Having been defeated by the generator yesterday, I decided to have another go at it today, especially since we hope to actually go barging in the next few days, and having a working generator would be really useful!!. So, remembering how useful the iPhone had been yesterday, I used it again as a mirror, and had a closer look around the underside of the isolator switch for the generator battery, which is located very close to the grey water pump. After many contortions and taking some photos of the underside, I saw that the bolt holding one of the battery cables to the isolator switch had been totally corroded away, and no effective contact was being made. I then realised that this bolt had been sitting in the grey water in the engine bay bilge over winter, and galvanic action (or simple corrosion) had eaten it away. There was therefore no connection between the battery and the generator. Since I didn’t have a spare isolator switch, I simply bypassed the switch and bolted the incoming cable to the outgoing cable. The generator started on first attempt!  Having had two mechanical victories in two days, I decided not to push my luck any further.

Late in the morning, we headed down to Toulouse Blagnac airport to pick up Jackie, who was returning from England. On the way back, we brought a new generator battery from Intermarche (I love how you can buy a car battery from the supermarket in France!), and after we installed it in the engine bay we were able to get the generator running. Hopefully, today’s work will ensure that the generator will not give us any more problems for the foreseeable future.

In the evening, we had dinner on the Terrasse, and washed it down with some single-malt whiskey that Jackie had bought in Duty Free on her trip. As we relaxed after dinner, he heard that Andre & Francoise (the daughter and son-in-law of our neighbours, had arrived from Lille.