Wind Generators - Do All Serious Cruisers Have Them?

[sww914]

We had an Air-X on our last boat. Waste of money. I cut the pole for the wind gen off of my arch on this boat to make more room for solar panels. No regrets.

[Panope]

Re: Shading of solar panels with your wind generator. Perhaps you could create a tabernacle (hinge) for your wind generator mast. Extend mast only when solar is not working (and when not to close to neighbors). Might make servicing of generator easier (better access).

Yes, this adds even more complexity to an already complicated situation - and that is a good thing if you are the a type of person who likes things complicated.

Steve

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

over here I can count 8 wind gens and thats the boats that actually come and go.

Out of how many boats? there looked to be more than 100 anchored there a few weeks ago.

Yes, this crowd is tough. But most here are reasonable.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Zeehag, I disagree. I find our Honda, when we do use it, to be quieter than at least the "Air" branded wind gens. And very few would run their petrol generator all night.

And if it's cloudy and still, the wind gen owners end up running their Hondas anyway.

However there are certainly some very quiet wind gens. The Silentwind and the D400 are very quiet.

here, in zihuatenejo, in this anchorage, i found the hondas to be as obnoxious as clanging internal halyards on the catamarans and monos anchored in the incoming swell...the air X wind gens were much more tolerable.
i am glad you have a different tolerance to noises than i do.
the only souls running hondas were a catamaran and one mono.
they had no solar. they ran the hondas all night. sound echoed off the rock walls nearby so it was much louder than normal for hondas. very obnoxious.

[highseas]

Of course 'serious cruisers' have them.Any alternate charging source that doesn't use fossil fuels is welome aboard my boat.Many cloudy days when windgen carries the load.Noise? cmon,noise is everywhere in harbour,would you rather listen to a generator or diesel,spewing fumes and noise.I barely notice the 'noisy' AirX,and yes I am cruising now.

[Cotemar]

Some times Wind Generators can ruin your day or week or maybe even a month.

I think Gutek can tell you why solar is safer.
-----------------
Polish ocean racer Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski became the first skipper to sustain a notable injury after slicing his head open on the blade of his wind generator.

Gutek suffered several cuts to his head as he tried to clear seaweed from the rudders of his Eco 60 yacht Operon Racing. “I don’t know how bad my wounds are, but I know that I was bleeding badly,” he said today. “At once I put on a head dressing to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t even estimate the size of my wound because my eyes were flooded with blood and couldn’t look at the mirror. I was really scared that I might not make it and lose consciousness because of the blood lost.”

The injury means Gutek has been forced to stay down below on Operon Racing to keep the cuts dry and free from infection. “I can’t go outside, because the waves come onboard very often and the boat is sailing with quite a big heel,” the 36-year-old added. “I don’t want to get my wound wet. The blades had enough sea salt on them. My wound is on my forehead, up under the hair. Not one cut, but a couple of them. It is just impossible to make a stitch – I will have a big scar for sure.”

Pressure Drop - Gutek Injured In Velux 5 Oceans

[sailorboy1]

I'm sure it makes a bug difference on where you are. But in the mooring field I have kept my boat the past 5 years there are many more wind generators on boats than solar (most have neither).

For the most part I have not really noticed the sound of the wind generators, and I've tried. This from someone who really hears stuff at night and is made nuts by halyards and mast wiring slapping at night.

But I plan on installing solar this year instead of solar. The reason is just plain cost! For the cost of a wind generator with pole etc I can install 600+ watts of solar (that includes a MPPT controller)!

So for me I think I'll plan on maxing out on solar and then if experience shows a need will look at a wind generator.

[highseas]

Definitely don't try to stop blades with any body part.Unless I stand on my bimini,it's nowhere near my body.Doh!

[RabidRabbit]

Yes maybe 100 but 80 of those never go anywhere. The first year I visted KW I spent a month in the mooring field and was abit board, since anchoring by fleming I've met more cruisers and local nut jobs.
@Mark, I gotta say your a knowledgabe guy whos opinion I take very seriously. It's very possible that the original question is totally pointless, we all do, what we do, and I'm not sure theirs any right answer.

[daddle]

Originally Posted by Ram

... puts out 20 amps/hour with 20 knots of wind-the troble its not enough ...

There you have some reality. Who wants to anchor where it's blowing 20 knots?

If you do get one get one with the nice quiet fat blades. Not the high tech screamers. No matter what the hucksters say they are too noisy for polite folks.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Panope

Re: Shading of solar panels with your wind generator. Perhaps you could create a tabernacle (hinge) for your wind generator mast. Extend mast only when solar is not working (and when not to close to neighbors). Might make servicing of generator easier (better access).



Steve

Thanks for this great idea, I was going to remove my wind gen because of new solar pannels going up- and know it will shade the pannels- Im going to try and work this out somehow with a hindge or??

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by zeehag

here, in zihuatenejo, in this anchorage, i found the hondas to be as obnoxious as clanging internal halyards on the catamarans and monos anchored in the incoming swell...the air X wind gens were much more tolerable.
i am glad you have a different tolerance to noises than i do.
the only souls running hondas were a catamaran and one mono.
they had no solar. they ran the hondas all night. sound echoed off the rock walls nearby so it was much louder than normal for hondas. very obnoxious.

G'Day Zee

Somewhere earlier in this thread someone suggested that the only people who couldn't hear wind gens were their owners. Seems to me that the same logic applies to Hondas and all other engine driven gen sets.

And Rebel, I'm surprised to learn that folks here in Oz are so much more considerate than those back in the States... we don't spend much time in marinas, but did so for three months last year whilst our mast was out. At the MBTBC marina in Manly there were many,many wind generators. The only ones operating were the little Aerogen type that are typically used as trickle chargers and which are virtually silent.\

So, do ALL serious cruisers have wind generators?? Of course not, but many do and often for good reasons. I"m really quite surprised at the venomous
hatred that they seem to generate amongst the CF contingent. In the parts of the world that we've cruised so far they are accepted by the other cruisers, even those who don't have one.

Cheers,

Jim

[sageofsalem]

I have an air30. I guess it is the next generation of the air "x" and it is quiet. Tons quieter than the old FourWinds I had that swung the five foot wheel and much more efficient. People who leave their wind machines running when they're plugged in at a marina are wasting money.

Airfoils do deteriorate with exposure to weather, rain degrades them and make them noisier. A spare set of blades is not that costly and good for when you're far from replacements.

Solar panels are so much better. But wind machines are a necessity for long-range cruising as an adjunct to sun power. I have 2 8 "D" batteries, diesel genset, solar and a windgen and my next move will be much more solar.

For complainers in an anchorage, I would have to say , talk to your neighbors and if that doesn't work, move or buy good shooting earplugs (that reduce the noise of gunfire). get some cotton for your ears,move

[Panope]

Originally Posted by Ram

Thanks for this great idea, I was going to remove my wind gen because of new solar pannels going up- and know it will shade the pannels- Im going to try and work this out somehow with a hindge or??

How about a two piece, sleeved pole with a quick disconnect electrical plug. Store whole thing down below. Might prolong life of generator being in a dry (drier) place. Maybe it then becomes an occasional use (passage making), back up system only? Do the rotor blades disassemble easily for storage?

Steve

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by montenido

Hi all,

Don't know if this is the right forum for this question, but here it is. I am ordering a new arch for my CSY 44 and I'm wondering if I should have a bracket for wind generation installed. I know the pros and cons, and I am worried about taking arch space away from solar panels, as well as shading them with the wind genny.

So for those of you who are actually out there cruising, or who have cruised in the past, what is your opinion? Is a wind generator a must-have? Or too noisy and too much shading of the solar panels?

This is a serious inquiry, so I hope it doesn't touch off a war between those with and those without.

BTW, I will be cruising the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, and then the
South Pacific islands.

As always, thank you for you practical advice.

Cheers, Bill

Been there, did that. Finally got courage and cut it off.
Was ahead without it. It shaded more than it produced, and was noisy.
GO WITH SOLAR AND AN MPPT CONTROLLER !!
You won't regret it, and neither will the rest of any anchorage you are visiting.

320 watts solar, mppt, watermaker, all led's, radar, chartplotter/gps/ais/longdistance wifi/etc, etc, etc. but with REBUILT fridge/freezer/hotwater tank using Aerogel insulation (that's the key).
We never run out of electricity and never need to run the engine for power OR hot water. We turn on the inverter. Really.