Hi, everyone -
New to this forum, good to be here. I've been avidly reading dozens and
dozens of the previous posts; seems like the right place for me to be,
given my situation. Just as a quick intro, I'm a live-aboard sailor
(have been at it for some 20 years now), and have a good bit of
experience with boat issues of all sorts; I also have the (dubious)
advantage of a BSEE in my dim, dark past, as well as having worked as an
electronics tech for a number of years.
I've just become the proud owner of a Morgan Nelson-Marek 45', which was
previously used as a pure racer (despite her lovely cruising interior),
which obviously spent all her non-racing time tied to a dock, shore
power and all, with all that that implies (incandescent lighting,
rudimentary charging system, neglected engine, a single battery as the
house bank, etc.) Obviously, my first challenge is to "stop the
bleeding" - replace all the incandescent fixtures with fluorescent
and/or LED (any advice in that direction would also be appreciated) and
to install something resembling a reasonable house bank. That last part,
however, is tempered by my desire to make this system "upgradeable",
because I'd really love to get rid of the stinky, oily beast of a
Perkins in her guts and replace it with an electric drive. I've already
contacted the folks at electricyacht.com and had them send me an
estimate of what it would take to convert her; they recommended their
360ibl motor with a 72V/400AH bank, which to my mind seems a bit small
for a 22,500lb displacement/36'9" LWL boat (again, I'm happy to be
corrected on this score.) I'm at a bit of a loss for a different unit,
though; haven't seen much that really appeals. I also suspect that I'm
going to need quite a bit more in a way of power storage, too - although
I prefer to sail whenever I can.
Since I run my business (computer consulting) from my boat, my peak
power usage tends to run about 150AH/day (that's about 5-10% of the
time.) Another 10-15% of the time, it's closer to 100AH/day, and the
rest of the time, it's more like 50AH/day. On my previous boat, my house
system consisted of 6 T-125s with a 250W PV system and an Air-X wind
generator feeding it, as well as a Honda EU2000i and a 120A alternator
on my diesel engine. The system I'm planning is going to be radically
different: for one thing, I have a very long cockpit - about 10' - and
I'm looking at replacing the bimini that's now in place with a set of
Kyocera 135W panels, as many as I can squeeze in. I'd prefer not to have
a wind generator this time, but will put up with one if I have to. Also,
I rarely spend any time at a dock, and strongly prefer anchoring out; in
fact, that's how the boat is going to spend most of her time.
I realize that this is a lot of stuff (once I start writing about things
like this, it's hard to stop!), but, again, any useful advice on any of
the above would be greatly appreciated.
Fair winds to all -
Ben
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