Photo Albums
17 February 2014
14 Photos
26 June 2012
19 Photos
SailBlogs Friends
inclusionWinds v2.0
AURA

Birvidik

Vessel Name: Birvidik
Vessel Make/Model: Victory 40
Hailing Port: Jersey C.I.
Crew: Bob Newbury
About: Liz Newbury
Extra: 11 years into a 10 year plan, but we get there in the end.
24 December 2023
22 November 2023 | Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.
14 August 2023 | A farce in three acts.
14 August 2023 | Sliding Doors
14 August 2023 | The Game Commences
11 March 2023 | Joseph Heller, eat your heart out.
24 December 2022
26 August 2022 | or 'French Leave'
03 August 2022 | or 'Fings ain't the way they seem'
18 June 2022 | or Desolation Row
22 March 2022 | or "Every Form of Refuge Has its Price
28 October 2021 | and repeat after me - "Help Yourself"
23 September 2021 | Warning - Contains strong language and explicit drug references
23 September 2021 | or Everything's Going to Pot
04 September 2021 | or Out of my league
27 August 2021 | or 'The Whine of the Ancient Mariner
16 August 2021 | Found in marina toilet, torn into squares and nailed to door.
06 August 2021 | or 'The Myth of Fingerprints'
Recent Blog Posts
24 December 2023

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Those were the days, my friend...

22 November 2023 | Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right

As a fully paid-up Guardianista, I am fully aware that blanket, stereotypic statements along the lines of:

14 August 2023 | A farce in three acts.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles - Preface

OK, I admit it.

What do you do all day?

08 August 2013 | More tangents - secret weapon next time (honest)
the uninitiated ask with tedious frequency. The finale to the battery saga answers this query in classic fashion.

Let's try a little thought experiment. Imagine the battery in your car has gone phut. At worst you'll have to cadge a lift or take the bus into work. Then you would go to your local automotive factor, the whereabouts of whom you already know, buy another battery from stock, fit it in your car et voila! - job done.

Compare and contrast with the domestic batteries on Birvidik going phut. Luckily, we can still start the engine as this is on a separate battery bank. Birvidik has more redundancies built into her than you'll find in a George Osborne wet dream. (I really must try and get that image out of my mind - makes me feel quite unwell.)

Apart from that though, we're in deep do-do. We can't run the engine 24/7 as it is (a) expensive, (b) antisocial, (c) likely to lead to expensive engine repairs, (d) bloody irritating and (e) ecologically unsound. Without batteries we are, when under sail or at anchor, unable to operate a lot of systems, among them navigation lights, anchor lights, autopilot, radar, radios, chartplotters, depth sounder, GPS, anchor drag alarm, domestic lighting, running fresh water, deck wash, shower pump-out, sewage pump-out, computers and weather forecasting.

All a bit limiting overall. We can cope without, but it's all rather primitive and wearing.

We are unable, though, to just nip down to our local automotive factor. Firstly because we don't have one, and secondly because a boat's domestic batteries are very very special, very very expensive and very very rare deep cycle batteries the likes of which are not often found kicking around in your local garage.

The first step was to run the engine to get enough power to access the internet and find out if there was an agent for deep cycle batteries in Croatia. There was - hurrah!
In Zagreb, miles away and well inland - Boo!

They did, however, have an email address, so I emailed them setting out our requirements. Impressively, their sales manager emailed back within a day to confirm that they had the necessary batteries in stock. He even emailed us a spec sheet for them and they appeared to be just the job. What was more he could, within a week, deliver them to Korcula, where the company had a distributor. We were on a completely different island but things were starting to look up. We set off the next day for Vela Luka, which is right at the other end of Korcula, but fitted in better with our overall plans.

'Piece of piss', we thought. 'We'll hire a car, drive the 45 kilometres to Korcula Town, pick up the batteries and Bob's your uncle. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

The first problem was hiring a car. It was peak season and every hire car on the island was either out, reserved or broken. After several hours walking around town we managed to book the last available working hire car in the Balkans, and that was only available for two days.

We set off for the other end of the island. We had been assured that the batteries would be at the shop in Korcula town on the Tuesday, and indeed they were. I knew this because I could see them stacked up on the floor. Through the window. Of the locked door. Of the closed, dark, empty shop.

I consulted the opening hours on the door - 08:00 to 15:00. I consulted my watch - 11:45. "Perhaps he's just popped out for a minute" I suggested. "Let's go and grab some lunch and come back." We were back at 14:00. Still shut. Never mind, we still had the car for another day. We decided to come back the next day, and drove the 45 km back to Vela Luka.

I took the precaution of texting Miky at the shop and arranging a time on Wednesday morning. We set off back for Korcula. As there was nowhere to park outside the shop we parked in the nearest available place (half a mile away uphill) and walked down to the shop which was, surprisingly, open.

We unpacked the batteries and I examined them. It was at this point that I discovered that, contrary to the blandishments of the spec sheet, they did not have the same terminals as our old batteries. I pointed this out to Miky. He looked perplexed and shrugged. No problem, I thought, all we needed were new connectors to wire them in. "Give us 20 ring terminals to fit these then, and I'll crimp them on."

This shop sells batteries and electrical equipment of all shapes and sizes, with the sole exception it seems of battery connectors. For these we had to drive eight kilometres to Lumbada, which we duly did. Having found the shop, obtained said terminals and driven back to Korcula I tried to pay. "Where are the old batteries?" asked Miky. "What old batteries?"

It turned out that the price I had been quoted included a 25% discount for exchanging the old batteries. It would have been handy if they'd told me. Unless we wanted to pay 33% more than we were expecting, we had to drive back to Vela Luka, extract four old batteries, get them off the boat and into the car, and drive 45 K back to Korcula. It was now about half twelve. "I'll wait for you" said Miky.

We got back at ten past three. The shop was locked and in darkness. My bottom lip was beginning to tremble. Just as I was about to heave a brick through the window, Miky unlocked the door. We carted the 30kg monsters up the steps to the shop and I got out my debit card to pay. We were nearly there.

"Ah - problem" said Miky.

"What problem?" said I.

It transpired that the shop's IT system locked down at 15:00 every day and would not accept any more transactions until opening time the next day. "You can pay by cash" suggested Miky "and I'll put it through tomorrow". I explained that the bill for these batteries was nearly 800 quid and the Nationwide didn't trust me to take out more than 300 quid a day. My offer to give him the card details and pay over the phone was rejected as certain to incur the wrath of his boss who was strictly a 'No cash - no goods' sort of trader.

Miky said that there was no other way round it, I'd have to come back the next day, pay then and pick up the batteries. I pointed out that I had the Last Available Car in the Balkans and that it had to be back that evening. So he phoned his mate, who was a bus driver. His mate was driving the 06:30 Vela Luka to Korcula bus the next day, and was also driving the 10:30 Korcula to Vela Luka bus. I needed to get the 06:30.

Batteries are classified as hazardous goods and not allowed on buses, but it was agreed that between the three of us we would sneak four 30kg leviathans onto the bus without anyone noticing and the driver and I would then surreptitiously unload them in the middle of a busy bus station in Vela Luka. After that it was down to me to get them from the bus station to the boat. There didn't seem to be any alternative, so I agreed. This farce had got to the stage where the only rational response was not anger, but resigned hysterical laughter.

We drove the 45 k back to Vela Luka.

Luckily, we didn't have to go through with this ludicrous subterfuge. When we got back to Vela Luka I wheedled, begged, crawled and pleaded with the nice woman on the car hire shop and managed to negotiate an extra few hours the next morning.

So, the next morning we drove the 45 K back to Korcula, picked up the batteries, loaded them in the car and drove the 45 K back to Vela Luka, where we unloaded the batteries on the quay and returned the car.

All we had to do now was get the batteries onto the boat and wire them in. Getting them on the boat without dropping them in the water involved lowering them one at a time from the quay into the dinghy, rowing round the stern, then using the stern anchor tackle to lift them on to the stern platform and subsequently onto the aft deck. They were then manhandled along the side deck, into the cockpit and down the companionway steps into the saloon. This took about two, sweaty, hours.

Changing the connections and wiring the batteries in, then securing them took about four hours.

Et Voila! Job done.

What do we do all day?
Comments
Current Position
Birvidik's Photos - Birvidik (Main)
15 Photos
Created 31 January 2017
3 Photos
Created 16 October 2015
The move from seagoing to rivers and canals
29 Photos
Created 11 October 2015
10 Photos
Created 6 January 2015
18 Photos
Created 25 September 2014
14 Photos
Created 17 February 2014
21 Photos
Created 2 September 2013
4 Photos
Created 2 September 2013
10 Photos
Created 8 August 2013
16 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
4 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
11 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
12 Photos
Created 26 July 2013
and wintering in Lefkas
19 Photos
Created 6 February 2013
14 Photos
Created 18 August 2012
19 Photos
Created 26 June 2012
5 Photos
Created 18 January 2012
14 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
5 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
9 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
8 Photos
Created 16 October 2011
9 Photos
Created 10 October 2011
10 Photos
Created 11 July 2011
23 Photos
Created 21 June 2011
10 Photos
Created 15 May 2011
44 Photos
Created 21 April 2011
9 Photos
Created 29 March 2011
24 Photos
Created 26 March 2011
12 Photos
Created 25 December 2010
13 Photos
Created 23 December 2010
7 Photos
Created 28 September 2010
10 Photos
Created 21 September 2010
15 Photos
Created 8 August 2010
9 Photos
Created 6 July 2010
12 Photos
Created 28 June 2010
9 Photos
Created 30 May 2010
21 Photos
Created 4 May 2010
20 Photos
Created 7 February 2010
7 Photos
Created 7 February 2010
13 Photos
Created 20 December 2009
11 Photos
Created 20 December 2009
15 Photos
Created 8 September 2009
11 Photos
Created 20 August 2009
13 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
10 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
6 Photos
Created 30 July 2009
12 Photos
Created 19 July 2009
15 Photos
Created 19 June 2009
8 Photos
Created 8 June 2009
8 Photos
Created 2 June 2009
7 Photos
Created 2 June 2009
10 Photos
Created 1 June 2009
8 Photos
Created 23 May 2009
27 Photos
Created 20 May 2009
24 Photos
Created 20 May 2009
9 Photos
Created 10 February 2009
15 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
9 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
22 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
8 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
8 Photos
Created 25 December 2008
15 Photos
Created 13 August 2008
10 Photos
Created 13 August 2008
13 Photos
Created 4 August 2008
5 Photos
Created 4 August 2008
10 Photos
Created 4 August 2008
9 Photos
Created 4 July 2008
12 Photos
Created 6 June 2008
10 Photos
Created 17 May 2008
14 Photos
Created 14 May 2008
17 Photos
Created 20 April 2008
7 Photos
Created 20 April 2008
22 Photos
Created 5 March 2008
6 Photos
Created 4 March 2008
10 Photos
Created 4 March 2008
8 Photos
Created 4 March 2008
7 Photos
Created 30 December 2007
16 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
8 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
8 Photos
Created 11 December 2007
11 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 11 December 2007
24 Photos
Created 11 November 2007
7 Photos
Created 12 September 2007
12 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
3 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
9 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
4 Photos
Created 11 September 2007
4 Photos
Created 3 August 2007
12 Photos
Created 3 August 2007
13 Photos
Created 25 July 2007
7 Photos
Created 25 July 2007
8 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 17 July 2007
3 Photos
Created 17 July 2007
21 Photos
Created 7 July 2007
22 Photos
Created 16 June 2007
16 Photos
Created 16 June 2007
4 Photos
Created 28 May 2007
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
24 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
The trip up the river Guardiana between Spain & Portugal
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
2 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
A selection of the myriad photographs taken over the 6 months in Lagos
37 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
Dia de Cidade festivities & torrential rains
21 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
4 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
3 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
12 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
11 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
8 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
16 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
18 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
10 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
18 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
2 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
6 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
11 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
7 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
22 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 22 May 2007
9 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
10 Photos
Created 22 May 2007
13 Photos
Created 22 May 2007

About & Links

Photo Albums
17 February 2014
14 Photos
26 June 2012
19 Photos
SailBlogs Friends
inclusionWinds v2.0
AURA