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So I am finally in possesion of my new boat. Now I am in the process of outfitting it on my meager income. I work at Paradis park in Tiburon, so I would really like to be able to anchor off shore and dinghy into work on occasion. To make this all possible, I need to know two things. What should I be looking for in a generator? I would like to be able to hook it into the boats electrical system to allow for lighting and battery charging. I am not all that concerned about the refrigerator. I figure I can just put some dry ice in there from time to time. I am just wondering what sort of a connection makes this possible. Also does anyone here have any experience anchoring off of paradise? I am wondering how nervouse I should be about anchor drag.
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Re: Generators
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 2:32 PM
another option for anchoring would be in richardson bay
for generators - you want to get a quiet one, that has a good inverter, and doesn't take up alot of room
honda and yamaha are the best choices
www.hondapowerequipment.com/gensup.asp
www.yamahagenerators.com/yamah...1.html
however i would get a good deep cycle battery, unisolar (works in partial shade) solar panel, and led lights for the interior first, and save the gas costs. -
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Re: Generators
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 7:22 PMGenerators suck, people who run generators on an anchorage suck. For less money you can get solar cells, batteries and an inverter. Much better, quiet, doesn't need gas and will last for years. -
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Re: Generators
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 9:29 PMDon't get me wrong, I am against the idea of running a generator, independance from gas is exactly why I bought a sailboat. But after researching the equipment I would need (a house bank of two batteries minimum $200, wind generator $700, solar panels $300... not to mention charge controllers and other necessities) I am coming to the conclusion that I should get a generator now while I build up a green system. Also I don't want people to get the impression that I am planning on running a slum anchor out boat. I simply would like to sleep on my boat five minutes away from work a couple nights per week. -
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Re: Generators
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 9:41 PMgo with wind
400 W are enough for light, TV, stereo and laptop
and work, day and night -
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Re: Generators
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 5:20 PMI have four golf cart batteries, two solar cells, charge controller and an 750watt inverter. I can run my little shopvac vacuum cleaner. Usually I use the inverter for chargers for the computor and stuff. Right now my boats tied to the dock in Juneau. I don't want to pay to have a meter put in to get shore power so I'm living aboard with this system. It worked fine for my six month cruise to Mexico, also. I have two mini swithches that I use to parallel the starting battery with the housebank when I'm running the diesel. I would pick a windgenerator carefully to find one that didn't make much noise. Carbon monoxide poisening kills and sickens people each year, from generators. I do own one, but it's a backup just in case.
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Re: Generators
Mon, May 14, 2007 - 2:55 PMalan - if you just need to run some lights and maybe something else sometimes, one battery and a solar panel will be just fine. i have a unisolar 32 which i got for $170, a cheap deep cell battery from west marine ($80) and some led lights - and it works great. i can even run my laptop for hours (70 watt draw) every once in a while. theres a small inverter for like $25-30 that will handle up to 100 watts.
i dont think they make the unisolar 32 anymore, if you can get one grab it. otherwise the unisolar 64 is available from different web sites for about $300.
because of boom shadow, cloudy days, and even bird shit - i'm a firm believer in getting unisolar (or other panels which are "Amorphous" ) that work in partial shade. with regular solar panels a shadow dramatically reduces the output. they counter this by saying they are more "efficient' then amorphous, but that only refers to the size of the panel. do not get a made in china solar panel, they will fall apart in the salt water environment. you can't even trust what west marine sells.
a decent generator like the ones i posted are going to be $700-800 plus gas - and you still need a battery and lights unless you are going to run the generator all the time. if you get a cheaper generator it will be extremely noisy, take up more room, and wont have a good inverter.
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