Water Electrical Generation
Mike McIntyre

11/5/2002 Hull #: 233

Being a sailboat owner, I truly dislike having to run the engine during good sailing conditions. Bringing our boat home to Portland, OR from our summer cruising grounds in Washington’s San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gul f Islands usually offers such conditions, once we round Cape Flattery and head out into the Pacific and down the Washington coast. It’s a 30-hour broad reach in 17-knot northwesterlies followed by two days of spinnaker run up the Columbia River. We do it short handed – the autopilot is very necessary. Unfortunately, at about 65% of battery charge with the stock Exide 4D marine house battery bank (wired in parallel), the autopilot starts complaining like a series wound DC motor will when it’s getting more of its power from current than from voltage. With the refrigeration cycling at about 33% and the autopilot