Sardinia Summer 2015

[Deleted User YDKXO]

best solution imo is to install a invertor, all 230V sockets on the boat work all day / night

Agreed, Bart but that is just inviting my guests to flatten my batteries with their hairdryers, kettles and other 230V appliances Yes definitely if we were spending more time on the boat than we do now, I would look at this solution and maybe even a small additional aircon unit as well just to cool the master cabin but which could be driven by the invertor overnight

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Rather than using the inverter, why not install something like this next to your new stereo radio next to your bed.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Car-...wer-Adapter-/161357591921?hash=item2591a97571

Thanks Mike that looks like exactly what I need

 

[Hurricane]

Agreed, Bart but that is just inviting my guests to flatten my batteries with their hairdryers, kettles and other 230V appliances Yes definitely if we were spending more time on the boat than we do now, I would look at this solution and maybe even a small additional aircon unit as well just to cool the master cabin but which could be driven by the invertor overnight

How big is your domestic battery bank, Mike?
Ours is definitely not big enough to run A/C
This year, we have been running the generator late evening to charge the batteries.
At the same time, we have also been running the cabin A/C at full power to cool the cabins.
I have then been switching the generator off from about mid night until breakfast.

Using the solution outlined above, I can keep our phones/tablets fully charged.
The installation cost is minimal - IMO a no-brainer

 

[Nick_H]

I'm planning to install a charging station for next year so that the multitude of idevices and DS's on board can all be kept in one place rather than being distributed around the boat in every available plug socket. A small 24v to 5v transformer and a bank of USB charging points should also mean that i dont get asked ten times a day to turn on the 11 KW genny to provide 10 watts of power to an ipad mini

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

How big is your domestic battery bank, Mike?
Ours is definitely not big enough to run A/C
This year, we have been running the generator late evening to charge the batteries.
At the same time, we have also been running the cabin A/C at full power to cool the cabins.
I have then been switching the generator off from about mid night until breakfast.

Using the solution outlined above, I can keep our phones/tablets fully charged.
The installation cost is minimal - IMO a no-brainer

I agree Mike. For what I want to do immediately ie keep a phone charged overnight, your solution is perfect. What I was trying to say to Bart in response to his post was that if I was using my boat more then I might consider the invertor route and if I was going down that route I'd also like to try to find a way of keeping the master cabin only cooled for those nights we are at anchor. At present we do exactly what you do ie last one to bed switches the gennie off but I must say that even with all the portholes open to catch any breeze I don't sleep as well as when we are in a marina and can run the aircon all night

FWIW we have 6 x 200aH batteries for domestic services. We do already have a 1500W invertor on the boat but it is dedicated to the galley fridge. There's no way I can run the existing aircon unit from any invertor at present but I was wondering if I could fit a small additional auxiliary chiller unit which could be powered by an invertor and run that overnight without flattening the batteries. I haven't looked into this properly as yet and probably its a project for another boat. I guess the short term answer is to run the gennie all night

 

[Hurricane]

I agree Mike. For what I want to do immediately ie keep a phone charged overnight, your solution is perfect. What I was trying to say to Bart in response to his post was that if I was using my boat more then I might consider the invertor route and if I was going down that route I'd also like to try to find a way of keeping the master cabin only cooled for those nights we are at anchor. At present we do exactly what you do ie last one to bed switches the gennie off but I must say that even with all the portholes open to catch any breeze I don't sleep as well as when we are in a marina and can run the aircon all night

FWIW we have 6 x 200aH batteries for domestic services. We do already have a 1500W invertor on the boat but it is dedicated to the galley fridge. There's no way I can run the existing aircon unit from any invertor at present but I was wondering if I could fit a small additional auxiliary chiller unit which could be powered by an invertor and run that overnight without flattening the batteries. I haven't looked into this properly as yet and probably its a project for another boat. I guess the short term answer is to run the gennie all night

A few years ago, we fitted these.
1 each side of our bed and one in the center of our forward cabin berth.
http://www.caframolifestylesolutions.com/product/12-volt/bora-2/
Three speed - the slow speed creates just enough air movement for comfort.
The fan is quiet - quite nice to sleep with them running - very little drain on the batteries.

Last year our son was getting very hot at night in the port cabin so we bought a couple of these.
Found them in a Marjne Superstore whilst we were at anchor in Santa Ponsa.
http://www.hellamarine.com/en/products/accessories/fans/turbo-fan.html

Either of these fans will give you a more comfortable night - either with or without the A/C on.
The Bora ones are slightly better built but more expensive.

I wired them into the bedside lighting circuit - they take such little power and I had previously changed the bedside lights to LED anyway.
Extra inline fuses of course.

 

[BartW]

I agree Mike. For what I want to do immediately ie keep a phone charged overnight, your solution is perfect. What I was trying to say to Bart in response to his post was that if I was using my boat more then I might consider the invertor route and if I was going down that route I'd also like to try to find a way of keeping the master cabin only cooled for those nights we are at anchor. At present we do exactly what you do ie last one to bed switches the gennie off but I must say that even with all the portholes open to catch any breeze I don't sleep as well as when we are in a marina and can run the aircon all night

FWIW we have 6 x 200aH batteries for domestic services. We do already have a 1500W invertor on the boat but it is dedicated to the galley fridge. There's no way I can run the existing aircon unit from any invertor at present but I was wondering if I could fit a small additional auxiliary chiller unit which could be powered by an invertor and run that overnight without flattening the batteries. I haven't looked into this properly as yet and probably its a project for another boat. I guess the short term answer is to run the gennie all night

the sockets from Mike's link on e-bay look a bit camper style imho
I considered doing something similar before we had the invertors,
plan was to integrate the usb socket in to a bticino blanc panel, identical range as our light switches and electric sockets,
actually I had blanc space in some existing bticino switches on each side of the beds

6 x 200ah for domestic is a lot, are you sure ?
FWIW
I have 6 x (2 x 12V ) 105Ah= 630Ah which I thought is a lot.
we have installed a Victron battery monitor, and the automatic start link to our genny,
at anchor the genny starts around 6am (battery's at 60% State Of Charge)
and didn't start before 8am the last week when I switched the two banks Domestic and Engine in parallel 12 x 105Ah

(I do have completely seperate 2 x 12V 105ah for 12V supply, and for starting the genny, in case that something goes wrong...)

 

[jfm]

6 x 200ah for domestic is a lot, are you sure ?
FWIW
I have 6 x (2 x 12V ) 105Ah= 630Ah which I thought is a lot.

BartW it is quite easily done to state the AH without stating the voltage, which is technically meaningless obviously, and it happens plenty on here. Mike means (I think) that he has 6x 200AH 12v batteries, which of course is 600Ah at 24v, not 1200Ah

600Ah at 24v is still quite a decent bucket of energy. Deleted User your idea of a mini airco for master cabin on inverter is feasible as regards energy: Spec sheet http://www.dometic.com/USA/MS-11346...43987-Vector-Turbo-6000-BTUh-208-240V60Hz1-Ph for the small marine air unit says 2.6Amps @230v, plus say 1.5 for the seawater pump so call it 4 amps total. That's 40 amps from your batteries @24v with a good inverter. Your battery bank would cover that for perhaps 6 hours without dying (depending on your fridge loads). you could fit a time clock or set the room thermostat to 22 rather than 19deg, to stretch things out a bit. Anyway it is just about feasible engineeringly, imho

 

[petem]

BartW it is quite easily done to state the AH without stating the voltage, which is technically meaningless obviously, and it happens plenty on here. Mike means (I think) that he has 6x 200AH 12v batteries, which of course is 600Ah at 24v, not 1200Ah

600Ah at 24v is still quite a decent bucket of energy. Deleted User your idea of a mini airco for master cabin on inverter is feasible as regards energy: Spec sheet http://www.dometic.com/USA/MS-11346...43987-Vector-Turbo-6000-BTUh-208-240V60Hz1-Ph for the small marine air unit says 2.6Amps @230v, plus say 1.5 for the seawater pump so call it 4 amps total. That's 40 amps from your batteries @24v with a good inverter. Your battery bank would cover that for perhaps 6 hours without dying (depending on your fridge loads). you could fit a time clock or set the room thermostat to 22 rather than 19deg, to stretch things out a bit. Anyway it is just about feasible engineeringly, imho

Would the smallest EFOY COMFORT (http://www.efoy-comfort.com/technical-data) be able to drive that A/C unit?

 

[BartW]

Would the smallest EFOY COMFORT (http://www.efoy-comfort.com/technical-data) be able to drive that A/C unit?

I'm afraid not, far too small 40....100W, you need at least 1000W

also the feasability engineering, running on battery's is tight, /too tight imo,
my battery's (similar capacity like Deleted User) are just enought for approx 6 to 8 hours authonomy,
and thats for all fridges, some lights, communication and alarm gear, clockradio's, and Phone and laptop chargers,

I'm afraid that ones you're talking airco, a generator is on order

 

[Hurricane]

Back home in Sant Carles now.
We decided to come back a day earlier.
We wanted flat water for a bit of Dolphin spotting and we weren't disapointed.
Lots of dolphins - some with babies.
I will post a few pics later.
We've been away from SC for about 4 months and after a few weeks recently (mainly at anchor in Mallorca), the old girl needs some cleaning.
Apart from a few small hickuos (mainly the stern thruster) she has been as reliable as usual.

A few days cleaning and refueling etc now.
Then I fly home on Friday - nearly 5 months after I flew out.
I've enjoyed every minute of it.
I'm sure that as soon as I get home to Devon, I'll want to be back.
Maybe for a few weeks in Oct - who knows!

Here are some pics - as promised

After leaving Santa Ponsa, we pootled round some of the north western Mallorcan anchorages.
And ended up in Cala Basset on the north/western side of Mallorca - just after passing through Dragonera

Here's a chartlet from JW's logged track.

Lovely place when the weather is from the south/east.

Here we had lunch and fed the fish.

Then it was a simple passage straight to Sant Carles.
But - we had decided to leave a day early to do some dolphin watching.
We weren't disappointed.
And neither was AnCam.
During most of our dolphin experiences, I stay on the helm - the rest of the family generally go onto the bow to watch them.

AnCam is a real benefit here - it gives me my own view.

Actually, SWMBO often takes over so that I can pop down to the bow as well.

I haven't got any photos but this time, we were treated to baby dolphins - no bigger than a couple of feet long - swimming with their mothers - protecting them from us.
A wonderful experience for our son and daughter in law who haven't seen them with us before.

Then it was a final sunset at sea before arriving at Sant Carles - nearly four months after leaving.

And the final wake shot.

I hope you have enjoyed this thread - I have.

 

[Whitelighter]

Enjoyed it immensely mike.

Must rank as your best boating summer to date I'd wager.

 

[MapisM]

I hope you have enjoyed this thread - I have.

Well M, I must say that I enjoyed even more the chance I had to share many of these moments in great company.
But aside from coming to CF, many thanks also for starting and updating such a great thread.
It sort of gave me the impression to have shared also the other places where you have been during your trip.
Btw, I'm very envious of your latest baby dolphin spotting.
I've seen some small ones in a few occasions, but never as little as 2 feet.
They must have been very cute indeed! :encouragement:

 

[MrB]

I hope you have enjoyed this thread - I have.

Loved every part of it, thanks for sharing your summer with us. I'm just sad it has ended. Top thread.:encouragement:

 

[Lloydroberts]

Loved every part of it, thanks for sharing your summer with us. I'm just sad it has ended. Top thread.:encouragement:

+1

Brilliant thread, very enjoyable.

That final wake shot is nearly as sad as Deidre's funeral.

I wonder when and where he'll be taking us next.

 

[NGM]

Loved every part of it, thanks for sharing your summer with us. I'm just sad it has ended. Top thread.:encouragement:

+1

Great thread Mike, thanks for posting

 

[jfm]

+1 many thanks Mike. I have really enjoyed checking in on this thread over the last several months. I hope you get some more good time on the boat this year even, and I look forward to your announcement (early next year I guess?!) of JW's 2016 cruising plans:encouragement:

 

[petem]

+1 to all the positive comments.

It was a real honour to have joined you guys albeit for too brief a period. Hopefully will be joining you under my own steam (or diesel) next year.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Either of these fans will give you a more comfortable night - either with or without the A/C on.
The Bora ones are slightly better built but more expensive.
.

Thanks Mike, I was thinking about fans too so that is useful

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

also the feasability engineering, running on battery's is tight, /too tight imo,
my battery's (similar capacity like Deleted User) are just enought for approx 6 to 8 hours authonomy,
and thats for all fridges, some lights, communication and alarm gear, clockradio's, and Phone and laptop chargers,

I'm afraid that ones you're talking airco, a generator is on order

Thanks Bart. We can probably go longer than 6-8hrs on batteries but thats because I'm very strict with guests about using power but aircon is a different matter. OK looks like the invertor idea to drive the aircon is a non starter