the Newbold water tap.  I gave the roof a good wash and scrub whilst the tank filled.  Just as we were ready to move off two boats appeared going north.  Oh well….. we’re not in a hurry!  The first boat was going on tick-over so it was a slow but pleasant cruise up to the entrance to Brinklow Marina where we winded (turned around) and headed back to Newbold.  Jan managed to take a few photos along the way.

Newbold Tunnel, 189 metres long.

Bridge over the abandoned arm just before Fall’s Bridge
The carrots in the pantry were starting to look geriatric so Jan transformed them.  I’m now attempting to eat the carrot cake before it goes green <burp>.