First Contact

Yesterday was the first official trip to the boat this season, and was done so with uncertainty in these increasingly crazy times. Following a morning spent at the closest dealer capable of performing the airbag recall for my model, I drove the rest of the way to the boat where it was chillier than expected. Thankful that it wasn't snowing, the first order of business was to remove the tarp that was starting to have issues holding up to the wind. Even though it was billed as heavy duty, and indeed it was heavier duty than the standard blue tarps, it only takes one sharp edge to render it silly. Rather than re-lash it into place, I dropped it to the ground for stuffing in the car later. Next was the batteries. These Duracell GC2 batteries weigh 68 pounds apiece. They also do not come with straps. They come with loops for straps, but no straps. As I was not savvy enough to order a strap ahead of time, I was left with the pleasant option of once again, carrying them one at a time up the ladder to the cockpit.

Sitting in the cockpit, I looked at my current to-do list. Figure out the battery situation. Figure out the anchor roller placement. See where the Rocna will sit. Hook up the wifi battery monitor gadget. Grab the fuel connector for the outboard so I can test that at home. Oh where to begin. Since I was sitting right next to the gas tank, I decided I would remove the end of the fuel line to bring home. I had a brand new 6 gallon tank and brand new line, sans connector, waiting to power up the outboard. As I started to unscrew the clamp, my eyes wandered to the other end and I realized the entire hose was the same as the one I bought. I'll just take the whole thing. How simple! I unclipped the hose, tossed it on the seat, and then hefted both batteries down into the cabin, all 136 lbs of them. I removed the old batteries and the make-shift plywood tray I had built two years ago. I had originally wanted to just set the two new ones in alongside, but the presence of the motor mount bolts interfered. So I ditched the plywood, braced a board over the cavity and temporarily slipped the four batteries into the space, and wired them all in. Soon, all four were mounted, a 430 amp hour battery bank, fed by a Victron 75|15 SmartSolar charger converting the sunlight hitting the HQST 100 watt solar panel sitting on the cockpit seat, and hooked through a Schulink wireless battery monitor connected to the marina's WiFi network. That little monitor is pretty slick, considering the cheap cost.

I was scrolling back through some old Sail Life videos this weekend, and in one he had mentioned a CTEK Battery Sense monitor. One of his irks about the app is that it only gives the percentage of charge, which he found suspect to start with, and not a voltage readout. A positive on the Schulink, is that while it gives a percentage of charge, it also gives a voltage readout. It only goes to tenths, but that's still something. Here's a screenshot of what the app shows

They also carry a battery charger that would give another step, but since I am not using theirs, it'll show zero charging, when I know for a fact it is. Now, if I were to give one piece of advice using devices like these, it is this. Because these hook with a simple positive and negative connection to your battery, if you do have a source of charging coming in, it may show an inflated number because it's seeing voltage across the connections. For example, today was a bright and sunny day, feeding a good portion through the solar panel and Victron. Because the batteries are working on still getting topped off, it was putting in some good amperage. The Schulink showed 100% charge, when I know it was more like 75 or so. If this is a setup you have, it's best to wait until you know you have minimal charge coming from outside sources if possible before checking the state of charge through the app. In my case, I just wait until it's dark. Obviously the Victron app is miles more accurate and informative, but for a $20 investment to be able to get a general idea from hundreds of miles away, I can't complain.

I brought the Rocna aboard and got nowhere with that, but I do have a slightly better plan for the anchor roller. That's a topic for another day though. The Rocna stayed below, since it's really not too easy to hang over the bow of a boat on the hard while trying to juggle a 33 lbs hunk of metal with a sharp point.