23rd October: Mains USB!

When I sleep in Seatern when she is at my jetty I need to be able charge both my phone and my wristwatch overnight. Up to now I’ve used an adaptor in one of the 12v sockets but they don’t make the best connection and the adaptor gets warm if I charge the ipad. Today I swapped the 13A mains socket on the bulkhead for one with two USB outlets.

Since I needed to disconnect the mains power, I took the opportunity to replace the female connector on the shore power cable since the spring loaded flap, which keeps the weather out when I’m sailing, was broken. It turned out that all the screws in the 16A caravan type connector had corroded and I had to break it and snip the wires to remove it. The new connector which I fitted has better protected screws so I was hoping it will last longer.

However on the morning of 25th October I woke up, having slept on Seatern overnight, to find the mains power off. After checking there was power to the shed and that the RCD hadn’t tripped, I replaced the shore cable with a spare, longer one. I have not investigated the old cable yet; I may just send it for recyling because there was some oxidation of the copper conductors.