Every night aboard had started to leave me with a morning headache.

At some point, every night aboard had started to leave me with a morning headache. Also, when I returned from Sweden, Masha met me. I put some things in a shoulder bag and handed it to her. Ten minutes later, her hands began to burn, and pale stripes appeared on her jumper beneath the straps. Back on the yacht, I found liquid around the battery, blackened wood, rusty tools, melted bags and an acidic smell. It looked as though a slipped restraint and heavy heeling on passage had tipped the battery far enough for acid to escape through a vent.

After watching some YouTube videos about neutralising acid, I bought plastic goggles, a respirator, litmus paper and a couple of packs of baking soda. I covered everywhere I could reach. The liquid hissed and foamed. Once the surface pH tested alkaline, I began washing away the residue and throwing out everything that had sat in the mess.

The batteries were also connected incorrectly. They were two metres apart, but the charger went to both terminals on one battery rather than opposite terminals on different batteries. The second battery looked slightly swollen too. There was really no option but to redo it properly.

#maintenance