Phill
Well-Known Member
...on Monday morning. It was one of those nights. We got to the boat late Sunday evening minus the kids, which in itself is quite rare, and after a few G&T's went to bed. An hour or so later we were disturbed by the fresh water pump under our berth re-pressurising the system. I thought it odd but as we've only had this boat a few weeks assumed it quite normal but made a note to switch the pump off at night in future.
Then at 02.00 we both leapt out of bed at the horrendous sound of an ear piercing alarm going off. I was horrified to discover it was the carbon Monoxide detector. I threw open the doors and opened the windows. By this time, I was wide awake and had managed to press the mute button on the alarm. After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realised that we had no heating or engines running and guessed it must be an alarm fault. It then went off again and no matter which button I pressed, I couldn't silence it. I managed to get it off it's mounting and buried it under a cushion, but despite my efforts, it was still wailing loudly. I eventually killed it by prising it apart and pulling out the battery pack. all this was done with the windows and curtains open, lights on and only dressed in my pants!
Whilst taking in the new found silence, I then heard a drip...drip....drip. After checking that the taps and showers were not the cause, I lifted the floor to find a jet of water coming from behind the calorifier and spraying the bilges. So still semi naked, I had to switch off the pumps, turn off the tap on the bottom of the water tank and drain down the calorifier.
The following morning I managed to get into a tiny area that even a small dog would struggle to enter and removed a section of the pipe work only to find one of the push fit joints had been put together without its retaining ring. Not sure how long it had been like that, but thankfully the chandlery had a similar joint I could use. So by midday Monday, the system was back up and running, bilges pumped dry and tank topped up.
Who said boating was relaxing?
So if during the night, you thought you saw a semi-naked nutter charging around, you did.......so apologies and I promise I'll be better behaved in future.
Then at 02.00 we both leapt out of bed at the horrendous sound of an ear piercing alarm going off. I was horrified to discover it was the carbon Monoxide detector. I threw open the doors and opened the windows. By this time, I was wide awake and had managed to press the mute button on the alarm. After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realised that we had no heating or engines running and guessed it must be an alarm fault. It then went off again and no matter which button I pressed, I couldn't silence it. I managed to get it off it's mounting and buried it under a cushion, but despite my efforts, it was still wailing loudly. I eventually killed it by prising it apart and pulling out the battery pack. all this was done with the windows and curtains open, lights on and only dressed in my pants!
Whilst taking in the new found silence, I then heard a drip...drip....drip. After checking that the taps and showers were not the cause, I lifted the floor to find a jet of water coming from behind the calorifier and spraying the bilges. So still semi naked, I had to switch off the pumps, turn off the tap on the bottom of the water tank and drain down the calorifier.
The following morning I managed to get into a tiny area that even a small dog would struggle to enter and removed a section of the pipe work only to find one of the push fit joints had been put together without its retaining ring. Not sure how long it had been like that, but thankfully the chandlery had a similar joint I could use. So by midday Monday, the system was back up and running, bilges pumped dry and tank topped up.
Who said boating was relaxing?
So if during the night, you thought you saw a semi-naked nutter charging around, you did.......so apologies and I promise I'll be better behaved in future.
