Grebe Catching a Fish and Swallowing It
|
I had time to wash my clothes, and on my return, found Rex scratching his head. The batteries had not been charging from the land based mains supply. The mains charger on board fed 12 volts to a distribution switch via a 25 amp fuse mounted on the switch. The fuse had gone. We had no replacement fuse, but I found I could insert a temporary fix with a 30 amp fuse. This worked, but after a while I felt the distribution switch; it was rather too warm. I concluded the switch was on its way out, and perhaps the latest battery arrangement to handle the bow thruster was drawing too much current for the switch and fuse anyway. We agreed to err on the side of caution and use the switch as little as possible until we returned to home port, and then replace the switch.
Sunset over Ketelmeer, Ketelbrug in the Distance
|
We slipped our lines and were soon heading back up Veluwemeer with a warm sun pouring through gaps in the clouds. Our journey was uneventful. The Elburger Brug where we had to wait for over an hour for it to open on the way down was now open when we arrived.
In the Drontermeer, dinghy sailors capsized, and quickly righted their craft and were soon skimming across the water again. A flotilla of Fireball dinghies were out for a Sunday race, disturbing a large flock of swans on the water. Canoeists zipped along. This stretch of water was a paradise for those into water sports. Eventually we reached the Ketelmeer where the water was now rather bouncy, an obvious hangover from the recent storms. Here we put into Jachthaven Ketelmeer for the night.
This was basically a yacht harbour in the middle of nowhere, with inadequate toilet and shower facilities for the number of berths, no shop, but there was a restaurant at the end of the marina - a captive audience then. We tried the mains charger again. For the moment it seemed to work, 10 minutes later it didn't.
We dined in the marina restaurant, the "Lands' End". The food was excellent. Rex even tried out his humour on one of the waitresses; she was not amused. A solitary sailor raced his dinghy across the choppy waters towards the Ketelbrug, turned around and raced a barge back down the Ketelmeer, a clear winner. Rex commented how beautifully the sailor had set his sails. The mariner drops his main sail just outside the marina and glided in using his jib. I recognised him immediately, he was the harbour master for the yacht harbour.
