Weekly Newsletter: 14th September
Phew! Electric Motor can go ahead
The big news
See our post Electric Motor & Batteries Update for details. Since, meeting Andrew and Adam from AJD Marine I've been through all the notes and found all the products we need to order and the jobs we need to do before they come back for the installation. Fortunately, it isn't as scary as we thought it would be. So with the combination of Batteries and Installers sorted, we now have a clear path to a working system.
Our Videos
This week's video will be public on Wednesday, but you can watch it now:
Last week's video gained lots of view time, even if not so many views as others.
We are quite happy to see our YouTube channel slowly growing, that fits with the investment of time and money that we are willing/able to put into it. We can't spend a fortune on amazing cameras or work 30 hours editing each video (and we don't want to).
Life Balance
The time we are willing to put into filming and editing is part of the larger picture of us trying to develop a much better life-balance than we have managed before. Our focus is to get the boat ready while also ensuring that we work on both our health and happiness.
Dave has been sharing some of his progress on FaceBook and Mastodon, he has now dropped 10kg (to under 100kg) since we moved onto the boat. In the same time, his Garmin watch has shown reducing stress (weekly average dropping from 59 to 29, the lowest in about 20 months).
The walks around the Anglesey Coastal Path as a good part of the picture, as are the daily routines of living on the boat, even in a boatyard. There are more things that just have to be done, and they get us moving and get us fresh air (emptying the wee buck from the composting toilet, filling and carrying 5litre water containers, washing up by hand, emptying the waste water bucket etc).
Also adapting what we are doing to the weather is becoming more natural, we are finding we are less bothered by the wind, and it is a great improvement over being focused on diary commitments.
On the blog
Four posts this week (two already mentioned).
- New Video: Battery and Electric Motor Panic. Have we got it all wrong? Can we fix it?
- First 48V Battery bank connections: This felt like such a huge physical and mental milestone. It is years since we built the battery box (and that was the 2nd attempt). So to actually get some wires in (some components arriving on Monday that will allow us to make more progress).
- Electric Motor & Batteries Update: This was the huge news from Thursday. Takes us to such a better place with what we are doing.
- Saturday: Calm before the storm: Again the weather seems to be delayed. Sunday has been much better than expected, but some of the forecast models for Monday now see 60mph gusts (so potentially the highest since we moved onto the boat).
Anglesey Coastal Path
We have now completed the SW coat of Anglesey and started the section that divides Holy Island from Anglesey. Dave is trying to find a balance between exercise and a right knee that would like to do a bit less and rest more.
Sunday: Anglesey Coastal path. Getting to Aberffraw (on Dave's Strava)
Tuesday: Connecting bit of the Anglesey coastal path (on Dave's Strava)
The Church on it's little island was amazing!
That Church is Eglwys Cwyfan (on Google maps), Diocese website here for St Cwyfans, Church-in-the-sea.
Saturday: Around the corner of Anglesey Coastal path (on Dave's Strava)
Other Projects
Jane is doing a really beautiful, professional job on the WheelHouse enclosure. That includes cleaning and restoring the wood edging that was in a very poor condition. The first two sides of the first window section are done, along with the zipper edge that will be permanently attached to the boat.
Coming up
Jane is working on the WheelHouse enclosure, restoring weathered teak around the deck and insulating more of the boat insides.
Dave is working on the electrical stuff, again solar panels and preparation for the electric motor installation. Weather permitting he will start a prototype for the arch at the aft end of the wheelhouse enclosure, it is needed for the new mainsheet position and for Jane to anchor the enclosure cover to.
