Living on a boat OUT OF THE WATER
Life on the hard. That’s what we yachties call it when our boat is on dry land. Why? I can only assume because living on a sailboat out of the water is hard.
Do you know that old saying, like a fish out of water? It’s sort of like that, except we don’t die.
Most everything on our boat relies on water to function. For example, our engines, air conditioners and generator are all water-cooled…so NO water, NO workie.
Life on the hard isn’t glamorous but nothing about major renovations is (except for the final product perhaps, that should be fabulous). This is why we’ve been staying at our friend’s resort while we did the major cleaning and mold remediation.
I am thrilled to report the cleaning is done and Curiosity is ready for liveaboards once again! Join us as we make the transition back to full-time boat life, take you on a tour of the yard, and explain how we live on a boat when it’s hauled out of the water and sitting on the hard.
MORE INFO ON:
- Composting Toilet
- Portable Water Filter
- Boat Water Filtration Systems
- Electric Oven
- Blender
- Tepache (Pineapple Beer) Recipe
ELECTRICITY FOR OUR USA WIRED BOAT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Charger
My Frankenstein Setup totally works because the NOCO charger can run on 50hz and 60hz. I own the 15a version but if I could purchase it again, I’d go for the 26a version linked here.
- NOCO Genius Charger: https://amzn.to/356WWLe
Transformer
I would buy the 2000-watt model linked below. It’ll run the NOCO charger and have some spare power leftover for a laptop, or another small device. If you wish to run power-hungry items like a water kettle, instant-pot, toaster, etc. you may want to buy the bigger 5000-watt model:
- Step Up/Down Voltage Transformer: https://amzn.to/358vGvW
NOTES FROM A PRO
Rafael was our service advisor and all-around guru for boat projects when we were doing our major refit jobs in Florida at Just Catamarans. The man knows power and boats. Luckily, he still answers our questions almost four years later.
He gave some solid advice that we wanted to pass along.
“The most Primo way would be to install a Shore power converter like an ASEA power cabinet. You can put any Frequency or voltage in and it will put out what you want. Price is in the neighborhood of $15k for the unit and then a couple grand for the display to know what’s going on. This unit weighs around 230 lbs, so it’s not lite. https://aseapower.com/
Next best option is a similar unit that is more reasonably priced (almost 50% less) from ANG. It can convert frequency, but it’s limited on input voltage. It can’t handle converting 440v…but who the heck plugs their sailboat into that? https://angconverters.com/
Best bet for you at this moment is a dual Frequency and Voltage Charger with a dedicated inlet and cable adapters. You can install multiples of these units to charge your batteries. Depends of course on what you have inverted on your vessel if this can work for you. https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/phoenix-smart-ip43-charger
Another option is using a Step down converter. The issue here is 110v units are never set up for dual frequency. Your aircons will go from spinning at 60hz to 50hz. Aircons will work, but won’t be as efficient. Inverter/charger won’t care about the frequency, but the issue is you’ll be passing through 50hz to items that are designed for 60hz. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-Isolation-Transformers-EN.pdf
Ideally you would have a 230v boat with dual frequency aircons. You set up a Large inverter charger that can charge your lithium’s and invert your aircons and hot water if you like. For the rest of the boat you can just have pure sine inverters for your 110 voltage units. The main issue with most boats we work on is the space and load requirement needed to fit all the inverters, batteries, etc…then there’s the whole budget thing!
Of course, you could just add more solar and lithium 😊“
For all the money and hassle…we like the more solar and lithium battery option. Thanks Raf!
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