Trickle Charge Generator

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Okay I know absolutely nothing about this but maybe someone here will have seen or heard about this...

The other day my wife was talking to someone about generating power on boats. This guy apparently told her about some sort of a generator that, while moored, hangs in the water and works off of the current of the tide and slowly charges your batteries. I have heard of no such thing and cannot see how such a slow moving current could possible create enough power to charge a battery, let alone an entire bank.

This might be an option for recharging batteries while under sail though.

[Andina Marie]

They were very popular 20+ years ago but you don't see them any more. They will only work where you have a significant tidal flow. They were well made but expensive and inteded for generating power when under sail rather than on the hook.

I think the main reason they are no longer in business is although they worked very well at generating power under sail, you actually only spend a very small percentage of total time under sail and they did not generate enough power to last you a day or two on the hook.

With a market limited to "round the world" sailors who are rarely on the hood there was not enough business to sustain them.

They also made a great lure for big sharks.

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Thanks Andina: Funny thing, I had considered this very idea not too long ago and wondered why no one had tried it. As I said, I couldn't see how it could work well enough on the hook to be of any use but thought it was a promising idea for use under sail. I never thought of the shark lure aspect of it though. My wife read that and now she doesn't want one.

Cheers!

[hellosailor]

Wraun, if you want to trickle charge, buy solar. Prices have plummeted in recent years.

A towed water generator will do while under way, but solar can be less fuss. No moving parts, no lines to deploy, etc.

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Ya thanks HS, I just thought it was interesting that this guy had brought it up and wondered if anyone had any knowledge of it.
I think ultimately, we'll end up with a wind/solar combo. I'm still a ways off of actually doing anything yet. Too many other things to take care of but this is always on my mind because so many other things will ultimately depend on power.
I really appreciate hearing all opinions/experience on this subject.

Thanks "loads" (pun intended) to everyone.