MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR BOATING HOLIDAY

A few things with which to familiarise your boating party

This page is designed to give you information about boating life - what to expect, what to look out for, how to be safe, both in the boat and on the water, etc. For example:

TIP 1: Battery Life

Just as in your car, or MP3 player, cell phone, satellite navigation, digital/video camera, or anything else that runs on batteries, boats need a power source. If you use power when not plugged in, the batteries eventually run down. If your car's engine isn't running and you're using power by leaving lights or music systems on, the batteries are being drained and will eventually die unless you start up the engine in time to recharge them. Boats work on the same principle: if the engines aren't running, the power you use for lights, TV, cooking, and other appliances, all comes from the batteries. The more you use, the faster the batteries will drain.

Most of our boats have two sets of batteries: one for the domestic appliances, the other for the engines themselves. This ensures that even if you run down the domestic batteries, you will still have power to start the boat engines. Of course, if you have drained the domestic batteries, you will need to run the engine for several hours to recharge them. When you first take over your boat, you will be given a handover - please do take careful note of the instructions concerning your batteries and their switches, and the time required to run your engines every day for normal power usage. Calling out an engineer because you have run your batteries flat is inefficient use of our resources; please be considerate and responsible about power, and keep your battery levels charged well enough to cover your power usage. We hugely appreciate this, and you're helping yourself too!

More tips to follow! Meanwhile, if you have any questions we're very happy to discuss your requirements or concerns. Please contact us.