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Old 04-28-2013, 03:14 PM   #120
Ebaugh
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City: Panama
Vessel Name: Mar Azul
Vessel Model: DeFever 44
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunchaser View Post
Ebaugh

In the PNW we average very close to 4 engine hours per generator hour with genset currently at 410 and engines at 1750 hours. Without AC needs our situation is very different. Maybe your lavish boating E needs lifestyle is unusual, or you should do more swimming to cool off. How do sail boaters without AC manage in your cruising grounds?

Do you have high capacity engine alternators?
It's hard to compare I think? We live aboard 365 days a year, off grid at anchor more than 50% of our nights. We used to run the AC about an hour or two a day at anchor during the evening, but for the last year its only normally run when at dock with shore power. At anchor with the trades, almost everyone does without A/C until you get to large crewed boats. True cruising trawlers are very rare compared to sailors. At least 50, maybe 100 sailboats for every trawler.

Refrigeration power is much less efficient due to much higher ambient air or seawater temperature.

We tend to spend several days at each stop, and the distances between stops are much greater. Our last "run" was 415 NM from San Andres Island to Roatan Honduras. This is a bit unusual, in fact it's the longest single leg of our trip. But overall, legs are much longer than we had on the West Coast of Florida. As a result of the longer legs and the consecutive days at anchor, I don't think we would save much with big alternators. Ours are only 90A each, but we run them much lower than that.

The answer here is solar and wind, most every sailboat has one or the other and quite a few have both. I would add solar the next time around if at all possible.
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