The last few weeks aboard have been a little tough. Bad weather, main generator failure, portable generator failure and then the battery charger went up in smoke, so we had no effective way of charging our batteries other than solar power, but there was not a lot of sun, and we'd come to reply very much on the Eberspacher to defrost us in the morning, which needs a lot of battery power to fire up.
We managed though, with a little running of the main engine and lots of pressure lamp use.
The lift-out day was drawing rapidly close as we awaited the arrival of our Racor Duplex Fuel Filter (with indicator gauge), which arrived in the afternoon of the day we intended to start the 2 hour trip up river. I had hoped to have it installed so that if we suffered engine failure due to blocked filter on the way up river, we'd have been able to flick a switch, and carry on. But there was no time so we just installed a new filter, crossed fingers, and headed up river early the following morning.
All went fine. Big sigh of relief. And Towser is now in a cradle on the hard in Totnes. Much work to be done over the winter, including possible installation of a solid fuel stove.
Before we drove North we managed to change the oil and oil filter in the main engine, and run anti-freeze through the freshwater circuit to "winterise" it and avoid it being damaged by freezing up.
Here's a list of things I want to get done before relaunch next year, in no particular order:
Buy/Apply Antifoul
Mend log (the paddlewheel that tells us our water speed, which never worked this year, and leaked)
Perhaps replace our 8mm anchor chain with 10mm anchor chain.
Mend or replace the portable generator.
Re-pack the rudder tube stuffing box (which leaks a little).
Re-pack the stern tube lubricator pump (which is nearly empty of grease).
Replace about 3 seacocks and possibly also their skin-fittings.
Wood-treat Mizzen Mast Deck Mount Wooden Block.
Wood-treat Sun-roof (leaks after a period of dry followed by rain).
Install the sails and running rigging!
Finally install headlining material in the saloon.
Install the new Racor Duplex Fuel Filter system.
Check both engine anode states.
Check hull anode connectivity (it has not wasted _at all_ which is probs because we plugged into shore-power once, for 2 hours, in the whole season, but I want to check).
Install solid fuel stove (looking at the Faversham I think).
Get battery charger swapped (warranty) and install replacement.
Make up some system so I can cycle the fuel in the fuel tanks and settle out larger gunk and crud, and filter out smaller stuff. Can use the old fuel filter and possibly the generator's external 12v fuel pump for this (with a bucket, some pipes, and some cable ties... I think). Will sleep on it.
Service a couple of winches are a bit stiff.
Get rid of the CQR (donate it to Sailability).
Beef up the battery charger wiring - existing wires a bit thin for 40A.
Service or replace the out of service liferaft.
Install netting around much of the guard rail to stop Nina jumping ship.
Install a bilge sock (soaks up all oil from bilge, but not water, so we can pump out bilges without polluting environment in case of a bit of oil down there).
Install a much more powerful and reliable bilge pump for the main central bilge area, with beefier wiring, for peace of mind.
Fix the fog horn.
Fix the rear-facing white nav light.
OPTIONAL: Replace all nav lights with LED ones - especially the anchor light (at mast top) so we don't have to use the cider bottle DIY lamp.
Re-wire to the solar panels so the wires do not run over the aft deck.
Replace old fuel hoses.
Buy and install new alternator belt.
--
Some stats from this year's living aboard:
Sailed: 0
Motored: 27 hours
Engine Failures: 2
Generator Failures: 2
Nights at anchor: 46 (I thought we did more than this)
Nights on visitor moorings: 50 (a lot more than I thought!)
Nights in a hotel: 6
Total nights: 102
Mooring Fees: £505 + Harbour Dues (~£140) = £645
Average Nightly Rate: £6.32 (excluding hotel fees) much much cheaper than annual marina berth, and much more fun!
Next year I hope to:
a) Spend much more time afloat.
b) Spend much more time at anchor.
c) Leave the river!
d) Sail!
Some pictures:
Towser Being Manoeuvred Into The Hoist (Rose & Nina Watching)
My View Right Now And For The Winter
Babies sure have a different body clock!!
Pity it's not a real one tho 
landside ? Must admit we are spending tooooooo much time there ourselves 
