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With a source of external power, shore-cord or generator, current still needs to be fed back into your battery banks to reset their chemistry and return them to full electrical output. This requires a battery charger. Here most boaters can rightly claim to confusion. There are dozens of brands available and most products are a “black-box” with little to distinguish one from the others. There is nothing to show a quality comparison or actual performance, save massive ‘spec’ sheets that tell us too much, usually in techo-talk; incomprehensible without an advanced degree.
Batteries lie at the heart of most boats. We need them to start our engines, power our electronics, chill our food and sometimes cook our meals. We rely on them but often don’t give them much thought until they fail. Or outlive their normal lifespan of about five years and need to be replaced. With major advances in new technologies reaching the marine marketplace, let’s take a look at alternatives to the traditional lead-acid battery.
Read more: New Technologies Improve on the Flooded Marine...
So, I have to open with a joke. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide all the other people in the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t. For the purposes of this article, I do! To be more specific, I divide boaters into two kinds of people: those who want to play in the engine room and those who don’t. Whether your boat is power or sail, you are almost certain to have an engine and every engine needs maintenance and occasional repair.
Getting the owner of an older sailboat to spend the money on a brand new diesel auxiliary is a challenge for many marine service businesses. Often the costs involved in the purchase and installation of a new powerplant carries a bill that can make most recreational boaters blush and run away. Some vessels, however, are built for the long haul and replacing the diesel engine on an otherwise sound mechanical vessel can extend the life of the boat at a fraction of the cost of the replacement of the entire boat. Newer marine diesels are also more fuel efficient, smoother, quieter, lighter, and pack far more horsepower into smaller packages.
Smart chargers are not new, but they are getting smarter all the time and that’s a great thing.
In almost every issue of Canadian Yachting, we suggest you add some new or upgraded piece of equipment to your boat and virtually everything runs on electricity. The highest draw equipment onboard would be your windlass, air conditioning and refrigeration, but new entertainment systems, navigation equipment and galley items can all add big load increases.
Complicating this, battery manufacturers are always working to improve the performance of their products and new batteries can change the “charging profile” of the battery bank.
First, if you just remember one thing from this article, remember - never swim in a marina.
Why? Because in a marina, you have people, water and electricity. When everything is working properly, that is a recipe for fun and great times. But, if just one wire chafes through its insulation and shorts to ground, there is the potential for tragedy.
We recently spent time aboard a 54' Bertram called the Maple Leaf and the boat's owner made a great comment about his boat. He said that he has not fixed up a used boat; his boat is in the process of 22 years of constant improvement!
I loved that attitude. Bertram's 54 was designed and built as a sport fishing yacht and the only real advantage of moving to a new boat would be that it was new.
The recent Miami International Boat Show (February 14-18, 2007) was the launching pad for a host of new products, most notably from the engine manufacturers.
Among the biggest news stories in the diesel field was that Cummins MerCruiser Diesel (CMD) has announced that they have started shipment of pre-production Zeus pod drive systems.
When the last dock line is pulled onboard and you are floating free in the water, at that moment, the vessel that you are on is isolated from any of the support facilities that are so much a part of our everyday lives. You are on your own! If your planning has gone well and you have educated yourself on the systems onboard, you can look forward to an excellent and enjoyable boating experience.
Read more: One Watt: Each Watt Counts Because They All Add Up
When was the last time you sent your propeller shaft to the machine shop to be checked?
How old are your engine mounts? Have you replaced your cutlass bearing recently? Do I sound like your mother?
Well, if she were here, she'd be giving you some important advice!
Lifestyle
Collingwood Yacht Club
By Katherine Stone
If you have ever had the opportunity to motor or sail across Nottawasaga Bay, located in the southwestern part of Georgian Bay from Christian Island to Collingwood, your point of reference is the huge green expanse of ski hills on the Niagara Escarpment that encompasses Blue Mountain. The ski resort boasts 43 runs, 251 hectares of skiable terrain, 11 lifts, and a summit elevation of 1,283’.
Read more about Collingwood Yacht Club...............
Boat Reviews
Beneteau Flyer 32
By Andy Adams
Summer sun boat! The handsome new Beneteau Flyer 32 is all about entertaining and the bow area is one of the main attractions. It's a wide shape forward with a huge anchor locker and opening centre section in the railing that invites you to beach the boat and go swimming. The bow is really one giant sun bed area with armrests that fold down and head rests too, for fall-asleep comfort.
Read more about the Beneteau Flyer 32....................
Dufour 460 – Pure elegance
By Katherine Stone
When one does an October yacht review on the Great Lakes you can never be sure of what kind of weather you will get…. and did we ever luck out! A beautiful sunny day with a high of 31 degrees and a perfect 8-10 knot breeze with light chop made for a champagne sailing day. Lucky for me we were at Swans Yacht Sales located in the Whitby Marina on Lake Ontario, trying out the Dufour 460 Grand Large, a flag ship for the midrange Dufour boats. With an overall length of 46’5” and a hull length of 44 ‘, this boat is majestic, not only in size, but also in elegance with timeless and contemporary style.
Read More about Dufour 460..................
Destinations
Belize: Sailing Solitude
By Mark Stevens
We’ve just weighed anchor off Thatch Caye, a tiny island nuzzled by Caribbean waters flowing between the world’s second longest barrier reef and the mountainous coast of Belize to our west, and now we’re navigating a serpentine course through a crowded congregation of coral heads.
Once safely in deep water we raise sail. I spin the wheel of “Kavok” (a Lagoon 421 catamaran we’ve booked for our weeklong Belize bareboat adventure from Dream Yacht Charter) until we’re pointed south – steady on a lazy beam reach.
Read more about Belize......................
Marine Products
Hold Everything with the RAILBLAZA Mounting System - CUSTOMIZING YOUR BOAT HAS NEVER BEEN SIMPLER
By: John Kerr
One of the biggest complaints we hear from our readers is ‘why we don’t run more new products’. They often say; “if we don’t know we can’t buy” and there is truth in that. There are lots of new niche products launched every year, but few are advertised and promoted widely and many sadly are never found. We have begun a quest to look for the ‘neat stuff’; the products that are actually here in Canada and in stock at your local chandlery.
One product I love is RAILBLAZA, it’s a wonderfully designed mounting system with numerous accessories and tons of flexibility.
Read more about RAILBLAZA Mounting System...............
