Since we now have time to finish up some lingering projects
on the boat, before we attempt another long trip this fall, I thought I would
measure up what space we have available. I feel that for us to have a
successful trip we must be able to conform to some of our daily habits in order
to not upset the natural balance we have developed.
When we were young, spontaneity was our guide; well at least
that was mine. But now that I am not able to travel easily anymore we must
stick to what works. There are days when I am up at the crack of dawn, and
other days when Lynda has to work at getting me awake.
So, figuring out a routine and making decisions as to what
and where we will spend most of our time on the boat, will help us ease in to
the cruising life. In calculating our available space in and out of the boat I
came up with the following:
We have 911.5 square feet of usable space on the boat; not
including the outside walkways. 689.5 square feet is inside, which makes up the
pilot house, kitchen, master bed and bath, the 2nd bedroom and bath, and
the remaining amount makes up the front porch, back porch, and the top usable deck under the Bimini.
It does not include the engine room (basement with no engines), or the front top of the boat
where the solar array is mounted.
Compared to our 28’ Aloha sailboat, and our cabin at the
Grand Canyon, we will be living in a mansion! At our former marina, (where
there are no liveaboards), three people come to mind. These individuals, who
stay on their boats full time, have either never taken their boats out, or have
not taken them out in recent memory. All three have sailboats; two 36 ‘, and
one 30’. My unwavering contention was and is: why would you want to live on, (I
mean stay on), a cramped sailboat that never moves, rather than a palatial
powerboat or houseboat?
Some things are not meant for me to know? Regardless, we are
quite happy with our boat now, and that camaraderie that sailboat owners have,
that often, if not always excludes “stinkpotters”, will have to trundle on
without us. Sailboats travel far on wind and diesel, but if you want to travel
in comfort, and you like more room, you must consider an alternative;
that is why we chose to convert this houseboat into a solar cruiser.
That is enough of my rambling for this blog entry. Since it
is going to be in the low 90’s this week, we will probably not go to the boat
and work.
I did hook the solar controller back up the other day, so we
can get the batteries back up to speed. I still need to separate the eight
batteries in to four 24 volt packs in parallel, which will give us 416 amps @
24 volts. As I mentioned in another blog the controller blew a $50 fuse when it
was underwater during the boat flood. I was going to hook the boat up at 36
volts to get more speed, but the 36 volt array will need an extra 20 amps to
run, and my number one controller is only set to handle 1000 watts or 40 amps.
Even at maximum the solar array with that controller will not be able to keep
up with the diminished capacity being extracted from the battery bank. I did consider
running my little generator while cruising to compensate, but will save that
for later in case I feel more power and speed are necessary.
I can run my 800/1000
watt generator on full load for 12 hours on .9 gallons of gas. If I went to 36
volts and the increased amperage it will cost me for gasoline whereas I can
cruise for free on the 24 volt 30 amps currently. My speed varies according to
current and wind, but usually I can average around 3 mph. Clearly that is not
fast, but it is free. I suspect I can get used to free with the occasional use
of the Johnson 115 rudder.
I did figure out that if I went with the 36 volt system and
generator I would be able to average around 30 miles to the gallon compared to
the 3 miles to the gallon I get with the Johnson 115, and that is only when
wind and current is not against me. So, I will wile my way along until the
cooler weather arrives. There is always something to work on at the boat.
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