that those products lacked oomph.
For 110- and 220-volt appliances, youâll need an inverter. It converts the voltage as needed when you plug your gadgets into the boatâs electrical sockets. An inverter is a clunky, heavy thing (kind of like a large car battery) that is usually located near your house batteries. Your house batteries (basically the same as those in your car or golf cart) store any energy you collect via solar panel, wind generator, or alternator (a device that makes energy when you run your engines). We had six house batteries (interconnected to combine their capacities), two solar panels, two wind generators, and two alternators.
Note: Inverters are notoriously hard on rechargeable batteries (such as laptop batteries, digital cameras, handheld VHFs, and rechargeable spotlights). Voltage fluctuates, which shortens the life of the battery. So have a few extra rechargeable batteries on hand, too, or use a generator set (genset) instead.
So letâs recap: Youâll need something (or several somethings) to power all your electronic must-haves (you
absolutely
must have them, right?). Youâll need things like a solar panel, a wind generator, an alternator, and/or a genset. The trick is to know how much energy/amps youâre using regularly and then match your energy-making doodads to keep up with that usage.
If you know youâre going to want a microwave, washer/dryer, TV, several laptops, ice maker, and so on, youâll need to think about how to power those items before you leave the dock. We didnât do that.
If you understood anything I said above, you might be wondering how we knew how much energy we had used and still had left over. Well, this is where some of our daily entertainment came in. We spent countless hours turning things on and then watching the battery monitor display (located in the navigation center) show the number of amps being used. A hair dryer used an amazing amount of electricity and was retired immediately. That same display told us when our batteries were low and even when they were too high (yes, you can overcharge your batteries, which is why you need a controller/regulator). We spent an inordinate amount of time talking to other boaters about their amperage use and bragging about who had the better power-generating/saving systems. You will too; trust me.
Okay, so enough of that technical stuff. Letâs get to the point. There was one. We hadnât had wind in a while to allow our wind generators to charge our house batteries, so we had been running the engines (with an alternator on each) in neutral for an hour every day to do the job. We did have two solar panels, but they were tiny. It turned out they werenât working either, but we didnât know that yet.
According to the battery monitoring display, something wasnât right. The batteries didnât appear to be charging. Off to get an electronic amp/voltage meter reader (which we should have had anyway). That gadget gave us the bad news that there was something wrong with one of the alternators. So we raced around trying to find someone to rebuild the alternator for us. Found him. Done. Whew.
You have to be wondering how two inexperienced people like us were figuring out all this. Well, we called fellow Island Spirit owners Stephen and Estelleâa lot. We were also thankful for all the boat equipment-specific manuals and notes left on board by prior owners. They were quite dog-eared by the end of our travels.
Most boat manufacturers have some form of âfanâ club out there, from blogs to chat groups. You might want to join one that represents your boat make. Even with their help, we were overwhelmed at times. What
had
we gotten ourselves into? It would not be the last time we asked ourselves that question.
Are we finally ready to leave Florida? Yes, as a matter of fact, we are, and we better leave before we get a bill for $18,000.
7
Bahamas Here We Come!
N
ovember
For 110- and 220-volt appliances, youâll need an inverter. It converts the voltage as needed when you plug your gadgets into the boatâs electrical sockets. An inverter is a clunky, heavy thing (kind of like a large car battery) that is usually located near your house batteries. Your house batteries (basically the same as those in your car or golf cart) store any energy you collect via solar panel, wind generator, or alternator (a device that makes energy when you run your engines). We had six house batteries (interconnected to combine their capacities), two solar panels, two wind generators, and two alternators.
Note: Inverters are notoriously hard on rechargeable batteries (such as laptop batteries, digital cameras, handheld VHFs, and rechargeable spotlights). Voltage fluctuates, which shortens the life of the battery. So have a few extra rechargeable batteries on hand, too, or use a generator set (genset) instead.
So letâs recap: Youâll need something (or several somethings) to power all your electronic must-haves (you
absolutely
must have them, right?). Youâll need things like a solar panel, a wind generator, an alternator, and/or a genset. The trick is to know how much energy/amps youâre using regularly and then match your energy-making doodads to keep up with that usage.
If you know youâre going to want a microwave, washer/dryer, TV, several laptops, ice maker, and so on, youâll need to think about how to power those items before you leave the dock. We didnât do that.
If you understood anything I said above, you might be wondering how we knew how much energy we had used and still had left over. Well, this is where some of our daily entertainment came in. We spent countless hours turning things on and then watching the battery monitor display (located in the navigation center) show the number of amps being used. A hair dryer used an amazing amount of electricity and was retired immediately. That same display told us when our batteries were low and even when they were too high (yes, you can overcharge your batteries, which is why you need a controller/regulator). We spent an inordinate amount of time talking to other boaters about their amperage use and bragging about who had the better power-generating/saving systems. You will too; trust me.
Okay, so enough of that technical stuff. Letâs get to the point. There was one. We hadnât had wind in a while to allow our wind generators to charge our house batteries, so we had been running the engines (with an alternator on each) in neutral for an hour every day to do the job. We did have two solar panels, but they were tiny. It turned out they werenât working either, but we didnât know that yet.
According to the battery monitoring display, something wasnât right. The batteries didnât appear to be charging. Off to get an electronic amp/voltage meter reader (which we should have had anyway). That gadget gave us the bad news that there was something wrong with one of the alternators. So we raced around trying to find someone to rebuild the alternator for us. Found him. Done. Whew.
You have to be wondering how two inexperienced people like us were figuring out all this. Well, we called fellow Island Spirit owners Stephen and Estelleâa lot. We were also thankful for all the boat equipment-specific manuals and notes left on board by prior owners. They were quite dog-eared by the end of our travels.
Most boat manufacturers have some form of âfanâ club out there, from blogs to chat groups. You might want to join one that represents your boat make. Even with their help, we were overwhelmed at times. What
had
we gotten ourselves into? It would not be the last time we asked ourselves that question.
Are we finally ready to leave Florida? Yes, as a matter of fact, we are, and we better leave before we get a bill for $18,000.
7
Bahamas Here We Come!
N
ovember
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