Every so often we think that we finally have our boat completely dry, we encounter some water in an area of the bilge that is not easily being picked up by the automatic bilge pump, especially when the boat is heeling.

Either a leak on deck which needs resealing or an internally leaking hose, you name it! It is a constant battle to maintain a sailing vessel. And it usually happens while we under way.

For this very reason, as well as for any unforeseen emergencies, we’ve decided to add a “roving bilge pump” to Cool Change.

The new “roving bilge pump” is installed in the locker below the cockpit and accessible through the engine room. It features an 8 meter hose, so it can be used almost anywhere on the boat.

It already has proven its worth when one of the aircon overboard hoses came loose and pumped some 50 plus litres of seawater into our bilge. It only took a couple of minutes to pump it all over board thanks to this powerful pump.

Let us know via the comments button of what your solutions are for having a dry boat!

We were lucky to have flexible Solar panels installed on Cool Change. Lucky because they now provide us with:
a) extra power during daylight sailing,
b) the ability to operate the fridges, instruments and autopilot without having to worry about running down the batteries on sunny days (we have 3 fridges and one freezer),
c) less reliance on the Generator or engine to charge the  batteries (redundancies).
The installation was simple, quick and easy. Quick and easy, because it was done by none other than Geoff Weir from Solarfuture, the Australian & New Zealand distributor for Solbianflex solar panels. Those solar panels are not only ideal for the harsh marine environment, but also very easy to install on a sailing vessel. Geoff simply put them via zippers on our existing Bimini. You hardly notice them at all, even though there are now 4 x 100 watt panels on our Bimini, giving us up to 33 Amps of additional charging power.
Geoff ran all four pairs of cables inside the bimini frame which made it a very clean and professional installation. Additionally, we have one regulator per solar panel which avoids a drop in output from other panels when one is partially shaded. 
We had them now in operation for the last 2 months and they’re working a treat! A week ago, we’ve sailed from Pittwater/Sydney up to Port Stephens, a sail of about 10 hours. By the time we arrived there at sunset, the batteries showed 97% full. And this despite of having the fridges, all the navigational instruments as well as autopilot running.
We are very pleased with the performance of the Solbianflex Solar Panels and are very happy to recommend them to anyone contemplating solar panels for their vessel.
See below pictures of the hardly noticable installation!

 Any comments about the above would be highly regarded.

Wind generators have been around for a while. They provide a good power rating and a potential 24 hours a day power supply. The problem in the past has been that they are quite noisy when in use which can be very annoying for the owner and even more for the neighbors.

Silent Wind
It appears that the new generation wind generator SILENTWIND has changed that. Apart from the slight and inevitable noise due to wind turbulences, SILENTWIND generators can be almost noiseless.

Specially designed blades
It is the rotor blades for SILENTWIND that have been designed for efficiency and negligible noise. The design was extensively wind tunnel tested at hurricane wind speeds of 122 km/h or 5480 rpm, at which the blade tips almost reached the speed of sound. By using UV resistant Carbon Fiber (CFK) Blades and highest quality components, maximum accuracy and rigidity have ensured that the production quality of these products reliably match the design parameters. Designed and made by German engineers.  

Complete solution
Silentwind generators come complete with a dedicated Hybrid Charge Controller. There is an option to connect solar panels of up to 180Wp. It is programmable for acid, Gel, AGM, Li-ion batteries. The controller will monitor the battery and as soon as the battery is fully charged, the generator will stop.
As soon the battery level drops it resumes charging. An integrated manual brake switch will override the electronic. A comprehensive display will show data like V, A, A/h or kW/h. There is no maintenance and it is easy to install.
The cost of the unit is about $1,995.00. 

Upgrading existing AIR X or AIR Breeze wind generators
Sailors who already have the AIR X or AIR Breeze wind generators can now replace their blades with the new "Whispering" blades which will reduce the noise emission dramatically (70%) and will improve power output at the same time. 
 
For more information please visit www.silentwind.com.au or call Wolfgang on 0407 079 700 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting FREE 0407 079 700 end_of_the_skype_highlighting from Silentwind.

We have become so used to having accurate gauges for our fuel tanks, water tanks etc. but when it comes to our state of the battery bank, most of us have no real means to accurately monitor it. The advice I’ve received in the past was that when the voltage goes down to 12 Volts, I most likely are down to nearly 50% of my battery capacity. Which means that this is the maximum of how far down one should  discharge lead acid, gel or AGM batteries without doing any damage.
This of course results in either charging the batteries to early, too long or not enough. Not being too happy about this (past) situation, I now have had a monitor installed that acts just like a fuel gauge for my battery bank. It is quite a nifty device from Xantrex called Enerdrive eLite that not only gives me current capacity in percentage but also, just like a fuel gauge shows me with bars increasing in height how full my batteries are.
By simply pushing a button I now can scroll between displays showing volts, amps and amp hours consumed.   At a glance I can simply look at the LCD bar graph to see a 'fuel gauge' reading of my current battery state.
It sure takes out the guessing game, gives me a good indication how much longer I can go on current consumption until I need to recharge. It also shows me how many Amps are going back into the batteries during charging, being it shore power, solar panels or generator. Sure makes things a lot easier.

Features:
Digital Display to show battery volts, amps, amp-hours, state of charge. Easy to read LCD bar graph, 'just like a fuel gauge'. Around 99.5% accuracy of battery status. Flush mount face place, with fixing by rear locking nut.  Compatible with 12 and 24 volt DC systems.  Includes 500amp / 50mv Shunt. Can be programmed to work on any battery type, with capacity up to 2000+ amp hours.