Questions of a Newbie

[Anonymous]

I'm auctioning my seven Tele Pilot Videos on Ebay right now. They give quite a good flavour of what being at sea in a yacht is really like. There is more description on the Ebay site, search Ebay for 'Tele Pilot Video' at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://htttp://www.ebay.co.uk>www.ebay.co.uk</A> They are really excellent for newcomers and Day Skipper level people, or those who are nervous of longer passages across the Channel, etc.

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[timevans2000]

Re: equipment for liveaboards

If a big fish had bite at the Duogen turbine it would lose a lot of teeth! Everthing is very solid.

what wind strength do you need to do 6 knots? On my boat we dont need much wind. At 6 knots the Duogen will give 8 amps with minimal drag when in water mode. To get 8 amps out of most wind turbines it will have to be howling! The Duogen is better than most wind turbines as it is a large diameter unit, but even this needs quite a lot of wind.
There is no advantage in using it when you are engining as your alternator will do all the work.



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[Anonymous]

Re: equipment for liveaboards

It all depends on where the wind is coming from and the sea state. It is the speed through the water that makes the Duogen run, not apparent or true wind speed. 6 knots is a good speed to keep up for any length of time in a modest sailing cruiser. Most people find they are motoring for anywhere from 25% to 75% of the time, anyway. We probably sail 50% at the moment because I tend to promise a marina berth, electricity, shower and a decent restaurant meal to my dear wife when we arrive and I don't like to let her down, so on goes the engine to give a little nudge when needed!

Very long passages are a different matter, of course, but then even so, 8A times 24 hrs = 192 Ahr. With a 100A alternator you only need to have run your engine for 2 hrs in that 24 hrs to generate that same electricity. Furthermore, you gain the odd knot or two, and heat your hot water.

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[timevans2000]

Re: equipment for liveaboards

We generally dont have much of a problem averaging over 7 knots on passages of 50 or 60 miles. We also have a large non- standard sail plan that helps. When other boats have put the engine on we are often still sailing.

We dont go into marinas if we can avoid them so shore power is not an option.

I am not sure that you would get 100 amps out of your smart alternator without having a very large battery bank capable of taking the charge. You batteries would also suffer from gasing trying to put that many amps in. I am no expert on this but I am sure somebody more qualified will be able to contribute.

We have bought our Duogen for very long passages. We have sufficient solar power to do all of our charging under normal weekend and summer holiday sailing.

We are heading for the sun and dont intend to be marina based so self sufficiency is the aim.
If you are hoping from marina to marina then I dont think you need a Duogen



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[Anonymous]

I'm auctioning off 7 Tele Pilot Videos and Yachtmaster 1, 2 and 3 videos on Ebay. These will be really useful viewing for you as a newbie - I really recommend them. If you don't decided to enter my auction, do take down the details and try to get them elsewhere. I don't think that the Tele Pilot Videos are still being distributed but I'm not sure. You'll find my direct links on the For Sale part of this forum or just search on Yachting Training on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ebay.co.uk>www.ebay.co.uk</A> or on my Ebay alias, glassy_fried

David

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