Yesterday my parents-in-law came to visit. My father-in-law, Chris, has been desperate to see Goshawk of Møn, and he’s also very practical, so he came at just the right time.

A couple of weeks ago when we last took Goshawk out, I started her engine on the mooring, and all went very well. Later on, though, when I tried to start the engine to head back to the mooring, there was no power there at all. This was despite the fact that the batteries were fully charged and there was power running to the domestic circuit with no issue at all.

Our time on Goshawk yesterday, therefore, was spent with the various engine covers off trying to work out what the problem was.

The back of Goshawk’s engine

We quickly discovered, as many on the Westerly Owners’ Association Facebook page had suggested, that the 15 amp fuse for the engine circuit had blown. Never fear, Goshawk’s previous owner had left a bag of 15 amp fuses in the tool box (perhaps this should have aroused my suspicions)! We changed the fuse, and, hurrah, the instrument panel lit up! What’s more, the starter motor started and the engine did its best to start. It didn’t start first time, so we tried again; no lights on the panel. Guess what? The fuse had blown again!

We changed the fuse, and the same pattern repeated itself.

Eventually we managed to get the engine started and went for a quick motor up the river just to ensure that all was well. Thankfully, once the engine was running it went like a dream.

Father-in-law Chris at the helm, wife Claire enjoying the ride

We attempted to work out why the fuse keeps blowing and Chris suggested that the switch might be slightly dodgy. Although it looks okay to the naked eye it’s possible that there might be some corrosion somewhere that we can’t see. He’s suggested blasting it with a can of air, so next time I’m up I’ll try that. Chris’ diagnosis of a dodgy switch is supported by a poster on the Westerly Owners’ Association Facebook page, so I suspect this is the cause.

Motoring on the Stour

Otherwise we had a nice time just pottering around on the boat, doing a couple of other tasks. I refastened the halyards, replaced the carpet that got wet last time we were aboard, restocked our galley essentials (tinned meatballs, coffee!), checked all the seacocks, and just enjoyed looking at the shore from the boat, rather than looking at the boats from the shore.

As I noted before, and as a famous rodent once said,

There is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

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