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Old 25-03-2010, 22:27   #106
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Google "Manu Rere Glenn Tieman". He defines autonomous. I met Glenn in Mexico. His boat is the polar opposite, the antipode, to what most of us are doing. And he does more of what we want to do, more of the time, for less money, and can continue doing it when our credit cards and dinks sputter to a halt. I'm pretty tough, but Glenn wins autonomous. End of thread.
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Old 26-03-2010, 04:39   #107
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I sure hope this is NOT "end of thread" as I find this a useful and interesting topic.

This "autonomous" idea is, in my mind, akin to "go small, go now."

To some degree, any of us that do more than day sailing must be autonomous. I know where I sail, despite being amidst numerous fiberglass commercial boats, I often can't buy a gallon of resin or any cloth. So I must carry these materials with me. Water and food is far less a problem than simple hardware and modern materials.
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Old 26-03-2010, 14:12   #108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IceMan View Post
Hampus,
I only read 3 pages of this post and if someone here has already said this, please forgive me for saying it again. But, what you describe here is "perpetual motion". If you could figure that out you would be the richest man in the world. It would work after a fashion but your motor as a generator would consume far more than it generated. It would not be long before the batteries were dead and in need of charging from a diesel engine with an alternator or a gas powered generator to keep going. Perpetual motion is beyond our capabilities as of yet. It was a good idea tho.
WD
The electrical motor works as a generator while sailing. The wind drives the boat forward, the water flow spins the prop that spins the motor/generator that charges the batteries. no perpetual motion. In the same fashion, the wind powers the wind generator which recharges the batteries while sailing and/or anchored. Same goes for solar panels. No perpetual motion here either

MarkJ. I think you come very close to jamming the nail in your head, or however the saying goes

Maybe I should have been more specific. My goal wasn't complete and total 100% autonomy but rather a level of autonomy that would give you the option of staying away for an extended length of time in remote areas, populated or not, lacking facilities normally required by cruisers.

I enjoy sharing a warm beer in a cold bar with fellow sailors as much as the next person. Keep the thread going though, it's interesting reading and although some ideas are pretty "out there" even more ideas are sound and will be applied

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Old 26-03-2010, 16:28   #109
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Hampus,
Ok, sorry. I first understood that the motor would be driving the boat as well as generating electricity at the same time. I now see that is not what you meant.
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Old 26-03-2010, 16:32   #110
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Hampus,
Ok, sorry. I first understood that the motor would be driving the boat as well as generating electricity at the same time. I now see that is not what you meant.
WD
No problem!You're not the first to misunderstand that post so I guess I must have been a bit fuzzy

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Old 02-07-2010, 12:20   #111
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Making your own bio-diesel can help on the pocket book. It is very easy to make and you can make your own portable processor.Now this is good if 1 you have the power for the system and if you have means to secure veggy oils and a few others.Oil from just about any animal fat(like bacon grease ect) will work as well.It takes about 48 hours to make and stores for some time.You also could sell it and it works well in any diesel and burns clean.This is only good in warm climates.Diesel gels fast on cold climates but can be overcome by a tank heater which you can get cheaply.You can also sell it but not sure of the legal stuff on the sale.There are several kits you can buy and the chemicals needed are easy to get just about anywhere.Here is a link on the topic...hope this helps to the challenge....


Make your own biodiesel: Journey to Forever
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Old 23-08-2010, 08:37   #112
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Biodiesel

Wow, I'm really glad to have stumbled upon this forum. The wealth of information, opinions and perspectives are going to be invaluable.

Has anyone had success converting to biodiesel? I'm trying to work out the labor to retrieve the oil, the conversion process, and related costs vs sticking with regular diesel. I'm also trying to find a sponsor that might be willing to do the conversion and test on an extended cruise.
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Old 23-08-2010, 09:00   #113
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Which is why I wanted the boat to be beachable



This is a trick I learned during my military career, it works best with illustrations, but I'll give it a go: Take a regular piece of paper, 3 by 3 inches works best. Fold it twice to form a new square. Rip the lower corner off (that would be the centre of the unfolded paper). Save the little piece of paper, very important. Now, take the middle finger on your hand of choice and put it through the hole in the middle of the now unfolded paper (the one with a hole in the middle). Use said finger to wipe your tusch. When you're done, pull the paper off your finger in the form of a siphon and make sure ALL the... stuff... comes along, throw away the paper. Now we're almost done. Remember that little piece of the folded corner that you saved? Good! Now bring it out and use it to thuroughly rinse under your nail. Done!

I bet I could store a year's supply of 3" by 3" of paper aboard a small boat

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Old 23-08-2010, 09:43   #114
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... Has anyone had success converting to biodiesel? ...
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, BigBear.

Why do you wish to convert food into fuel?
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