Secured on deck, the solar-cell panel gathers a charge while underway.
A 110-volt electrical outlet is hard to find while sailing coastal Carolina. Sure, if you grab the corner seat at the Big Trout Marina Café in Engelhard you can use the outlet there, or leave a tip at the ice cream shop on the Beaufort waterfront to use their power. But when anchored out on a beautiful creek, your camera battery weak, the phone battery about to die, you’re out of luck. My solution is to bring power along in the form of Goal Zero’s Sherpa Solar Kit ($409.97), which includes the Nomad 13 Solar Panel ($159.99), a Sherpa 50 Power pack ($199.99), and the Sherpa Inverter ($49.99).The solar panel, compact, portable, and weather resistant, is meant for camping and backpacking. It works on small boats, too. Folded for storage, the panel measures 9″ x 10.5″ x 1″ with the junction box and cables stores neatly in a mesh pouch on the side. On my boat SPARTINA, a 17′ Welsford yawl, the panel fits in a Pelican box along with the power pack, inverter, and battery chargers.
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Comments (3)
I have a 16′ all mahogany Susquehanna River tunnel boat with an antique marine engine for power. Since it has a 12-volt DC battery to start the engine, I put together a small plastic box with a standard automotive cigarette-lighter socket on one end and some wires that go to the terminals of the battery. I plug in a dual port USB charger gadget that costs about $5.00 at any automotive parts store and keep both my cell phone and my Kindle charged. The box has a oggle switch to turn it off when the boat is not in use.
Steve doesn’t have a battery on his sailboat but even with the cost of high-quality battery, the total cost would be considerably less than his arrangement.
Cheers
Bob Price
A boat that has a motor with an electrical system that generates and stores power can indeed be easily and economically outfitted to recharge electronic devices. My experiment with a 12-volt DC battery on its own, without an onboard charging system, was a disappointment. I had equipped my rowing/sailing camp cruiser with a deep-cycle battery, wiring and several automobile power outlets. The system cost about $100 and powered interior lights, a CD player, a searchlight and my cell phone charger. The battery would last for a few days and then peter out. After that is was just 50 pounds of dead weight. I scrapped that system and switched to AA batteries and solar charging. Solar panels are just one way to provide electricity while cruising, so We’ll come back to the topic in future issues.
Christopher Cunningham, Editor
Nice job with the journal. As a Caledonia builder/owner myself I appreciate everything that’s going on.
I have a 16′ all mahogany Susquehanna River tunnel boat with an antique marine engine for power. Since it has a 12-volt DC battery to start the engine, I put together a small plastic box with a standard automotive cigarette-lighter socket on one end and some wires that go to the terminals of the battery. I plug in a dual port USB charger gadget that costs about $5.00 at any automotive parts store and keep both my cell phone and my Kindle charged. The box has a oggle switch to turn it off when the boat is not in use.
Steve doesn’t have a battery on his sailboat but even with the cost of high-quality battery, the total cost would be considerably less than his arrangement.
Cheers
Bob Price
A boat that has a motor with an electrical system that generates and stores power can indeed be easily and economically outfitted to recharge electronic devices. My experiment with a 12-volt DC battery on its own, without an onboard charging system, was a disappointment. I had equipped my rowing/sailing camp cruiser with a deep-cycle battery, wiring and several automobile power outlets. The system cost about $100 and powered interior lights, a CD player, a searchlight and my cell phone charger. The battery would last for a few days and then peter out. After that is was just 50 pounds of dead weight. I scrapped that system and switched to AA batteries and solar charging. Solar panels are just one way to provide electricity while cruising, so We’ll come back to the topic in future issues.
Christopher Cunningham, Editor
Nice job with the journal. As a Caledonia builder/owner myself I appreciate everything that’s going on.