The Captain's Guide to Alternative Energy Afloat - Part 1 of 2: Marine Electrical Systems, Water Generators, Solar Power, Wind Turbines, Marine Batteries

By Bill Morris

This is Part 1 of 2 of The Captain's Guide to Alternative Energy Afloat.

Part 1 covers the following topics:  

• Main Power Plant
• Engine Alternators
• Gas & Diesel Generator Sets
• Alternative Fuels
• Cranking and House Batteries
• Solar Panels
• Wind Generators
• Hydro Gene

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seaworthy Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781892399823

Bill Morris

Bill Morris is the author of the novels Motor City and Motor City Burning, along with the family memoir The Age of Astonishment, available from Pegasus Books. He is currently a staff writer with the online literary magazine the Millions, and his writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, the Washington Post Magazine, LA Weekly, Popular Mechanics, The Daily Beast, and numerous other newspapers and magazines. Bill grew up in Detroit and now lives in New York City.

Book preview

Introduction

I NDEPENDENCE IS THE ONE THING that attracts us more than anything else to offshore sailing. Once you disconnect the shore power, slip the dock lines, and set sail toward the horizon, you are on your own, free of the day-to-day grind of shore life. If properly equipped, your waterborne home can see to your every need: fresh water, cold beverages, hot food, navigational stability, self-steering, communication, lighting, and entertainment. With proper planning and effective energy management, you can have 24-hour access to all of these things anywhere on the planet, provided you have a realistic energy plan encompassing charging capability, battery capacity, and daily energy usage.

Installing, using, and servicing the various battery charging systems you select, along with energy-saving devices, will depend on your own tastes and on the space limitations of your vessel. Two vessels of the same model and year can be outfitted in very divergent ways. One skipper may prefer using lots of fuel and dedicating extra space to diesel tanks. Another skipper may carry much less fuel and install solar panels, a wind generator, and a hydro generator to supply the bulk of the vessel’s battery charging current. This latter style of generating and managing energy is far more sustainable over a long cruising career. For steerage, one captain may use an autopilot exclusively, spending thousands of dollars a year on fuel because a windvane steering unit would destroy his vessel’s beautiful lines. At the same time, another skipper may install an energy-saving windvane self-steering device instead of a below-decks autopilot, keeping the house battery topped off for other purposes and more than likely avoiding the need for hundreds of gallons of extra diesel fuel every year in the process. The daily use of fossil fuels, unfortunately, erodes the sense of independence that one seeks on the ocean because freedom is strictly measured in number of days per quantity of fuel consumed. With renewable energy sources, the amount of time you spend off the grid is open-ended. Occasionally, you will want to pull into port to top off the fuel and buy fresh vegetables and libations, but your access to daily electrical power should not depend on those forays ashore.

There are various other ways to reduce fuel consumption and amperage draw, such as relying on mechanical rather than electrical systems to perform essential tasks. Using, for example, a manual anchor windlass instead of a power windlass requires more physical labor but also makes you more self-sufficient and less vulnerable to the fickleness of electrical and fuel-burning machinery. Electric windlasses are quite popular these days, but for solid dependability when your electrical charging system cannot provide the high level of current required by a windlass, a hand-operated windlass can be a true friend. We will look at both electric and manual windlasses, comparing their benefits and deficits in raising the anchor safely and efficiently in the roughest of anchorage conditions.

The more we appreciate the raw reality of offshore voyaging, the more we prepare for things that should not go wrong, but do. If you are preparing for a major ocean passage on a sailing vessel single-handed or with short-handed crew, you will have a greater chance of success by depending as much as possible on mechanical rather than electronic systems. For some of the ship’s systems, of course, including navigation and lighting, traditional alternatives (e.g. a sextant and kerosene lamps) are no longer practical. All of today’s offshore yachts rely on GPS technology, owing to its dependability, high precision, and affordability. Nonetheless, it is still prudent to carry a back-up sextant with reduction tables, just in case both your main and back-up GPS units fail or there is an extended black-out in the geostationary GPS satellites over your corner of the ocean. Whether you chart your position with paper or electronic charts is purely a matter of choice—one system is just as good as the other.

In the ensuing chapters, a short list of critically important points support the over-arching ideals of energy efficiency and environmental responsibility:

• Whenever possible, use mechanical instead of electrical devices, even if you carry those electrical gadgets on board.

• Maintain an energy plan, adding up all the amp hours used in a given week, and reconcile this sum with the total input you expect from battery charging sources.

• Always follow United States Coast Guard (USCG) and American Boating and Yachting Council (ABYC) guidelines for electrical and plumbing installations.

• Follow U.S. and international laws regarding the disposal of oil, fuel, plastic, glass, human waste, and other refuse.

• Adhere to U.S. regulations for fishing wherever you roam, catching only what you can eat and releasing juvenile fish and crustaceans back into their aquatic environment.

• Wherever you sail or anchor, try to leave the area cleaner than you found it.

• Establish a personal statement, or credo, either written or internalized, about how you intend to interact with the natural surroundings you encounter in your travels.

The foregoing set of basic guidelines should give you a sense of what most contemporary cruisers agree are best practice for skippers. And for the most part, doing what is right for Mother Nature is also good for the wallet. If you are trying to save fuel by continuing to sail instead of motoring when your speed drops below 5 knots, you are also saving money and preventing noxious hydrocarbons from sullying the ocean while at the same time reducing wear and tear on your vessel’s engine and gearbox.

Some of what you will read here is based on the author’s own experiences sailing around the world, singlehanded for two-thirds of the distance, on a 1966 Cal 30 masthead sloop. Tacking up the northern Red Sea and later up the coast of Baja California in full gales with a Fleming windvane self-steering system (no autopilot, no radar, and no fridge) was an instructive and eye-opening experience. One of the greatest lessons learned was to ensure self-reliance by installing equipment that was easy to repair while under sail. Dependence on manual systems made for a difficult yet ultimately successful voyage because there was little of anything to break, and whatever did break was easy to fix with basic hand tools.

Other information for this book has been garnered through research, sailing voyages on a variety of boats, and wisdom gained through many years of dockside conversations with other cruising sailors. One thing you will learn from listening to the opinions of experienced sailors is that they have wide-ranging opinions on what works in terms of hull design, sail rig, self-steering, navigation, you name it. But if you listen long enough, certain consistencies will emerge: the importance of a manual back-up bilge pump, bathing in seawater and rinsing with a small amount of fresh water, manual rather than electric faucets and heads, navigating with paper rather than digital charts to see the big picture on major ocean crossings, and other key assertions that just make good sense. By conducting thorough research, listening to experienced offshore cruisers, and sailing as often as you can in a variety of weather conditions, you will develop your own picture of what works best for you and your vessel.

Chapter 1

Main Power Plant

O NLY THE MOST DIE-HARD SAILING PURISTS would intentionally set off on an extended ocean cruise on a sailboat without an auxiliary engine. There’s no denying, of course, the allure of sailing singlehanded or with a romantic partner accompanied by the natural music of wind and water, the flutter of sails, the rhythmic clinking of bottles in the galley, and the cawing of sea birds to lull you into an ethereal state of bliss. And the knowledge that even if you wanted to, you could not possibly cause an oil spill or an engine fire, must be hugely gratifying. But when this euphoria is shattered by the pounding of surf on a rocky lee shore, romance vaporizes in an explosion of spindrift as you realize your vessel, and quite possibly your life, could be snuffed out in a matter of minutes. This is where a dependable diesel engine or electric propulsion motor comes to the rescue. With a properly maintained engine or electric motor backed up by a fully charged battery, you still have a chance of clawing your way far enough off that shore to seek a safe anchorage or resume sailing.

The most popular form of auxiliary propulsion for offshore sailing is the ubiquitous diesel engine. Its fuel is relatively stable and affordable, it has fewer moving parts than a gasoline engine, and it requires little maintenance. Here and there you might still see an offshore cruising vessel with a gasoline engine, but it will be a rare occurrence. Some North American coastal cruisers still have gasoline engines in their holds, yet even these sailors usually will admit they are in the market for a diesel, or for a serious offshore cruising vessel that already is fitted with a diesel engine. A third type of propulsion gaining popularity these days is an electric auxiliary motor powered by a generator and conventional batteries or a fuel cell. An electric motor requires little maintenance, produces no noxious smoke, requires no wet exhaust plumbing, and best of all, costs less to operate. And finally, diesel-electric hybrids offer what is likely the best of two worlds: two types of propulsion working alternately and in unison to provide the best combination of power with the greatest savings in fuel consumption. We will look at all four propulsion systems with an eye to durability, safety, maintenance, and fuel economy, the main factors you must consider in selecting an auxiliary power plant for your offshore cruising vessel.

Gasoline Engines

The great expansion of the pleasure sailing industry in the 1960s and 1970s ushered in a parallel growth in the manufacturing of small gasoline inboard auxiliary engines. Universal and Palmer both cashed in on the demand for small, lightweight, dependable engines for coastal sailboats ranging from 25 to 40 feet in length. Rather than converting automotive engines for marine use, Universal was unique in designing the Atomic Four, a four-cylinder, flat-head 25-horsepower engine, specifically for use as an auxiliary engine for small sailing craft. This simply designed and constructed engine used raw water cooling, rather than the freshwater heat exchangers included on most diesel auxiliaries today. Built from 1947 until 1985, the Atomic Four accounted for 85 percent of the sail auxiliary engine market, with roughly 40,000 units being sold to sailboat builders. Some 20,000 of the engines are still in use today. If you have an Atomic Four and want to get a few more years of service out of it while you save up money for an offshore-capable diesel, consider installing an after-market heat exchanger and an electronic ignition conversion kit to extend the life of the engine.

The Palmer P-60 is a marinized version of the International Harvester C-60, designed and built by Thermo Electron Engine Corp. in Michigan for tricycle-style row crop tractors, such as the International Cub and Farmall tractors. The 22-horsepower Palmer 60, originally available as either a high- or low-compression version, was installed in the Islander 30, the Coronado 32 and 35, the Pearson 30, and numerous other makes and models of 1960s-era fiberglass sailing craft. Like the Atomic Four, The Palmer 60 has a flat head, four cylinders, and a raw water cooling system, the cause of many headaches with both engines. It doesn’t take a chemist or a metallurgist to predict what will happen if we introduce saltwater into a hot, cast iron environment and allow it to sit in the unprotected water jackets for decades. The sides of the engine block eventually rust through, turning the engine into a chunk of scrap metal.

Even if the gas engine is retrofitted with a heat exchanger and filled with anti-freeze, there are other problems inherent with leaving a gas engine in the hold. First, gasoline is highly explosive with a flash point of -45 degrees F, and gasoline fumes are heavier than air. So imagine how easily gasoline fumes build up at a cabin temperature of 80 degrees F. In comparison, diesel has a flash point of 125 degrees F, which is an unlikely temperature in a boat sitting in relatively cool water. With gasoline fumes densely concentrated in a closed space, all it takes is one spark, one strike of a match to light a cigarette or the stove, to make a major change in your cruising plans. Realistically, though, most skippers know this instinctively and air their cabins out well before working with exposed fuel. Before starting a gas engine, remember to run the engine compartment fan for several minutes to clear out fumes.

Gas engines in a marine environment require frequent inspection and maintenance of sensitive electrical parts—ignition coil, distributor, points, spark plugs, and spark plug wires, any of which can corrode and stop functioning right as we cross the bow of a freighter in the narrow confines of a harbor. In a saltwater environment, these items need to be inspected and replaced far more frequently than in an automobile, and the timing needs to be checked on a regular schedule as well. As both the Universal Atomic Four and Palmer P-60 approach antique status, parts are getting harder to find, and many of the mechanics who once routinely worked on these engines have long since retired.

A shop manual for your boat’s make and model of gasoline engine is the best source for maintenance information. Regardless of manufacturer, a gasoline engine with an intact block, head, pistons, rings, and peripheral systems can be kept in service by following a few basic maintenance tips:

• Inspect spark plugs periodically for signs of oil or carbon build-up. Excessive oil indicates worn-out piston rings, which must be replaced. Excess carbon may indicate worn-out valves. Also check the gap with a feeler gauge to verify proper clearance, following manufacturer’s specifications.

• Using