RVing

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A Tight Squeeze

For the past several days, a couple of boat platform thingamabobs with long tails have been slowly making their way down the beach towards me. Today, I caught a massive tanker motoring between them:

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It’s not a peaceful last week here as it is spring break so the whole area is teeming with campers and there are lots of kids running around and playing in the surf. But there’s very little shrieking, so it’s only when the generators start up at dinner time and run until I concede that I will have to fall asleep to their lullaby that I get a little irked. The weather is just too gorgeous to regret staying here this extra week.

I’m impressed with the hardy souls running around in their bathing suits, much less actually swimming. Yes, the sun is shining brightly, but the wind has a bitter chill that reminds me we are still several days way from spring.

I can’t believe it’s mid-March already. What a gentle winter this has been.

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Relocating the Office to the Marina at Indianola

Today boasted an afternoon too beautiful to be spent cooped up indoors.

I had just finished the newest draft of the new ebook and was at the point where I needed to print it out to be able to effectively proof it. So I decided to get it out on paper, then head over to the marina at Indianola for a few hours to work on the book there.

I put in an order for lunch and then sat outside to work and watch the fishermen. It was very windy in the sun, but too cold in the sheltered areas, so I held tight to my precious paperwork!

The marina is a nice place to spend time even if you don’t fish. There are lots of tables with a good view:

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I indulged in a chicken bacon ranch sandwich (delicious!) and opted for their yummy hush puppies as a side rather than their anemic fries.

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The exterior:

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Coming back home, I stopped at the monument to La Salle, the same dude who has a bunch of stuff named after him in Quebec, including a borough of Montreal.

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Indianola was a major town in the area in the 1800s until it was wiped out twice by two hurricanes and a fire. It is now a ghost town.

Finally, there is a fire burning close to the beach. Check out the smoke, it has completely obliterated the sun:

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Solar Charging WOW

I was down about 15AH when I woke up this morning at 7:00. We had full sun promised for the next week and I needed to charge my laptop. I was doubtful I’d get anywhere near a full charge today, but figured that with the forecast ahead, there was no need to run the engine this morning to give the solar panels a boost.

With the time change, I didn’t start to get much of a charge until well past 8AM. By 11AM, I was down more than 20AH and still wasn’t seeing a positive charge coming in, not even when I turned off the inverter.

I stopped for lunch at 1:00 and was amazing to see that I was now 16.4AH down! In the 20 minutes I took to eat, I saw myself gain a full AH. But that still left me right where I was in the morning.

When I next checked the monitor at 3:00… I got a FULL message! My batteries were charged to maximum capacity!

So it looks like my theory about how the battery monitor works is correct. The amps coming in are only the amps at that moment and every so often, the monitor adds up those amps and adjusts the AH metre up or down as appropriate rather than adjusting the readings in real time.

So the only reading that is truly relevant at any moment is the AH status, and then I can check the amps screen to see if the AH are going to trend up or downwards.

At any rate, full batteries, YAY! Not that I’ve been lacking for power, not by a long shot, but it’s good for the batteries to get a full charge regularly.

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All By Myself

L just pulled out a few minutes ago. I know a few people still here, but not in any sort of close fashion. It’ll be strange to be alone for a full week. Isn’t that something? The norm for me is to be alone with almost no social calendar whatsoever. I’m sure I’ll get back into my groove shortly.

It looks like it will be a gorgeous and sunny last week here on the beach. Of course, they are calling for thundershowers next Monday! Oh, well, as long as it’s just grey and not pouring out, it’ll be a good day to leave.