2014 consumables.

50 lt  cocoa shell mulch................  16-15
grease............................................  15-45
engine oil 5 x 5lt...........................  75-00
oil filter x 3.................................... 37-80
fuel filter.......................................    5-33
air filter.........................................    5-48
2 lt engine antifreeze....................   12-90
10 lt of antifreeze for heating.......   30-70
paint and brushes etc....................   29-23
stove maintenance........................     7-50
5 lt distilled water.........................     2-75
tools etc........................................    18-93
TOTAL                                          257-22

The cocoa shell mulch is an essential item for the composting loo. It isn't readily available in garden centres so I had to buy it by mail order and get it to the boat.

This is the same compost loo as on our boat, an Airhead. The liquids go in to the large container at the front of the unit and the solids go straight down into the body of the thing. The cocoa shells are to absorb the small amount of residual moisture and to break up the solids so that air gets to all of it and prevents smells caused by anaerobic decomposition. The solids are stirred up using the cracked handle. I put about a handful of cocoa shells a day in so a 50 ltr bag has lasted us over 7 months.

I have carried out all my own engine servicing so far. I have bought all my filters from Inline Filters who are very rapid and very cheap too. The oil I have bought from Wilko's who seem to have the cheapest anywhere. I was disappointed to find that it had gone up from £12-50 a lt to £15 but still the best price around. The grease is for the stern glad etc. I drained the water system in the engine too as the coolant mixture degrades over a couple of years.

There isn't a lot of room for maneuver in the engine hole so I have to be in the mood and the weather has to be half way decent too. I should have picked a better photo as the tonsure looks like I have joined some Holy Order of Monks.

I bought some paint to recover the fore deck and some to paint the engine hole too, along with brushes etc. I bought a tub of fire cement to reseal the flue to the stove and some black lead to polish up the stove for the winter. Part of the curing the Hurricane heater problem was to drain the system and refill with new antifreeze. I know now how to do it more easily and next time I do it I will give the system a good flush as it surprised me how mucky the water gets. The distilled water was for the batteries of course, not for the steam iron!

The stove is not essential but it gives a lot of heat and is a lovely focal point of the boat. Ours is in the middle so with the walk through bathroom door open the the bathroom and bedroom get nice and warm too.

 The tools were things like saw blades, tap connector, drills, jubilee clips etc. This wasn't the sum total of all that it cost as I all ready some things that I used first and I have a lot of these purchases left for next year.