Yes, still in Aylesbury, but the weather was much better today and I finally got to take the batteries out. I started by giving the back of the engine compartment a good old hoover, to get rid of rust and crud and other stuff that was there. Turns out it's not that bad or that rusty.
Next was removing the batteries. There are three of them--two leisure batteries and a starter battery--and I started by disconnecting the +ve terminal from each battery and making sure they couldn't touch anything they shouldn't. Next came the the -ve terminals and the batteries themselves. They're quite heavy things, batteries, and the starter battery has a different sized bolt on the -ve terminal from all of the other batteries (naturally!) but they all came out in the end.
At that point, my friend Chris from Oxford (not to be confused with the other Chris, from Suffolk, who helped me down the Aylesbury arm last week) turned up to take me out to lunch. He's got quite a bit of boating experience and also knows all about car engines, so he was the ideal person to advise me on the condition of the batteries, however even I could work out that the starter battery was not at its best. I filled it with water and topped up the other two batteries, and then Chris obligingly handed them to me as I tried to fit them back under the deck. I don't think he'd been expecting to be doing maintenance on my boat, so wasn't really dressed for it, but it was clear that he was itching to have a go and when at one point the spanner slipped out of my hand, he caught it and attached the last couple of bolts for me.
So that's the batteries done. As Jan pointed out when I txt'd him about it later, maybe the battery isolator is working and it's a simple case of the starter battery not being able to hold a charge. I'll monitor the situation, but my guess is that even if the starter battery is working better now, I should consider replacing it.
Chris took me to La Tasca for tapas and we had a good old chinwag about things. We shared a bottle of wine and I was quite tiddly when we got back to Oothoon, then we sat and chatted a bit more until it was time for him to go and catch his bus. I'm not feeling too lonely at the moment, which is good, but it's also very comforting to know that my friends are keen to come along and see me on my journey.
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