Do I need a generator (Honda 1kw), on a UK circumnavigation

Robert Wilson said:
Sorry, when I said "how" I meant how is it fixed/installed/wired? Easy, complicated or fiendish!!

Not that I'll be doing the wiry bit, but maybe the screw/thump/puff bit!
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Two basic designs.
One involves taking the alternator apart to fit in a wire. Officially described as easy but that's probably easy for a marine electrician - hard for a beginner.
Example here.

http://sterling-power.com/collectio...d-digital-alternator-regulator-pro-reg-d-pdar

The other is basically inserted into existing wiring. Much easier to fit but if your electrical system doesn't match the diagrams provided you may still need to be creatibe which requires some knowledge!
example here
http://sterling-power.com/products/alternator-to-battery-chargers-up-to-130a
 
jac said:
Two basic designs.
One involves taking the alternator apart to fit in a wire. Officially described as easy but that's probably easy for a marine electrician - hard for a beginner.
Example here.

http://sterling-power.com/collectio...d-digital-alternator-regulator-pro-reg-d-pdar

The other is basically inserted into existing wiring. Much easier to fit but if your electrical system doesn't match the diagrams provided you may still need to be creatibe which requires some knowledge!
example here
http://sterling-power.com/products/alternator-to-battery-chargers-up-to-130a
Click to expand...

Fascinating! So much high-tech speak that I'm mystified - but the man with the tools will know what's what.

Thanks.
R
 
Robert Wilson said:
Just one point, if the laptop is switched-off then it won't be recording track data etc, so it's a case of ON or OFF - no half-way measure?
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Although your need for laptop may be superseded - the main draw from a laptop is the screen - most laptops allow you to dim that or even turn the screen off whilst leaving the laptop running - thus reducing your power requirements.

IMHO 200Ah of domestic battery is enough for day sailing with not a lot drawing (you don't have a fridge!) - I would have a separate engine battery though.

Forget the suitcase generator - you'd be better off with a couple of solar panels!
 
fireball said:
Although your need for laptop may be superseded - the main draw from a laptop is the screen - most laptops allow you to dim that or even turn the screen off whilst leaving the laptop running - thus reducing your power requirements.

IMHO 200Ah of domestic battery is enough for day sailing with not a lot drawing (you don't have a fridge!) - I would have a separate engine battery though.
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On my last boat I had a standard 40Ah car battery which ran cabin lights (2 x 10W), navigation light (1 x 25W) and VHF. I used to charge it about once per week at friendly pubs and hotels. That allowed me all day time use and two overnights.
 
Some good advice above imho, some thoughts and facts related to my boat......

I have a 2kw Honda generator which I carried all the way on a 2000nm cruise and I've never used it. It was a pain having petrol aboard.

I do have 2 solar panels on a gantry which perform fairly well but are beginning to die after 8+ yrs.

I do have 4 x 110AH domestic batteries (2 are up front and are also used for the bow thruster - that takes a few amps!) and a fifth for the engine.

Keep a watch on your battery monitors and you will soon get the 'feel' of things after a week or so.

We motored about 75% of the time..... it's a fact of life that if you'r doing a circumnavigation, you'll probably motor even more than that.

I do have a Rutland 914i and it's not brilliant compared to very good solar panels. If I were to get another windmill I'd go for this...http://www.duogen.co.uk/page21.html but they are heavier, with bigger wing span and cost more..... but are far better performers so I'm well informed by a user. The sort of thing that's suited on a missen mast?

I have a Panasonic car radio/cassette player and it is 'hungry' on the amps.

Without a fridge and radar my consumption would be far less, however the radar is powered up rarely and often when we're motoring or at night. The fridge is water cooled so not quite as hungry on amps as some.

I've gone LED except for the lower nav' lights which are used mostly when motoring but they are on my 'to do' list.

I have a 3kw inverter fitted and managed to blow a big fuse as I'd forgotten to switch off the shore power/battery charger and the immersion. Now having a multi switch fitted to not allow that not to happen again.

If you'r intending to do a lot of night sailing I'd recommend a red waterproof LED in each locker that has important gear that may be required, + 2-3 good quality head torches with a red option. I've had a red nav' desk light and prefer the head torch.

Also for safety I'd have AIS and an active radar reflector.

During a circumnavigation and sailing at night a lot, a deck light could be very handy to check things over from the cockpit, but then again head torches may be the answer if you'r happy to go out on deck, but they can be knocked off when things get hectic.

I do have an ST4000 tiller pilot, ( yet more amps. If you have an autohelm that could be even hungrier )
I don't use the tiller pilot if I can use the Monitor wind vane steering.

best of luck
S.
 
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Thanks ScottyTradewind.
My sort of thinking.
I do like the sound of AIS on, when mobile.
I don't intend to to do much night sailing, but inevitably there will be times.
I'll have a Hebredian wind-vane which uses no power, and also an ST1000 (?) - which should only be used when motoring or exceptional occasions.
 
Make a (very) waterproof cover for the ST1000 which can stay in place while it is in use.

I have a predilection for windier and hence wetter weather because my business requires me to be working when the wind is light. As a result I find my ST1000+ gets water inside and stops working several times a season. The last time this happened it was in a damp locker, on the top of a load of ropes, so just the damp alone was enough to get in!

The little packets of silica gel moisture absorbing granules that I put in to address this just migrated to the compass area and caused all manner of amusement.

I also carry a spare tiller pilot because the prospect of helming for a week solid horrifies me. (I got this in Calais because the original failed during the channel crossing at the beginning of a three week cruise. The original was then repaired under warranty.)

One day I will be able to afford/make a windvane, but new(er) sails are higher on the shopping list...
 
Take the generator if it is going to give you peace of mind but only with you if you have plenty of space for it, and have the money to spare: you will almost certainly never need it.

I've been round Britain and over to Spain with a 110 AHr domestic battery and an 85 AHr start battery. No problems. A battery monitor, head torches, VHF, AIS and plotter on all the time, LED tri for sailing, LED anchor and cabin lights, tiller pilot for when the engine was on, windvane when sailing, a 40 watt solar panel, no laptop except on shore power, no fridge but a Peltier coldbox only for when plugged into shore power, and no stereo sound system.

As others have said, you will do a lot of motoring so I don't think you need any fancy alternator set up.
 
Fascadale said:
Take the generator if it is going to give you peace of mind but only with you if you have plenty of space for it, and have the money to spare: you will almost certainly never need it.

I've been round Britain and over to Spain with a 110 AHr domestic battery and an 85 AHr start battery. No problems. A battery monitor, head torches, VHF, AIS and plotter on all the time, LED tri for sailing, LED anchor and cabin lights, tiller pilot for when the engine was on, windvane when sailing, a 40 watt solar panel, no laptop except on shore power, no fridge but a Peltier coldbox only for when plugged into shore power, and no stereo sound system.

As others have said, you will do a lot of motoring so I don't think you need any fancy alternator set up.
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Decision has been made, based on the likes of your post, and the many others who have wisely and encouragingly contributed.

Thank you one and all.

Stereo use will be minimal.
Laptop use will be minimal, unless hooked-up to shore power.
Batteries to be topped-up during motoring hours. Spare new 100Ah house-battery; with a close eye to be kept on the three year old house-battery.
AIS will be on most of the time for my benefit and others, especially the "shore-base crew scattered across the realm".
Navtex (PC USB) will be on in stand-by(?) mode, linked to lap-top and examined only when appropriate.
Plotter will be on whilst on longer legs/in hazard areas/fog etc., i.e. where my track/position needs to be shown.

NO generator, money to be spent on:-
At least one 30w solar panel, plus other power management gizmos as recommended in various posts above.

I'm quite happy living like a troglodyte, without hi-tech luxuries and great comfort for a few months, providing I can get to a shower occasionally, and food will be basic but nourishing - unless invited aboard/ashore for hospitality.......:encouragement:
Pity I have no fridge, I really don't appreciate GnT without ice :disgust:

So, there we go. No genny, no petrol worries, no vibration/upset neighbours, less weight/stowage problems :)

Now that's item #25 of 732 ticked-off the "to do" list! Four weeks (+ two weeks buffer-time) to be ready for the off:eek:
 
I think you have made the right decision. I remember the owner of a boat of my acquaintance using the Genny to charge his mobile phone. It took about 3 hours!
If you have no fridge, you should manage fine with minimal motoring and possibly a small PV panel. The secret to energy saving is to TURN OFF STUFF YOU DONT NEED.
 
I have one of these...

http://www.marlec.co.uk/off-grid-products/solar-panels/spectraflex32/

They are expensive for their power output but are very light and flexible. I move it around for best angle and least shadows. Being a amorphous type it is tolerant of some shadows anyway and generates more on cloudy days that the crystalline ones.

I found the biggest addition to liveability on long trips was when I got a compressor coolbox (Waeco CF18). It's only 18 litres but is the most miserly way of having cool. I leave it on continuously and in a UK summer it uses 10Ah per day. The solar panel above provides all it needs. Again, it's an expensive device for what you get, but everyone who has one seems to think they are great.
 
Angus,

genuine question; do you feel the need for a coolbox in Scottish waters ?

Let me hasten to point out my Dad is from near Aberdeen and I've spent what must add up to years working in SW Scotland.

I am most definitely NOT a fan of Eberspachers, having been on boats with them; even when the things work ( wthout tons of hassle and expensive repairs ) they strike me as feeble heating, electrical power hungry and noisy enough to prevent sleep.

However even in softie Southern England I use an Origo heater ( forget the claimed 12 hours, more like 8 ) when in port at the beginning and end of season, I'd have thought it must be moreso in Northern waters ?

There's the old tale about the square riggers on the Atlantic triangle, ' run south until the butter melts then turn right ', I'd have thought your butter is pretty safe apart from old age or a pickaxe ?!
 
SAPurdie said:
Make a (very) waterproof cover for the ST1000 which can stay in place while it is in use.

...
Click to expand...

+1
I got through 2 ST's with my Twister. The 3rd one stayed unaffected by damp due to a cheap cover I had made up with a see through window for the control pad.

With so many tiller pilots out there it would make sense for someone to market such covers.
 
Seajet said:
genuine question; do you feel the need for a coolbox in Scottish waters ?
Click to expand...

I don't feel the need, because I sailed without one for 20 years, but it's one of the new things I like best about my current boat. Although Scotland is not always the warmest of places, sailing the West Coast can mean substantial periods of time between fresh food shops, and I like being able to keep stuff chilled for a week. I have a standard fill-with-ice-and-drain-into-the-bilges setup and I reckon on melting 1kg per day in the shoulder season and 2kg per day on hot (we do get them) summer days. Obtaining ice is actually getting easier, as so many boats now have fridges, reducing demand.
 
Robert Wilson said:
I'll have a Hebredian wind-vane which uses no power, and also an ST1000 (?) - which should only be used when motoring or exceptional occasions.
Click to expand...

Hi Robert.

I really liked this DIY windvane when I saw it up at the London Show. I have tried to get my son interested in one to fit to his Marieholm Folk Boat but other things have taken precedence for the moment.

I'd be very much interested to know how you get on with it after a few hundred miles.

S.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I don't feel the need, because I sailed without one for 20 years, but it's one of the new things I like best about my current boat. Although Scotland is not always the warmest of places, sailing the West Coast can mean substantial periods of time between fresh food shops, and I like being able to keep stuff chilled for a week. I have a standard fill-with-ice-and-drain-into-the-bilges setup and I reckon on melting 1kg per day in the shoulder season and 2kg per day on hot (we do get them) summer days. Obtaining ice is actually getting easier, as so many boats now have fridges, reducing demand.
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Jumbleduck,

thanks. I once tried a 12 volt plug in coolbox, without doing my sums; it sucked my 65A/H battery inside out in double quick time !
 
Angus,
I like the sound of the CF-18. As Seajet says, a 12v plug-in box gobbled my power so flogged-it immediately to a caravan owner.
I do appreciate keeping fresh food cool/cold - and of course, when I get down to the Tropics of the South Coast of England I'll really appreciate some ice for the GnT.:encouragement:
As you say, a bit expensive, and not hitherto on my budget list - but shall make enquiries and efforts to procure.

Thanks.
 
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