Pete7

Came from Sterling Power, same folk who make inverters and chargers etc. Max power is 1500w, but you will just burn stuff at that setting. We use 200w for simmering pasta and rice once its boiled (use a lid on the pan). Bacon and steak when seared 600 > 800w. We have started using 1mm thick silicone mats off Amazon, so the pan doesn't slide on the glass top when another boat goes by. Pete

Agreed, the problem on a yacht is the gas lockers are sized for calor 4.5kg or 3.9kg cylinders. The larger calor and some smaller flo Gas won't fit. Whilst there will always be gas I think there will be a shortage this summer for these smaller sized cylinders, though hopefully Calor's big u turn will mitigate this somewhat in the short term. So the choice is larger cylinders if they fit, or extensive modifications. Decanting from larger cylinders, or go at least partial electric cooking.

Yes we do lots. It's a yacht, but many of the ideas from canal boat owners apply to yachts. During the summer we will either use a yacht club or marina for showers, oh and swimming in the sea 😃. A combination of electric kettle, induction hob and remoska plus occasionally sandwich maker and slow cooker give us all the options we need to cook well on electric. We didn't plan to go fully electric cooking, merely have the option when Calor became difficult to obtain after the first lockdown. However, we liked cooking on sunshine so just carried on and expanded the solar from 300w to 600w this past winter. A bit more Lithium would be nice for the hybrid bank, but 600w of solar should be more than sufficient for all domestic needs like VHF, Chart plotter and auto pilot etc and cooking. It's hard steering a canal boat hour after hour as we found out on the Langollen, the auto pilot makes light work of the steering. What's next? water heating by using surplus solar power via the inverter to run the calorifier. This might need a bit more solar and we could mount another 300w on the yachts life lines. Life is good. . Because we don't need to. Exchanging a single camping gaz cylinder every couple of years isn't going to break the bank. .

Sadly I think the petrol station LPG pumps are being withdrawn and replaced with EV charging points over the next couple of years. https://www.petrolprices.com/news/mfg-is-planning-to-end-the-sale-of-auto-lpg-on-its-forecourts/ Despite diving with mixed gasses for many years, I'm not inclined to fill my own gas cylinders. We used about 1.5kg of gas last year and having doubled the solar panels from 300w to 600w, don't think we need much gas. It's very much a fall back plan hence only carrying 1 x 907 and 1 x 904.

Calor Gas's huge u turn is interesting. Wonder if its because their suppliers have ditched them in place of firms like Flo Gas? Certainly a number of coastal marina's have made the switch. Whilst it may not be a long term solution, perhaps relieve the demand this summer until other firms can step up. Would I trust Calor again? nah and we have already made the switch the electric cooking with gas only as a back up.

Good grief no, sailing season starts at Easter.

Thanks. Now back to the serious subject, these were cooked with sunshine 🤪 We have ditched the Calor bottles and switched to Camping Gaz though we will probably only use a kg or two each year. Pete

I am, what's wrong with Moody yachts 😲 Anyway we are all going electric cooking so canal boat owners can have some gas. Don't you have a smoky coal fired stove on a canal boat to cook on 😉

Perhaps some numbers might be useful. The yacht is 31ft but not that much difference with energy usage. Lights, small fridge, navigation equipment and VHF, tv in the evenings and an autopilot for steering at sea. The batteries were one engine start battery and initially a pair of 110Ah leisure batteries. When these finally failed after 8 years I replaced them with a pair of 12v 85AH batteries, deep cycle Trojans. Our first real test was at anchor (no shore power) in Alderney harbour for a week in great sunshine. We left with full batteries from 80w +45w solar panels. After someone crashed another yacht into the 80w panel I replaced it with a 150w solar panel on an arch on the stern. Now we were cooking on gas, well electricity actually when we added a slow cooker, Aldi 1.5 litres and uses 110w which is a tiny amount. The slow cooker once up to temperature uses about half the start up load, so 5Ah for the majority of the time as it cycles on and off like a fridge. Hooked on solar and wanting a portable freezer, I swopped out the 150w solar for 300w in January and added a 20 litre freezer. Brilliant we now have ice for the Gin and ice cream for the summer. Prices of large panels have dropped significantly over the past two years. Its actually cheaper to buy 300w panels over 100w panels, so if you are thinking of upgrading go big. No one ever said they had too much solar. Add a nice Victron MPPT and job done. Stuck on a budget? there were 250w second hand panels on FB marketplace last week for £65 each, select your own from a big stack. 3 of those and you will be delighted with the output from Spring to Autumn, however forget it during the winter, the sun just doesn't rise high enough. Height of the summer, you will be running around the boat wondering what to charge up next with the surplus power. However, this magical power source is addictive ? Pete

Her name is Lola. Took us a 10 hour round trip to collect her from Wales. Do you know how many names you can discuss with your other half in 10 hours. Murph is a perfect sized doggie for a boat. Pete

Ok, thats enuff about boats, were is the doggie photo ? Ours, rescued from puppy farm via Many Tears doggie charity.

Strangely I seem to have moved to the starboard side of the boat whilst we crossed that aqueduct, oh and Mrs 7 went and hid for a while. Pete

{Pretty standard for yachts too, people just give up, but then expect the full value of all the extras they have added over the years ?

Oh that looks rather nice and well looked after, great choice ? You must be single, there is only one wine glass and its huge ?

Sounds sensible because it means you have access to shorepower to supplement any existing heating you have on board. Showers, loos and a washing machine ashore also useful. Life then becomes quite comfortable. Pete

Ha, no, a brown felt material. Pete

Brilliant choice for keeping the sun off during the summer whilst steering, I have one one the yacht for just this purpose ? You will of course then become known after either your dog, or the hat. Pete

Excellent, now enjoy the freedom you have just gained and do go out for a short hop as soon as you can, just so you know you can. ? Now the most important task, what sort of hat are you going to wear when out on the water? stop laughing, it's important.

Not a NB but we (two of us plus two dogs) have lived on a 31ft yacht a couple of times. Last time away was over Christmas as the kids have flown, thankfully. Condensation was a problem even with the blown hot air heating on, so you will be okay for a the summer with a window open but need to think about it for next winter. A wood burner takes warm damp air and sends it up the chimney which is good. Window frames drip and mattresses need air underneath etc, but these problems are all solvable. A dehumidifier if you have shore power is a great option. Final thought, a pram cover creates an extra room for wellies and wet coats etc and allows the doors to be kept open but the rain out. Good luck, sounds like exciting times ahead and much better than paying rent.

Price of ordinary large solar panels has dropped significantly over the last couple of years, just have a look on FB market place for some great deals. It's actually cheaper to buy 300w panels than say a 150w panel, so we swopped out our 150w for 300w earlier this year. We can now run the fridge, freezer and the slow cooker during the summer.

We have one of these widgets (but didn't pay those prices) on the yacht connected to a external antenna that has lick and press suction cups to attach to the inside of a window. Picked up a signal some 10 miles West of Portland in the middle of Lyme bay, which I thought was good. 40mbps download speed in most towns along the south coast. You might have a problem in a metal box, but the yacht isn't exactly paper thin either. Has its own sim card in the widget which you can top up on line or even cheaper just buy a new sim with some data and ditch the old one. We tend to buy 6Gb for £16 which will last 90 days, but lots of other deals. EE doing 100gb for £23 last week on a rolling contract. https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-AirCard-Unlocked-Portable-Download/dp/B07SHG6MDJ/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=mifi&qid=1587817355&sr=8-6 https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-6000450-Antenna-Aircard-Hotspots/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=mifi+antenna&qid=1587817538&sr=8-7

Well, you know all those ducks everyone feeds with bread full of chemicals, they poop were exactly? However, if you are concerned a paddling pool on the roof with a pipe would do for when it rains, not exactly an unknown occurrence in this country ?

Rob, thinking about the wires that run from the batteries to the swtich panel and on to the heater, what sort of length are they and are they heavy duty, eg, thick. Had a similar problem with a portable fridge. Replaced the thin wire with much thicker and boom fridge fired up and ran flat out promptly freezing me sandwiches. Would be easy enough to check with some extra cable temporary rigged to see what happens next time the heater fails to start. Or perhaps that's as good as it gets, but are you able to get those batteries back to 100% frequently? if not and living on board you may not be able to that could be all you can achieve. But run a check on the wiring. 12v Planet have a wire calculator half way down this page which may be helpful. Pete https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/cable-sizing-selection.html

This is an option for hot water via solar panels, all be it rather expensive, £500 last time I looked.

Apart from Thu and fri, two days I was called into work, got soaked riding into work ?