Boat innovations you would implement today!

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twistedtree said:
Good point, and one I didn't really anticipate when switching to LFP, but have found to be very useful. I would say about half of the dock days in our 5 month trip this year were unplugged and not using dock power. In Seward where we stayed for about a week, there is no dock power on the main transient dock. And at a bunch of other stops we just didn't bother to plug it since we were only there for a day or two. This can be very helpful in many Alaska locations where power costs are a significant fraction of the moorage bill. I remember staying in Ketchikan for a month several years ago, and the power bill was the same as the monthly moorage bill.
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More than just going LFP/Solar is having some serious net-zero options. When I first got Weebles 25+ years ago, she had three 8D batteries and a 75 amp alternator. I could hobble along for a week or so of short-hop cruising (The Delta, for example), but the battery bank would slowly discharge and never really fully charge until I got back to the dock with plug-in charger.

Now, with 800W of solar, 175A Balmar, and an over-sized LFP bank, our ~250AH of daily consumption is 100% net-zero - really only need to plug-in or run generator for is for extended A/C runtime. This is a real lifestyle improvement. Had a similar experience with my camper van - 30-years ago, I had a 1974 VW Westfalia that I would beach-camp in Baja. I remember leaving one remote beach after 2-days because I was worried about not having enough gas to recharge the batteries. Now with my Ford pop-top van I have solar/LFP and I'm good until the beer runs out.

Yea, most of the benefit is from solar and large alternator. But not all - the LFP bank takes a charge, has no lag under heavy discharge, and is lightweight. The entire system is fantastic. I just wish the form-factors were better. The 48v battery makes sense - hadn't thought of TT's issue of alternator though.

Peter
 
For me, next big technology upgrades on the list in the order of importance:

- Adding 1kW of solar
- Starlink
- Lifepo bank
- Remote boat monitoring
- Forward-looking sonar
- Dighy with electric motor
 
Gdavid said:
This is neither new technology nor novel but adequate and well considered chases for electronics cabling and good access to electrical circuitry and mechanical systems.
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There are many good comments regarding tech, and not wanting to thread drift, but this comment actually reflects my thinking as I look forward. Having owned and been on many boats in the past where maintenance, repairs and upgrades were a nightmare as a direct result of poor design/engineering, this is HIGH on our checklist.
 
I don't see having a 48 volt system. I lived with and liked 24 volt systems on Sweetwater (Swan 57 sloop on which we sailed around the world) and Fintry. Both also had 12 volt batteries and chargers, principally for the radios, but also assorted other consumer stuff that runs on 12 VDC. I have considered changing Morning Light to 24 volts. The problem with 48V is that while a lot of equipment runs happily on 12 or 24, little is available that runs on 48, so a 48 system would run little besides a big inverter. The major advantage of going to a higher voltage is the ability to reduce wire size and resistance losses -- if the only significant load is an inverter and it's close to the batteries, then there's little advantage. You'd have to run radars, chart plotters, bilge pumps, and all the other stuff on 12V or have a boat with all three. That doesn't seem like a good choice to me.



The one item not mentioned above is a satellite compass. These are now cheap enough so that I have put one on both Fintry and Morning Light. They tend to do a better job of calculating COG, which is nice, but for me the most important thing is going through or under bridges. Around bridges the current tends to be swirly and the boat can be hard to keep on the line you want. The autopilot does a much better job of steering straight than I can, but you can't use one near a steel bridge if it's heading source is a magnetic compass. The satellite compass solves this. Highly recommended.


I'm also strongly in favor of big chases -- Fintry has 2" PVC pipes running F&A -- one for data, one for DC cables, and one for AC.


Jim
 
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i like to have a multi switch system that switch different 220v circuits sepperate from invertor to shore/gen power with can be programed on time or service battery state.
now i have to build the system myself (i like to rest)
 
Circumnavigator said:
I don't see having a 48 volt system. I lived with and liked 24 volt systems on Sweetwater (Swan 57 sloop on which we sailed around the world) and Fintry. Both also had 12 volt batteries and chargers, principally for the radios, but also assorted other consumer stuff that runs on 12 VDC. I have considered changing Morning Light to 24 volts. The problem with 48V is that while a lot of equipment runs happily on 12 or 24, little is available that runs on 48, so a 48 system would run little besides a big inverter. The major advantage of going to a higher voltage is the ability to reduce wire size and resistance losses -- if the only significant load is an inverter and it's close to the batteries, then there's little advantage. You'd have to run radars, chart plotters, bilge pumps, and all the other stuff on 12V or have a boat with all three. That doesn't seem like a good choice to me.
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There's also the run from the alternator(s) to the house bank. Also likely a (very small) efficiency gain from a 48V vs 24V inverter.

I think 48V makes sense only if you're not going to do 24V. From my quick search you can find 48V thrusters & windlasses - those are very long cable runs. Per twisted tree's comments, 48V alternator selection is limited, so that's a major consideration.
 
socalrider said:
Not wanting to derail this thread, but for the record electric motors (which I'm 100% "pro") are already extremely efficient, as are power electronics. Unfortunately the laws of physics are such that it takes a *lot* of energy (electric or diesel or wind) to push a big boat through the water, particularly at double digit speeds. The boat innovations that would enable a solar/electric yacht to be practical are really around the weight and energy density of batteries, and the efficiency of solar panels. Both are improving.

Having done the calculations lots of times though, we're just not quite there yet. If you squint you could see a path for a hull speed power catamaran in a sunny climate to be able to go, say, 80-100nm in a day, hang out on the hook for a day or two, then repeat. For now, if you want a zero emissions cruiser, buy a sailboat and wait for it to get windy :)
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FWIW we have just started building a fossil fuel free boat along those exact lines @Socalrider - a 34ft 5t sailing cat without mast and rigging powered to and beyond hull speed (6.7kn) by 3 x 6kW electric motors from around 70kWh 48V LiFePO supported by 4kWp solar and quadruple wind turbines as well as a kite sail. Destination Mediterranean : Read all about it in Powerboat & RIB (PBR) over the next 2 years …
 
IfItsWorthDoing said:
FWIW we have just started building a fossil fuel free boat along those exact lines @Socalrider - a 34ft 5t sailing cat without mast and rigging powered to and beyond hull speed (6.7kn) by 3 x 6kW electric motors from around 70kWh 48V LiFePO supported by 4kWp solar and quadruple wind turbines as well as a kite sail. Destination Mediterranean : Read all about it in Powerboat & RIB (PBR) over the next 2 years …
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Very cool! Please keep us posted - anything published yet?
 
More details to come as we take delivery of 540 AH of LiFeSO4 Battleborn storage this week to take better advantage of our new 3x 200W panels. (Full time liveaboards. East Coast, Gold Loopers.)

Getting the right balance of storage and PV production is what we are studying and wish there was more data to plan with.

((Propane is primary cooktop + oven... we use both a lot.))

Shellerina.com
Ray & Shelly
 
Snap-on shaft anodes of all material types so when going under water shaft anode replacement is but a "SNAP"!! :thumb:
 
Capt Ray said:
https://www.sharrowmarine.com/

I'd love to try out one of these if I didn't need to remortgage my life.
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On another thread I'd mentioned Sharrow Marine might be missing a big market portion by not pre-designing some props that could work on the older boat, inboard engine, direct drive market.

Seems they could have an assortment of Sharrow prop model/designs that could/would handle an assortment of engine types inside older pleasure boat types and sizes for when prop replacement becomes required. Economies of scale might be able to bring their cost more in line with average boaters?? And, if the price was right, with attractive performance specs from tests performed... we older-boat pleasure cruiser owners may become interested in purchasing Sharrow. ;)
 
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