Ramblings

  • Cerbo GX MK2 and Blue Opal

    Cerbo GX MK2 and Blue Opal

    For the longest time, I’d avoided going the Victron hardware route – they seemed pricey for the offering, and I wasn’t sure I could make good use of the functionality on Blue Opal. I experimented with running the Venus large image on a Raspberry Pi at one stage, while I was trying to get the…

  • A leaky battery – cleaned

    A leaky battery – cleaned

    Went back today armed with more baking soda, and found that the overnight soak had actually neutralised most of the acid. There was a bit of fizz on a piece of wood that forms a brace point under one of the panels, and with that neutralised and rinsed, I just had to dispose of the…

  • A leaky battery

    A leaky battery

    In 2023, I replaced the starter battery for Blue Opal with a smaller 80Ah one, as the 105Ah was having problems. Said problems included finding out that there was acid on the bottom of the battery when I placed it on the mat that protects the top of the companionway. What I didn’t twig at…

  • Tuesday Racing

    Tuesday Racing

    K and I went for a walk after my working day finished, and we had some sunshine and clouds for our walk out on the West Pier of Dun Laoghaire. It seems the racing from the hut doesn’t use sound signals any more, so next time I’ll have to take a VHF radio with me…

  • Investigating the engine RPM drop

    Investigating the engine RPM drop

    Monday afternoon after work seemed as good a time as any to do the start of the investigation. I’d already contacted the marina yard manager, and the mechanic is on holiday this week, so I may as well do some fault finding and provide details so the yard can work faster. The diagnostic list was…

  • Malahide to Dun Laoghaire

    Malahide to Dun Laoghaire

    Friday I took Friday off to launch Blue Opal with K. Early train north to Malahide, with bedding etcetera for an overnight stay; we could potentially have brought Blue Opal back to Dun Laoghaire on Friday, but launches have rarely been an on-time thing. It was much easier to say “Friday is splash, Saturday is…