newly installed 130w solar panel works great!!!
this past weekend was the first trip with solar power.... it is a wonderful thing!
with the battery fully charged when we left on friday, we used power well in excess of what we would ever normally use so that I could check to see how fast the battery would recharge the next day.... i estimate about 22amps used friday evening with some usage of the twin tube florescent thinlite... it gives a tremendous amount of good soft light, but at a high 3amp draw.
by 1
clock saturday afternoon, which was very sunny and hot, I noticed the blue sky MPPT charger was in float mode.....
on sunday the weather was not as sunny, but as we didnt use as much power saturday night, we still became fully charged by noon on sunday.... and monday,(today) was about the same even though it rained ALL day.....
the solar power will change the way of life on our boat, as I can already feel the addiction building
we were at prineville reservoir for the long weekend.. friday to monday.
friday was nice. we launched around 5pm and sailed in fair winds at 8-10kts gusting to 16-18kts.....it was cooold in the evening. it got down to 34 degrees friday night. saturday had about the same winds, but hotter.... we sailed late as the evening was warm and then found a secluded spot to spend the night.... then came a tremendous storm with terrible rain and high winds. im glad we found a sheltered lagoon to anchor in that evening. the wind was whistling and howling thru the rigging for about 3 hours, then it slacked off for about an hour... then it came again. im not sure what would have happened if we would not have been in the spot we were...
sunday morning was sunny and had some good wind, but then it would die to nothing,... then kick up again, then nothing... we got tired of it and went and found a beach to run up on. after we got a fire going we had a rain shower. the air temp was warm and we didnt really need the fire, but it was nice anyway, and warm after bathing in the lake, but later after we went in for the night, the rains came again.... and a bit of wind, but nothing like saturday night.
we woke up monday morning to gray skies, no wind or even a ripple on the water, and moderate rain, so we slept in til 11am.... we were still beached, and as there was no wind in the forecast, we tidied up the boat and derigged right there. put the wet sails away, put the bar-b-q away, lowered the mast, moved it into its stowed position and lashed the rigging.
we then motored about 2 miles to the launch ramp and loaded up and came home
there are two things I learned this weekend that I wondered about, can we be comfortable on the boat in cold temps?.... yes, very comfortable.
can we be comfortable and dry in monsoon type rains?.... yes, for a couple of days anyway....
basically, it was another great weekend on the boat away from home
this past weekend was the first trip with solar power.... it is a wonderful thing!
with the battery fully charged when we left on friday, we used power well in excess of what we would ever normally use so that I could check to see how fast the battery would recharge the next day.... i estimate about 22amps used friday evening with some usage of the twin tube florescent thinlite... it gives a tremendous amount of good soft light, but at a high 3amp draw.
by 1
clock saturday afternoon, which was very sunny and hot, I noticed the blue sky MPPT charger was in float mode.....on sunday the weather was not as sunny, but as we didnt use as much power saturday night, we still became fully charged by noon on sunday.... and monday,(today) was about the same even though it rained ALL day.....
the solar power will change the way of life on our boat, as I can already feel the addiction building
we were at prineville reservoir for the long weekend.. friday to monday.
friday was nice. we launched around 5pm and sailed in fair winds at 8-10kts gusting to 16-18kts.....it was cooold in the evening. it got down to 34 degrees friday night. saturday had about the same winds, but hotter.... we sailed late as the evening was warm and then found a secluded spot to spend the night.... then came a tremendous storm with terrible rain and high winds. im glad we found a sheltered lagoon to anchor in that evening. the wind was whistling and howling thru the rigging for about 3 hours, then it slacked off for about an hour... then it came again. im not sure what would have happened if we would not have been in the spot we were...
sunday morning was sunny and had some good wind, but then it would die to nothing,... then kick up again, then nothing... we got tired of it and went and found a beach to run up on. after we got a fire going we had a rain shower. the air temp was warm and we didnt really need the fire, but it was nice anyway, and warm after bathing in the lake, but later after we went in for the night, the rains came again.... and a bit of wind, but nothing like saturday night.
we woke up monday morning to gray skies, no wind or even a ripple on the water, and moderate rain, so we slept in til 11am.... we were still beached, and as there was no wind in the forecast, we tidied up the boat and derigged right there. put the wet sails away, put the bar-b-q away, lowered the mast, moved it into its stowed position and lashed the rigging.
we then motored about 2 miles to the launch ramp and loaded up and came home
there are two things I learned this weekend that I wondered about, can we be comfortable on the boat in cold temps?.... yes, very comfortable.
can we be comfortable and dry in monsoon type rains?.... yes, for a couple of days anyway....
basically, it was another great weekend on the boat away from home
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