I love working on projects – I always have several in-flight at any time. Many of these projects turn into reviews of various products or technology, which I also enjoy. Almost all of the projects are driven to make my life on the boat more comfortable and safe.
Charging while away from the dock on the sailboat is a critical piece to enjoying your time on the water. In part 3 of my power upgrade project, I replace the alternator and regulator to ensure my new Firefly batteries are topped up.
The arteries and veins of your electrical system are the wires, and you need to ensure they are taken care of just as much as the batteries and other parts. In part 2 of my power system upgrade, I replace the majority of my main system wiring to ensure a healthy system.
Grace came with a very basic power system which had some major problems. I chose to update it using MasterVolt as the primary charging, distribution and control system, Balmar for engine power management, and Firefly carbon foam batteries as the heart.
My ongoing solar project at our family cabin in Eastern Washington took a simplification turn this last weekend. Much of what I’ve learned rewiring boats and working on DC systems has helped me fine-tune this installation.
BlueSea terminal fuse blocks saved my Firefly batteries from damage after a short circuit.
Quality ambient light throughout the sailboat is a must. Getting this without high power use bulbs is easy with LEDs if you know where to start. Many manufacturers "white" LEDs look terrible, so choose carefully.
My sailboat did not come with a heater, and Wallas has one of the best you could install. You can do it yourself as well.
Large sailboat network including NMEA 2000, SeaTalk, MasterBus, WiFi and ethernet. I believe in deeply integrated and instrumented systems, and want to know everything about anything, anywhere.
Good quality lighting is not something you have to sacrifice on a sailboat. It can also be economical now with the advent of LEDs. CREE LEDs are my favorite because of their color and quality, and I replaced almost everything on Grace with them.
Having an AIS receiver on the sailboat means I can take that data and share it with AIS websites, as a base station. Doing that from a bandwidth-limited cellular connection creates some challenges which can be overcome with some scripting.
Standard hatch boards on a Beneteau 311 are heavy and hard to use. I wanted something easier to open and close, and more useful when closed. Zarcor has a history of making doors for all makes of boats, and they worked for me too.
Grace had very minimal instruments when I bought her, and I wanted to add some additional space at the helm for updated electronics. This required updating the mounting location and adding a NavPod.
