Depends which ferry you are going on, some need the spike taking off, if its the Isle of Wight ferries, dont bother, there is plenty of clearance, just tell the load master at the dock and they will put you in the right place.
Tony, hope you have a good holiday here on the Island. As for the heater, its a bit fiddly but pretty easy. Make as much room as you can to get to the tank, follow the black wire to the location of the heater, then use a stanley knife to cut the cardboard shroud to allow you to open up enough room to work on the element, but dont cut it off completely, just a + shaped cut is enough. With all electric OFF, and disconnected, use a small socket to undo the two nuts holding the heater in place and the thermostat which is connected to it. If you have, or can borrow a socket which goes on a screwdiver handle instead of a tommy bar, so much the better. Use something like a bit of vaseline or even chewing gum in the socket to anchor the nuts as they undo, to save them falling off and rolling under the tank, same when putting them back on.
once the nuts are off, cut the black wire about 6 inches from the heater element and strip back the leads on the piece remaining in situ and connect into a terminal block, preferably in a waterproof box. remove the old heater, make sure you remove the old rubber sealing ring from the tank too.
Put the new sealing ring on the new heater, manoeuver it in to the tank, making sure the bent part is as low as possible, it only has the option of being in two possible positions due to the fixed mounting bolts. Replace the nuts on their bolts and tighten evenly until a tight fit, but do not overtighten. then fit the attaced thermostat to its fixed locating bolts. cut the black wire to suitable length to allow connecting to the terminal block you have just installed on the other cable, make sure you have the colours matching.seal the box. Thats it,,,just fill with water to check sealing is ok, tighten if needed, and the job is done.Fold back the cardboard into its normal place, replace anything you moved to gain access.
The reason for cutting the wire is normally the elements come without plugs, and you need a special tool to fit said plugs!!
If you are lucky enough to get one pre fitted, use thin string on the old plug and pull it through withthe plug, so you can pull the new plug back the same way.
Hope this helps.
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