Just a quick note about our current status.
Over the last few weeks, we have actually managed to visit the boat for short while. We spent a week on board and, believe it or not, left the dock for 4 whole nights. We didn't go far, just down to Clam Bay and Montigue Harbour in the gulf islands, but we were able to do most of it under sail.
I have pretty well completed the solar panel (phase II) installation and we used the time to test to see how close we are to being completely independent of shore power.
We anchored out for 3 nights in one place and observed that we had more than enough power from the panels to run the fridge, computer and watch some DVDs in the evenings with the batterys returning to 100% charge by 2:00PM each day, so it was very rewarding - all the work was not in vain.
Of course, this all took place on some beautifully sunny days which does skew the results somewhat.
Unfortunately, upon returning to the marina, we had to hurry back to Edmonton for various commitments and are not sure when we will be able to continue our shakedown cruise. At this rate, we should be ready to go in about 5 years.
Meanwhile plans are underway for a major trip (by air) to South America for November and December, so life is not all bad.
Over the last few weeks, we have actually managed to visit the boat for short while. We spent a week on board and, believe it or not, left the dock for 4 whole nights. We didn't go far, just down to Clam Bay and Montigue Harbour in the gulf islands, but we were able to do most of it under sail.
I have pretty well completed the solar panel (phase II) installation and we used the time to test to see how close we are to being completely independent of shore power.
We anchored out for 3 nights in one place and observed that we had more than enough power from the panels to run the fridge, computer and watch some DVDs in the evenings with the batterys returning to 100% charge by 2:00PM each day, so it was very rewarding - all the work was not in vain.
Of course, this all took place on some beautifully sunny days which does skew the results somewhat.
Unfortunately, upon returning to the marina, we had to hurry back to Edmonton for various commitments and are not sure when we will be able to continue our shakedown cruise. At this rate, we should be ready to go in about 5 years.
Meanwhile plans are underway for a major trip (by air) to South America for November and December, so life is not all bad.
