Scott,
You have lots of advice on batteries now, but I will add mine.
Stick to two batteries if you can, to save weight. Unless you are
running an awful lot of stuff, you will not need three. One for
starting and one for lights etc. at night. We cruised for a year
that way. Yes, get a manual selector switch. We mounted ours below
the stove, just above the floor at the level of your toes. It is
awkward to wire there, but it occupies useless instead of useful
space.
It is great to have the batteries low in the keel. I have a stick of
wood that fits over each, then a screw through the floor on each side
to hold the stick (actually screwed down below the lip of the
floor). They won't move in any situation.
Shore power can feed in anywhere convenient. We brought ours in half
way along the cockpit, through the coaming. Usually that part of the
boat stays fairly close to the dock.
The sailor asking about fuel tanks, my advice again is how nice to
have that weight down low in the keel. I think the original plastic
fuel tanks that fit the keel can still be purchased. Ask Steve
Birch in Britain or Vega Marin in Sweden. Everybody has their own
idea on tanks, but our boat tends to be low in the stern when loaded
for cruising, and I would hate to add more weight in the cockpit
lockers.
John
John Sprague, Salt Spring Island B.C., Flagfish no. 1492.
You have lots of advice on batteries now, but I will add mine.
Stick to two batteries if you can, to save weight. Unless you are
running an awful lot of stuff, you will not need three. One for
starting and one for lights etc. at night. We cruised for a year
that way. Yes, get a manual selector switch. We mounted ours below
the stove, just above the floor at the level of your toes. It is
awkward to wire there, but it occupies useless instead of useful
space.
It is great to have the batteries low in the keel. I have a stick of
wood that fits over each, then a screw through the floor on each side
to hold the stick (actually screwed down below the lip of the
floor). They won't move in any situation.
Shore power can feed in anywhere convenient. We brought ours in half
way along the cockpit, through the coaming. Usually that part of the
boat stays fairly close to the dock.
The sailor asking about fuel tanks, my advice again is how nice to
have that weight down low in the keel. I think the original plastic
fuel tanks that fit the keel can still be purchased. Ask Steve
Birch in Britain or Vega Marin in Sweden. Everybody has their own
idea on tanks, but our boat tends to be low in the stern when loaded
for cruising, and I would hate to add more weight in the cockpit
lockers.
John
John Sprague, Salt Spring Island B.C., Flagfish no. 1492.