Learning to cope without shore power

[Poignard]

I have one battery, one starting handle, no solar panels, no wind generator, no shore power.

There is nothing being run off the battery when the boat is not in use so the battery should never go flat unless there is a fault or I am careless. In that case I would use the starting handle.

If I need 230vac for power tools etc. I have a small portable generator supplying 750 Watts.

For heating I have a Taylor's paraffin heater and two oil lamps for cabin lighting if I wanted to avoid using the battery.

It's pretty basic by today's standards but adequate.

 

[V1701]

...Even uht goes off overnight in summer once opened although it will store indefinately unopened...

I've lived aboard FT for 3 years without a fridge & never had UHT go off that quickly...

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Although shore power is available at our marina, I don't use it - have never seen the point! If I am going places, I will need to spend time away from shore power - there's none at anchor, or on a mooring. So, I work on the basis that I need to be able to operate within the restrictions of battery power, engine and wind charging. If I could figure out a sensible mounting, I'd add solar panels - but so far, I haven't come up with any ideas that would be seamanlike and workable (and not cost a fortune!).

Shore power is handy for running power tools when I'm doing DIY aboard, and once when the batteries had got too low I used a mains charger to bring them up again. But in general, I avoid using shore power so as to retain independence when cruising.

 

[[3889]]

If you haven't got a fridge, you should have no problems with generating enough solar power. The main problem with lack of fridge is the 'milk' question. Even uht goes off overnight in summer once opened although it will store indefinately unopened. ]

Have you tried the 'evaporation fridge' - place items in a sealed plastic box, wrap box in damp cloth. The damp cloth dries and extracts heat from box. Cheap, doesnt break down. I used it for a year on the atlantic circuit and it kept my butter from melting in the carribean.

+1
I tried this on a camping holiday last year and was surprised at how effective it was.

 

[Paddingtonbear]

Since it's obviously important that my engine charging be as good as it can be, I followed Gibbo's advice here. The alternator is wired directly to the service battery, interrupted only by a large fuse in case of a short in the engine bay. A large relay controlled by the Smartgauge parallels in the engine battery for charging, when the engine is running.

Thank god someone's got some brains. Rather than talking to 'your mate down the pub' why don't people find out from a proper, reliable source like Chris Gibson, he really does know you know and clearly is skilled in putting it into practice and is prepared to talk to people without prejudice, he is just a boffin who like talking about electrickery. I have no axe to grind whatsoever, in fact I am an exponent of KISS and so I don't need his services. Parafin rules OK