Canal Boat — November 2017

be bought as one, including an alternator

and a box of tricks that manages the

charging and discharging of the

batteries, compensating for any

imbalance between each and ensuring

they don’t over-charge. If it senses

anything amiss, it will shut down.

This boat has three of Mastervolt’s

latest lithium batteries, each providing

180Ah at 24 volts. The firm says these

batteries offer a 70 percent saving in

volume and weight compared with

normal lead acid batteries. It also says

they’ll last three times as long, perhaps

15 years (although some experts reckon

they’ll actually last 20 or 30) and the

charging is very fast.

When we took the boat out its batteries

were around 40 percent charged and an

hour later they were up at 90. The whole

bank could be charged from empty to full

in under three hours and it should then

last two or three days.

Another advantage of lithium batteries

is that you can run them right down to

80 percent discharged (in fact the monitor

is set so that it reads zero at this point).

That gives you almost twice the available

power of lead acid batteries, which are

damaged if they go below 50 percent.

What’s more, lithiums continue to

deliver their full voltage right up to the

last moment. If you had a more everyday

set up, with lead acid batteries and a

12-volt system you’d need a bank totalling

well over 1,000Ah. The disadvantage

THE OWNERS

David and Frances Shields have an extensive

boating history. David has done a lot of sailing

at sea, perhaps not surprising as the couple

live on the South Coast. But Frances isn’t a

fan of salt water and waves, so the canals

seemed like a good option: it’s still a boat,

but the water is calmer and there’s plenty of

countryside around to enjoy.

The couple have two daughters (whose

names inspired the name of the boat), and

the family have taken plenty of boating

holidays over the years, both on the Broads

and the canals. For more than a decade

they’ve been hiring once or twice a year.

David is a structural engineer and hopes

he’ll be able to work from the boat. Frances is

retired from her job as a lecturer in English.

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 33

Just look at those beautiful curves

Controlling the lithium set-up Black granite basin shines