Righteous currents and holy grounds

I'm renaming Katona; see the end.

Hello! Happy Sunday, happy June ☀️

Monday feels live forever ago, and I started by cutting, routing and sanding the final gunwale boards for the starboard side, followed by welding a big ol' bolt to the hull for the earth faults:

One thing I've come to truly appreciate is how earthing and cable sizing isn't a suggestion; it's life-saving if something fails and 200 amps suddenly needs a home. The other day I had a back-and-forth with ChatGPT about the national grid and how they use helicopters to do live work on 400 kilovolt power lines to avoid touching the ground; you'd need a tower of insulation for protection, so it's easier to fly.

Back onboard, I started making the canvas for it all — the batteries, inverter, electronics galore and fuseboxes — using the rest of the 8' x 4' birch plywood sheet from building the toilet:

It starts out as a vague "this item should go there" and piece-by-piece it falls into place; it's how the bathroom went, and the rest is slowly coming together. And I keep finding things I don't have, or learning about things I need (such as forgetting about fusing the DC electrics for an embarrassing minute), so it takes a while to iterate and order new things.

But I mounted the battery, the inverter/charger, the AC distribution box ("consumer unit"), the galvanic isolator and the incoming RCBO, which combines a 16A circuit breaker (MCB) with a residual current device (RCD), the latter of which is kinda unnecessary as the marina already has one at the bollard, but on this here boat we ball.

I went with Hager for the AC circuit breakers, and decided to use Schneider breakers on a DIN rail with the 48V DC system as well, which are on their way. Unfortunately one thing I kept getting wrong was cable sizing and the lugs to connect them, so I'm waiting on those before I can properly connect the battery to its isolator and the inverter/charger. I added the second battery mount in expectation, knowing it'll come when the vibes are right; I just don't need 10kWh right now (also £££).

On Wednesday I removed the cranky ol'-ternator and took it to Auto Electrics in Redditch, to the same guy who serviced the starter motor. He's great, and audibly sighed after spinning it around. Sitting under water for 2 days didn't help; it groaned, he groaned. I decided to get a new one, and he kindly shot-blasted the old belt pulley before swapping it over, labelling everything for me and giving me a history lesson on the 2 ways to wire it, and why one of them is terrible. It's shiny!

But installing that would feel like having a shower and getting into soiled clothes; I need to clean the engine. De-grease, pressure wash, and maybe some painting if I have time before the dry dock.

It was also the Midlands Air Festival this weekend, and although no ballooning I was lucky to see the Red Arrows twice, as well as a Spitfire chase a Hurricane in the memorial flight for the Battle of Britain. A future project of mine is gonna fly, and I can feel it brewing...

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

P.S. I want to rename Katona, please submit your ideas ! Winner gets glory, dinner and a river cruise from Stratford-upon-Avon.

Rename Nick’s boat Hello! I’m rebuilding a narrowboat and looking for a new name. It’s currently called Katona. I’ll pick my favourite, and the winner can claim glory, dinner and a cruise down the River Avon from Stratford. Submit as many times as you like. Guidance Something that sparks joy (in me), and maybe a little whimsical. For context: I drive a bright yellow ex-fruit & veg delivery van called George, and it’s a delight. I’m painting the boat orange — see ChatGPT’s mockup below — and I quite like Katona as a baseline. Examples of what I’m not after: - Marmalady
- Tangfastik - Boaty McBoatface
- Solace
- Solen
- Joy Good luck! ⛵️ Google Docs