Where's Waldo?

[smacksman]

There's no fool like an old fool, so they say - and I should know! )

[JT48348]

The panels were eBay specials. Nothing fancy or marine about them. $300 for the pair. They're 58 by 27 inches

I originally bought a 20 amp PWM controller but in full sun the panels come pretty close to maxing that one out. I now carry it as a spare and am using a 30 amp PWM controller. 8 gauge wire from the panels to the controller

Don

Sorry one more question. So if you had to go down in size from the two 160s what would you go to? Did you get the 160s cause they were a deal or were they part of your computations. Off hand 320watts seems like a massive amount. I get that you now have power on tap and fast but I was originally thinking something like 2x100watt panels. I guess bigger is better?

[Beta Don]

JT,

When it comes to the question of electrical power on a live aboard boat, more is always better. I think it would be hard to have too much

When we're on the hook (or a mooring ball) for more than 4 or 5 days, it's almost always because of the weather and when you string together 2 or 3 days with less than perfect sun, you'll wish you had larger panels . . . . or a wind generator

We're on our 6th day here at Boot Key and we've had to run the generator for 3 or 4 hours so far just to keep up because we've had a few 'gray' days with the fronts passing through - Not much rain, but not optimum solar days either

I chose the 160's because they were the largest panels which fit where I needed them to go and because they were a good deal. Day to day they do pretty well, but for extended stops like this one I wish they were larger. You gotta run the fridge 24/7 (or haul bags of ice every other day) and many nights here in the south you're going to run fans at night to sleep - You can't run the genset overnight to power the A/C in crowded anchorages so there will always be times you wish for more power than you have no matter what system you go with

I had four L16 batteries (and no genset) on my sailboat and there are days I wish I had found some way to squeeze 4 of those on here somewhere. I guess I could have fit a pair of them in the engine room, but it's the house bank which really needs to be bigger. Four AGM golf cart batteries for the house bank would not have been excessive as it turns out

Don

[rnummi]

Don are you back from your Tortuga jaunt? remember to get to Indian River by the 16th.....

[Beta Don]

Yes we're back in Boot Key Harbor after our 250 mile Dry Tortugas round trip over Easter weekend. We had planned to stay longer but the weather window turned out to be shorter than we expected. If you're taking your A27 offshore it really pays to keep a sharp eye on the weather forecasts. She will get you home in less than perfect conditions, but it won't be a comfortable ride

We took lots of photos while touring Ft Jefferson as well as some close up shots of Sombrero light, American Shoal light and Sand Key light on the way out. If any of you get the chance to go to Ft Jefferson take it - It's a fascinating place with lots of history and the Park Rangers who live there are all very friendly. Amazing to see what you can do with 16 million bricks and 30 years to lay them

One more item checked off the Bucket List! I'll post a couple pictures when I get the laptop into the marina office where they have WiFi. Why they refuse to broadcast it out to the harbor is a mystery to me. 300 boats here and they have a grand total of 4 picnic tables in the office where you have access to WiFi

Don

[Beta Don]

'Waldo' is in Ft Pierce. 3 days and 200 miles from Marathon must be some kind of record for an A27 . . . .but likely Roger beat that last year on his dash from South Carolina to New Orleans??

The new autopilot is the cat's pajamas I can tell you! It will even steer the boat downwind in a quartering sea. Not a perfectly straight line, but it does steer it and it doesn't kick out!

Don

[Sprig1]

Glad you are having fun. You extended the front of your rudder didn't you. Do think it's helping?

[Beta Don]

Glad you are having fun. You extended the front of your rudder didn't you. Do think it's helping?

Yes, I did - By about 5 inches. It balances the rudder and lightens the helm - Could be one reason the autopilot is working as well as it is

After 3 days and 200+ miles, we added another 52 miles today getting to Patrick AFB where we intend to rest up for a few days. We went 4 days without setting foot off the boat and a long walk over to the commissary felt really good!

Don

[Jay Knoll]

Don motored by Vero before I had a chance to invite him to stop so I drove up to Patrick to yesterday to meet him and his wife. We had a nice chat in their well laid out cockpit and I got a chance to admire his handiwork. He has that boat tuned to the 1/16 of an inch. When I saw how he put a generator in and the room he has in his engine compartment I was really impressed. There are so many differences among these boats, my 155 Isuzu takes up much more space in the engine room than his Yanmar does on his boat. He has one fuel tank on centerline, I have two outboard. As a result he has much more space in the cockpit lockers. That's just a start. In the interest of brevity suffice it to say that he has thought out the inevitable trade offs one faces in any boat and has made well considered choices that fit their cruising style. Sadly I didn't take any pictures.

I'm taking off on the 18th to single hand Better Days north on the ICW until my wife finishes some commitments she has. Then she will rent a car and drive up to meet me and complete the northern leg of the cruise and accompany me on the return south. I'm thinking Cumberland Island, or maybe Savannah as the turn around point, we'll see how the weather treats us. We may cross wakes with Don along the way.

Jay

[DesertAlbin736]

'Waldo' is in Ft Pierce. 3 days and 200 miles from Marathon must be some kind of record for an A27 . . . .but likely Roger beat that last year on his dash from South Carolina to New Orleans??

Fort Pierce? You must stop by the Pursuit Boats factory & say hi to my little brother Mike Eshleman who works there doing wiring harnesses & tell him his bro' Steve sent you.

[Beta Don]

Sorry, Steve - We left Ft Pierce last Monday for the Melbourne area. Currently in the Patrick AFB marina and leaving here in the morning for the Titusville City Marina

Don

[Beta Don]

Made it into Hidden Harbor Marina in St Augustine yesterday afternoon. We'll spend a couple days here looking around one of America's oldest cities before we move on to Jacksonville where we'll leave the boat at the Naval Air Station there & drive home for a week or so before continuing on. I did promise Carolyn a few 'grandkid fixes' every now and then and this will be the first one. We've been gone about 10 weeks and covered nearly 1500 miles so a week off the boat will do us both good

Surprisingly few problems so far, especially when you consider all that was new on the boat when we left. I did have to change the primary fuel filter element a couple days ago as it got plugged up with residue from the fuel tank

We certainly didn't plan it, but the $2 diesel prices made this an ideal time for a trip like this!

Don

[Beta Don]

Well, Waldo had a bad day Wednesday afternoon. Hit a submerged rock jetty about 100 yards shy of the green #1 which marks the junction of the AICW and the St Johns River in Jacksonville Florida

Punched about a 6 by 8 inch hole in the keel about 18" forward of the hanging locker - Right where you have no access because it's under the floor

We quickly determined we were taking on a serious amount of water, so I firewalled it and we made it across the St Johns and beached it before it sank . . . . buy it did sink as the tide came in. Tides run about 5' here

Got a temporary patch on it at low tide Wednesday night and re floated it and a better patch at low tide yesterday and then to a marina and out of the water. We'll tote it home on its trailer in a few days

And so the adventure ends and not quite like we had planned . . . . but Carolyn is already talking about finishing the Great Loop next year . . . . But on a significantly bigger boat. Trying to live day to day on only 30 gallons of freshwater isn't something we would look forward to again

Don

[Jeremyvmd]

Yikes! Glad you were able to Atleast salvage her and minimize the damage:/ How bad is it? Full rebuild bad or just a good cleanup? I hope your able to get her back up and running soon...glad to hear your both ok and still with us. Having a boat sink out from under me is my biggest fear

[smacksman]

Your salvage of Beta Carina, Don, is a great act of seamanship. Well done. Many would have panicked, launched the dink and paddled away leaving a hazard for other craft. Glad you are both safe.

Were you the wrong side of the green? Cutting the corner? Sounds like a serious hazard not to be marked with post.

Thinking of you.
Roger