Windmills and water makers

[K9Kampers]

With yer 10' windmill, ya can reverse wire from the solar panel as in the other thread and have a way to propel the boat on those sunny windless days!

[Chopper Pilot]

Thanks bud. This is the perfect example of "The Law Of Diffusion Of Innovation" in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU3fIEPfctQ

Go to 11:05 and he explains it. This is what society goes through

[Russ]

Oh, and Rich also sells wind generators.
Give it a look. He's been living on his boat for years using these systems, so he knows a thing or two.
http://www.cruiserowaterandpower.com/

[bahama bound]

It really kinda sucks .i love my mac for what it is ,with that said ,I keep looking at 37-42 foot boats to do some serious cruising .it still breaks my heart to go back to a keel boat with the cost associated .looking at a hunter 376 now and my credit union will do 4.25 % for 180 or 2 % if I barrow on a c.d .with rates like this it makes it more tempting to take the plunge .but I would put my mac in storage to come back to after my dream cruise m

[Chopper Pilot]

My wife and I will buy a lagoon 440 in a few years. Until then, we will enjoy learning to sail on our 26m!

I am thinking that instead of the front or back, I am leaning towards a wheeled cuff placed around the mast that can be raised with a halyard out of the way of people. It would allow small movement left or right with the rotating mast. This is just an idea I am having right this second

[mastreb]

Have you given any thought to solar on an aft arch? With solar, you're generating power constantly, while at sea moving and while at anchor. It's considerably more convenient, solid state, and generates about 2X the the power per dollar invested than a wind turbine by my research.

When we outfit for cruising in a few years, we will be installing an aft arch and putting rigid solar panels on that. We will also be installing a wind turbine on the arch which will be rated for about 120 watts in a 15 knot wind. My thinking is that the weather is generally either sunny -or- windy, often both, but rarely neither. We're will also be putting on a 40gph water-maker with a backup manual or 12VDC Katydyn.

My primary issue with cruising on the Mac is the lack of a warm shower. Everything else I can cope with, and I tend to prefer cozier spaces so the size has never been a huge issue for me (although it is for my wife). I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to put a shower on the 26M, and only the cockpit makes sense. I suppose with the right enclosure it could be made to work, but an enclosure isn't otherwise very useful here in San Diego so i didn't pursue it.

I know a guy here in San Diego that lives aboard his boat on his mooring ball. Here's how he "showers":

He puts water in three spray-painted black milk jugs and leaves them on deck all day to warm up. He then puts liquid soap in one and leaves the other two fresh water. He comes out to his cockpit in a wetsuit, where screws a small hose to the soap water jug and pours it first onto his head to wash his hair, and then into his wetsuit front and back using the hose. The wetsuit balloons up a little with the water. He then agitates the water around inside the wetsuit in all the necessary places, and drains it out his ankles. Then he pours the fresh water bottle in and rinses that way. Usually he does two fresh water bottles, one after the other. Then he hangs out in the cockpit a while until the wetsuit stops dripping, and then goes into he cabin to take it off. You see the wetsuit hanging out inside out to dry on his lifelines with his towels the next day.

Anyway, I've never figured out a way that would work for me except buying a boat with a shower.

[Chopper Pilot]

Wow! You have almost the same exact plans that I do. I plan on a hybrid system. Ideally I would have a solar panel roof over the cockpit made ( I would make it) with a shower head installed in the center or two head (one above each side seat) so I could sit and shower or cool off in the heat with fresh water. If plan A falls through, then plan B is the arch with small outrigger capability for fishing and just mount commercial panels on back. But I really want to assemble my own solar cells on a designed roof that extends pretty far aft. There are plenty of videos instructing on your own solar panel builds. I don't want standard rectangles hanging off the back of my boat when I have wasted roof space by using a bimini. I do understand the advantage of the bimini, I just don't find the tradeoff more beneficial than an actual hard roof. If I build a solid enough structure on the forward half of the roof with aluminium, I thought about mounting the Sheet tackle on a rail, and get it out of the entryway so I can extend the roof forward and make a semi hard dodger. Not sure about that one though.

[bahama bound]

I did not mean to sound so negative.what I was trying to say is these boats are so close to being my PERFECT boat .with that said sometimes less is more .i found that it takes very little energy to make these boats very livable.i can survive on 100 watts of solar .the little Honda 1000 has been a great supplement and even pulls the a.c .my boat came with propane 2 burner stove that has a fairly large propane tank .i had planned on taking it out and putting in a microwave .now I am so glad I didn't .the key for us was using the least amount of energy while still being comfortable.we use a solar shower but have not ruled out a little propane tankless water heater

[kurz]

Hi chopper pilot
I don't know it a hardtop really makes so much sense. It will give many many hours of work, gets heavy and will often bother when you stand up in the cockpit.

You can easily put 100 to 150w solar panel on the rear arch. If you need more put some flexible solar panels on the hatch or anywhere else. Even if the solar panels are expensive it will work out cheaper at the end...

[Calin]

Solar is a good solution to power. Especially for areas with a lot of sun.



This system uses 2 135W solar panels. Its a shade day time, cover during rainy days.
It powers electronics and a mini fridge.

[Chopper Pilot]

It is not about the cost, it is about what I want. I want to be able to sail completely enclosed. Boating is all about being on the water with my wife. She doesn't have a shoe closet on the boat so I have to work hard on keeping her happy and comfortable on the boat. She is the reason for a lagoon catamaran later when we start cruising. Until then, this trail or sailor will be the most comfortable trailor sailor it can be for her requirements.

[Stevenhigbee]

Postby kurz » Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:13 pm
why not change a Katadyn Survivor .06 watermaker into an electric one?
So you get 24l/24h, and normla solar power can do the job.

Any idea of how to do that?

[Chopper Pilot]

http://www.svsoggypaws.com/files/presen ... mpbell.pps

[RobertB]

Ok, I am an engineer, and I have added a bunch of stuff to my boat. You seem to want to run a reverse osmosis filter. So, you will need water tanks, one or two pumps to achieve the pressure and flow needed, valves, plumbing, salt water intake and strainer, a power source capable of running high pressure pumps for an extended period of time (yes, high pressure is needed to get RO membranes to work properly, I have them at home on well water and this is a challenge - I even had to add a boost pump), associated wiring, and possibly an accumulator for the feed pump to cut down on the pump duty cycle. All this is pretty interesting. As a owner who has added a whole lot of stuff, I am really interested in the following since I really cannot picture it: Where are you going to put it all? Aft of the ladder is pretty much useless. The aft dinette seat has some space but this is the best site for a thru hull water intake thus this will take up room. Other areas may fit the equipment but access to service is a real pain. I have a 10 gallon water tank and rarely use it - and we stay on the boat for a whole week. I would really like to see your parts list and installation plan.

[kurz]

Postby kurz » Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:13 pm
why not change a Katadyn Survivor .06 watermaker into an electric one?
So you get 24l/24h, and normla solar power can do the job.

Any idea of how to do that?

Well i'm not an engeneer, but it should be possible to make a kind of 12v motor to press the kadadyn by motor instead by hand.

So you could run it eventually by solar power and do it 24hours.