Hi all, well we are getting organised and into the swing of things for the winter refit.

We've got the bow tank out that began leaking at the beginning of the circumnavigation, too late to do anything about it. We've measured (lots of times!) and have worked out that we can fit (hopefully!) a pair of standard sized Vetus tanks in place with minimum remodelling under the forward bunk, giving us 220 litres up there.

We've also been busy collecting parts for the first few jobs and improvements on the winter list, ordering wood and planning to complete the head tiling, add a couple of radiators and a towel rail in the head, and replace our leaking and now defunct heating circulation pump. We've decided to change from our low power 'Bolin' pump which only used 0.1 A when running to a more power hungry Jabsco pump which uses 0.25A but doesn't have a shaft seal to leak (where our bolin pump failed) and is said to run for 30 000Hrs so time will tell. The bolin pump has lasted for three winters, not as long as we'd expect for a pump costing 200 pounds!

We've been documenting the tank removal, so will add those in the gallery with descriptions shortly.

Slainte skip