This morning at 8:30am we were recharged to 100% by our new solar panels! Now that is cool!! We hope we'll never have to use the engines to charge up again.
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| Charge controllers ready for work |
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| connections are run through the bimini |
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| 250 of the total 500 watts of power |
We went with Solibian flexible panels and Genasum controllers which are being sold by Bruce Schwab. As a note, Bruce is the only American to finish the Vendee Globe race and that he did in 2005. Bruce is very well versed in what sailboat power needs and we feel the cost and work of installing them will be money in the bank.
I used wire as thick as I could to reduce the power loss over the distance the power had to travel. Overall we used over 160 feet of 8 and 10 gauge wire to complete the project. Marty was my right hand man for the job......thanks for taking my many calls Marty! I hope I did it right!
The panels were ordered with zippers sewn into the edges and then we had the other side sewn into the bimini. NO STAINLESS ADDED!! NO EXTRA WEIGHT ADDED!!!
All together the panels come it at just over 20 lbs complete!
We also bought a new 55 lb Spade anchor from Aqua Tech Marine. Yes, we are saying 55 LBS!! Living on our boat full time means that there will be days when it is not too much fun and having a great anchor is worth every penney........ok, many pennies!
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| One A-20 aluminum and one S-120 Steel |
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| Ready for action |
WE LIKE OUR SPADES............THANKS EVAN AND ROB!!
Our Spectra watermaker is 95% complete. All we have to do is to tie into the salt water wash with one '''t", another to the fresh water rinse and then tap into the water tank to provide us with us to 14 gallons an hour of fresh sweet water. That is going to be nice!!
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| A few more hoses is all that is needed |
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| Mission control |
The pumps are located under our bunk so we put in a little door to operate the watermaker.
Finally we have our new bimini and extra side curtains and sun shades. Nati is almost one color now and the curtains make the trip north on the outside all the difference in keeping warm and comfortable. Karen also make up a new mainsail cover so things are looking good.
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| Clear Strata-glass! |
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| The sun shade is needed down south |
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| Side curtains |
We have done a ton of work on Nati since being at Eau Gallie. It should pay off down the road in making us safe, comfortable and provide our family and guests more living space. Anne has done one round of stainless cleaning with this new product we found at the Miami Boat Show. It is looking great.
Now I have to go find some more things to charge!! The freezer is on along with the frig, the computer is running, the air card is charging and running, Anne's phone is on a charger AND we are still operating with 100% charged batteries!! Life is GREAT!!
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