We had a charging problem with one engine in our previous boat, an Azimut 46, whilst cruising off Ibiza. The starboard engine failed whilst still at sea. Not knowing what was wrong, I radioed the nearest marina, Botafoch in Ibiza Town, explained that we had lost 1 engine and begged them for a berth. At first they refused but then said we could occupy a berth until 16.00 that same day. We berthed and I got hold of an electrician who proceeded to disconnect a lot of wires and then announced that we needed new batteries. He then buggered off promising to return later with new batteries. I explained this to the marina staff but they kept insisting that we had to leave at 16.00. At the appointed time, 2 marina staff came to the boat and I demonstrated that I could'nt start either engine. They insisted that they would tow me out of the marina despite my protests. A few minutes later they returned to the berth in a dory, untied us and towed us out of the marina and dumped us inside the new harbour wall where we could do nothing but drop anchor. Anchoring is prohibited in this area because of commercial traffic docking there and in fact last year, somebody was fined very heavily for anchoring there but we couldn't move because we had no engines
The electrician did'nt return until the following day and I had to ferry him and the batteries out to the boat with the tender. As it was, the batteries were not the problem. I found out later that a faulty alternator allowed 1 battery bank to drain completely with the result that the fuel solenoid closed and shut off the fuel to the failed engine