on the subject of 12 volt working just fine.

This gave me a nightmare, mainstream bat-shit crazy viewed from abroad, and in the "Just what we don't need or want" department...

Some while back, I had a couple of 50-watt solar panels fail. What can I say but shit happens. As the seller of the solar panels refused to honor their warranty as, apparently, they defined "Lifetime Warranty" as being until the panels died. 

I'm still pissed off.

Anyway, since I planned to try and fix the panels but never quite got around to doing it, our electrical budget has been a bit compromised. Not an overly problematic state of affairs as we just cut back a kiss on our consumption.

Which, I'll point out, is not all that hard. We've been doing the boat ting since the days before solar panels when 99% of our power aboard was produced by an Ampair Aquair water/air unit like this.

It worked just fine.

That said, in those days we didn't have anything electrical on board except for instruments, a few meager interior lights, and navigation lights. Our VHF radio and our RDF at the time operated on AA batteries. Still, it worked pretty well while sailing in the Med, Africa and over to the Caribbean.

These days, we're still a 12-volt boat where electrics are concerned. I'll admit we do have an immersion blender that operates with a 300-watt inverter  but I think it's been about five years since it's been used. Which, I suppose, makes me the last person anyone should seek guidance from on an integrated solar/diesel system that would power a large village or a couple on a catamaran who wants to be comfortable and sail with all mod cons.

I mention all this as the next up project is redoing the solar mounting aboard "So It Goes" and part of that is to redo some of the wiring into a more cohesive (dare I say elegant?) loom. Hopefully it will make a bit more sense than the ad hoc assemblage that has somehow grown into a 10-gauge spiderweb which lays in wait for the unprepared.

The thing is, that 12 volts makes sense for folks who don't want to complicate their lives to the extent that it gets in the way of the simpler life some of us were hoping to find in sailing.

Oh yeah, if anyone sees an Aquair in good shape selling for cheap drop me a line...

Listening to St. Paul & The Broken Bones

So it goes...

Not a bad idea at all...

A transatlantic voyage of note, what you can do with salmon sperm, and the word of the day is D-R-O-U-G-H-T...

This is kind of neat.

No idea what the pricing is but there is more info on the FLIN Solar website as well as a lot of great ideas for the intrepid DIY practitioner.

Listening to a favorite song

So it goes...

on the subject of plenty of projects...

Democide is a word you don't hear every day, well, at least till now, understanding the math, and John Prine is no longer with us...

One of the should I/shouldn't I projects I keep going back and forth on is a solar arch for So It Goes. Part of me sees the utility and well as the problematic nature of building a jungle gym on the stern of the boat keeps it in the maybe I should/maybe I shouldn't purgatory of iffy ideas.

That said, you might want to check out this video on a self-build project that is a lot more interesting than most.



On the other hand, having some excess time on my hands, it is more than time to build that Les Paulish 12 string electric guitar I've been meaning to get on the bench.

Now, if I can only figure out where I put those mini-humbuckers?

Listening to Bonnie Raitt

So it goes...

OK, color me impressed...

Stuff you need to know, important notes on the current state of science, and some pictures of history being made...

A solar panel mount that caught my attention.

More about it here.


Listening to some variations on a groove

So it goes...

The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you gotta be ready...

In the not-exactly-a-survivial-trait department, quite impressive in a bad way, and some seriously scary shit...

Last night I finished the second season of "Torchwood" (the BBC spinoff) and the finale was some kind of awesome. So much so that it has me wanting to watch the next season as well as the entire Dr Who...

Which just goes to show that life at anchor has changed a lot in the last twenty years!

It's not just that we have DVDs and suchlike, it's the fact that we have power available to us undreamed of just ten years ago. The big difference is mostly that our solar panels are cheaper, more powerful, and smaller so it's easier to collect enough power to run stuff on a regular basis we'd never have been able to justify back when...

Listening to Daniel Balavoine

So it goes...

On the cost of solar in 2012...

More about the Corexit 9500A saga, a few thoughts on justice in the waning days of 2012, and an $8 million buyout...

The other day I read an article that said something to the effect that the cost per watt of solar panels was at an all time low and that prices were still dropping...

Since I had bought a couple of solar panels (which are excellent!) about this time last year for $1.98 per watt, I thought I'd do some checking!

So, looking over at West Marine I see that their best cost per watt seems to be about $4.49... Ouch!

How about Defender who most agree is more likely to make frugal folks happy? Well, I have to admit being surprised as the best price here was a whopping $5.69 per watt

I checked a few other "marine" sources and the prices were even higher. Kind of depressing actually, but it would seem that it's a safe bet if you're buying solar from a marine store you're paying at least twice as much or more (in some case a LOT MORE!).

I then checked Home Depot, Amazon, and Lowes and the best price solar wise seems to be right in that $1.98 per watt niche.

For those who are saying to themselves...

 "Ah, but those panels are special marine panels specially designed for mounting on boats in extreme conditions so they should cost more".

Nope, I checked. Most of those panels are the same ones as sold at Amazon/Home Depot/Lowes/etc and the only difference is the mark up.

As it happens, the panels we bought last year no longer seem to be available at Amazon but these seem to be a reasonable facsimile for $1.98 per watt.

So, while I keep hearing that solar keeps coming down, I'm not seeing it in boat-size friendly panels and, it would seem, that from marine stores there has actually been a jump in price. Yet another reason to not support the marine industry.

Listening to Les Rita Mitsouko

So it goes...

Happiness...

Crooks & Liars makes an excellent point, welcome to the future, and something to think about...

I'm happy...

Well, yeah, sure... there are a lot of things in the world to be unhappy about but, at this moment in time, most of those other dire world situations fall into the background because my amp meter says four amps.

As in putting IN four amps to the battery bank over and above the current electrical load!

Now, some might think this is a rather meager amount of power to be doing the happy dance about but, on a small boat with limited solar acreage and being a bit lazy about orienting those panels to their best output, well, four amps with the fridge running and various power hungry computers doing their thing is some kind of awesome.

A lot of folks don't get that about solar panels... that, over the course of a day, they can fill up your batteries just fine. On a normal day, our 250 watts of solar panels will result in fully-charged batteries and, when we come home from errands, the ice tea will be wicked cold...

Listening to The Boxmasters

So it goes...

the beer be cold so you might say mission acccomplished...

A headline that caught my attention (just my take, but those who think there is such a thing as being "Too Cool" are seriously clueless and need to take a course in remedial HIP/street cred), seems to me the words Texas and justice are something of a contradiction in terms, and a student holiday is very much a needful thing...

So, the addition of another 100 watts of solar was just what was needful in the overall scheme of things. The rearrangement of the solar panels also has made for a better deployment as well... All in all, a win/win!

Unlike a lot of folks, we don't bother with a regulator(s). Most problems with solar the culprit has almost always been the regulator so lose the regulator and less chance of problems. The upside is it also forces us to keep an eye on our solar system which is no bad thing. Self-regulating mostly amounts to, if going off shopping or some such, simply upping the fridge thermostat a notch if we feel we might be close to a full charge. Hardly what you might call a hassle. The bonus is when we come back from shopping the beer is COLD!

Listening to The Wailin' Jennys

So it goes...

To do or not to do...

Where being number "1" is not a bragging right, reflecting on slick reptilian sleaziness, and why that mattress is looking better all the time...

Is it just me or do there seem to be more Friday the 13th's floating around?

Well, here on "So It Goes" the new solar panels are now up and running nearly doubling our solar input and we're doing the happy camper dance...

Now all that's left to do is to install our new low output (100 watt) wind generator and I'll be finished with pulling wire for a bit. The only fly in the ointment on the wind generator front is that I'm caught in a kind of Hamlet back and forth whether I want to do an arch or not do an arch as part of the installation.

I could, of course, simply buy an arch from someone like Kato Marine but I'm not really a buy it kind of guy and the idea of bolting something on to the transom that costs over twice what I paid for the boat does not exactly make a lot of sense in my world purview. So, the question is, do I want to go with something that looks like a jungle gym, a goal post, or maybe not made of metal?

Well, as it happens, I do have some scrap plywood, epoxy, fiberglass and carbon fiber aboard...

Listening to John & Yoko

So it goes...

Not a fun job...

I'm with Robert on this one, there's still time to get festive (nothing says pagan holiday like sweet treats), and why we need a strong FDA and suchlike...

I need to pull some wire on the boat today...

If you're interested, it's a job that is way low on my list of stuff I like to do but I need to finally get those new solar panels up because they are doing bugger all inside the boat.

Hopefully, I'll get finished early and go see about collecting some Lion fish for Easter/Passover/Buddha's birthday sushi...

Listening to Los Lonely Boys

So it goes...

Not to mention the head shaped dent in the bulkhead...

Very much worth a listen, who should the economy be for, and the four stages of collapse are...

As the local news this morning pointed out that gas/diesel prices would be going up another nine cents, I realized there was no better time like the present to install our new solar panels ASAP.

The solar panels are easy. Moving the old panels to the top of the hard dodger which requires the addition of a bimini frame and a bit of sewing is tricky but not overly problematic, except that the bimini frame's desired location is just about where I wanted to install a pair of snubbing winches to handle the running backstays... Throw in the fact that as long as I'm going to be installing the bimini frame I really should do the winches and then there's that wanting to extend the winch island to form a seat to improve visability.

Since I'm going to extend the winch island, I might as well remove and reseat that stanchion base which has developed a bit of a wobble and, if I'm going to be doing that base, I might as well do them all which would be a good time to replace the lifelines which are just about to their sell by date...

Of course, doing anything on a boat is always dovetailed into other projects which in turn are connected to yet more projects and before you know it you are reduced to a drooling idiot crouched in the corner banging your head against a bulkhead and muttering "make it stop!"

Listening to the Chambers Brothers

So it goes...

"So It Goes" gets an early Holidaze present...

Crooks and Liars says something important, L,G,& M points out the benefits of child labor, and in the rarity department, some good news from Mr Krugman.

I've been wanting a bit more solar power for "So It Goes" and have been keeping an eye on solar panel pricing in the 40-75 watt zone as I don't have room for anything bigger. Sadly, the niche I'm looking for seems to be way too price stable as I keep seeing big panels come down in price while the smaller more boat friendly ones remain quite pricey at cost per watt...

The other day, we actually decided to just bite the bullet and simply buy a pair of 50-watt panels and actually found getting folks to take my money and ship panels to the USVI was no easy task.

Looking at panels on Amazon, we discovered a 50-watt panel for $99 and they did not seem to have any hassle with shipping two panels to the Caribbean via US Mail for less than $25... So we bought a pair and five days later (we ordered last Friday afternoon and received them Wednesday) have them on our boat... YOWZA!

Just a quick aside to say how Mr Zip is the cruisers friend and for those US voters who read this should all drop a line to your Rep and Senator and tell them the US Postal System is a good thing.

The panels are quite nice and construction is excellent. The first thing I noticed was the frames were even nicer than our existing BP panels which makes mounting them a lot easier.

Now, for $99, the actual cells are not cutting edge state of the art but they are not visibly old tech either. I'm guessing they are last year's tech which is just fine as far as I'm concerned because 50 watts is, after all, 50 watts!

Listening to Warren Zevon

So it goes...

On having a solar installation that is not dumb...

I've been having some battery issues on my MacBook of late and it has me thinking quite a bit on things electrical aboard "So It Goes"...

When all is said and done, we have a very modest power use and if we were to add another hundred watts of solar we'd more than likely be in balance. The issue at hand is that finding space for that extra hundred watts of panel is some kind of problematic.

So I keep an eye out with the other boats that anchor near me looking for that cunning installation plan that brings on a Eureka moment. But, it is simply not happening...

Part of the problem is that most solar arrays on sailboats are of the "how-dumb-is-this" variety as they are rigidly mounted allowing only partial use of the panels' output except for an hour or two as they are simply not facing the sun at a happy-making angle. Other panel installations I see on a regular basis have panels under permanent shadows from booms, radars, and wind generators.

Luckily, for us, when the Honda gave up the ghost we had to go back into "solar mode" and orienting the panels to face the sun about three times a day which more than doubled the output and reminded us just how important pointing the panels at the sun actually is... We'd become lazy and forgotten just how many amps a day we were pissing away as a result.

So, the next project energy wise is doing a couple or orientable solar mounts based on the most excellent solar tracker design by James over at Atom Voyages.

Listening to Charles Brown (with a little help from Johnny and Shuggie Otis)

So it goes...

No shortage of things to do...

Boredom is simply not an issue on any boat I have ever lived on as there is always a long list of things to do and cunning plans to sort out...

Since we are currently without an internal combustion charging source (yes, it appears that our Honda is no longer doing the happy dance) and as our solar panels are doing as well as could be expected (with the sun only poking through the cloud cover every once in awhile) ones thoughts turn to cunning plans involving wind generators and suchlike.

So it goes...

Short Takes: Bowsprits, Solar panels, LED's

I've been looking at installing a bowsprit on So It Goes and the process has been somewhat problematic but as they say there is light at the end of the tunnel having narrowed the choice down to two different kits and a home brew solution.. Forte have a neat kit for a carbon spar as do Selden for one in Aluminum...The problem is that both kits wind up costing quite a bit in that being in the land of dimensional shipping rates I am afraid to ask just what a nine foot tube costs to get down here. More on this subject in greater detail as soon as I make a decision...

While researching home brew bowsprit solutions I came across a great site for Beneteau 235 owners group which also had an interesting discussion on clever use of those cheap Volkswagen solar panels...I can recognize a good thing when I see it and already have several cunning plans for these cheap and small solar panels!

Couple of weeks ago I received the BEBI replacements for the Tricolor and anchor lights and will be reporting on their performance as time goes on. For the record anyone considering about the possible shipping hassles of buying gear from FIJI might be surprised to know that the shipping from FIJI to our mail service in the States is as quick ( and often quicker) than getting stuff sent from WEST or other Marine megastores...And you get neat stamps!