Help Me Refit The Hog. SJ 26 Cruising

[dohcdelsol93]

Many of you have refit your cruisers....many of you have wish you had made different choices on your refit/renovations/improvements. Guide me with your knowledge on what i should/shouldn't do

a little back ground:

The SJ26 is stated to weigh in at 4500 lbs...however i'm betting the truck scales will say she's closer to 5. I've havent been on many sailboat. My old west wind 21, a venture 21 and a cal 25.

And come next week, my very own San Juan 26. She's a 76 model, one of the very few slow yet comfortable cruisers that they built before the 7.9 or 7...i dunno metric very well...either way they replaced her in about 79 with a faster hull design.

Goals:

5 days for 2 adults and maybe 2 children aboard on the hook, sailing, no shore power.

9.9 yanmar 4 stroke electric start motor (slow to charge but at least it has some power output)

I'm thinking i want as close to 750 watts in solar panels as i can get, 900 would be ideal.

I'd like a refrigerator, with freezer if posible (would love 12 volt)

12 volt appliances, crock pot (slow cooker) small oven(toaster/convection oven combo...come in 12v?)

blender for when we want to make the local lake more tropical, i'm assuming i'll need power inverter for this guy.

small depth finder

vhf radio with built in gps

marine CD player/radio with some 6.5 speakers

1 or two small fans

2 cell phone chargers

2 12 volt dvd players/tv for watching college football on saturdays

charger for nintendo DS



I'm looking for suggestions on what battery set up i need, I'm sure i could fit 4 nice sized deep cycle batteries, maybe even 6.

Should i get actual deep cycle marine batteries or use golf cart 6 volt batteries wired to make 12 volts?



plans are to cut out the factory ice chest below the hatch, with no insulation it's barely fit to hold cereal boxes or even life vests. This is where i want to put a small 3-4 CF fridge. I want efficient so i'd like to stay away from power inverters if possible.

I will be replacing every cabin/anchor/navigation light with an LED fixture or bulb.

In our little westwind 21 we were able to survive for 4 days with two coolers, a 150 watt solar panel and 4 small lawn mower sized batteries. Our only power needs were LED lights/navigation (all LED) , VHF radio with GPS, depth finder, 12v computer speakers for music, cell phone charger and a 12v fan that was on high 24/7.

running the fan all night was the biggest drain.

I want to eliminate the need for having to go back to shore for ice, which is why i want to ditch the two huge 5 day coolers and run a fridge.

So, lets hear from you guys who cruise in smaller boats, what would your suggestions be.

I want items that a durable ( i only want to do this once) and what would you think my needs are?


750 watts of charging solar power may be over kill. The fridge will be turned off when we are not in the boat and only used when we are in it. Most trips will be 1 to 2 days but there will be some week to two week extended stays....well, extended for us.

Thanks for the help guys/gals

happy sails

[onestepcsy37]

The trick with the solar panels will be finding enough real estate to mount them all. I think a 130 watt panel measures about 2ft by 4ft; if true, then 520 watts would need 8ft by 4ft. I personally love, and have, solar. But since you're talking 5 days, here are two other suggestions.

Get a honda 1000 generator and a 40 amp smart automobile charger instead of solar. One gallon of gas will keep your battery bank, even a small one, charged up for a week, and you'll find uses for the honda at home as well.

Or, install a larger battery bank, like 4 or even 6 golf cart batteries. If you fully charge them before you leave and use them judiciously, they might last for 5 days with no further charging.

For a fridge, consider the engle portable, or the waeco (dometic) equivalent. Runs on 12 volts and are highly regarded by users. Being portable, you can take them on road trips too.

I can't imagine running a 12 volt slow cooker all day; would probably suck the batteries right down.

Since you've already lived on a 21 footer for 4 days at a time you are probably more qualified to make good choices than you think, but its always good to hear what other people do...


Sent from my GT-P3113 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[mitiempo]

750 watts of solar panels would be a large array for a 45' boat! On a San Juan 26 it would leave no room for crew.

Get a small Engel fridge/freezer, very efficient. Conserve energy with Led's for all lights.

Skip the crock pot and toaster oven. Get a propane or alcohol stove.

Golf carts are the best battery choice. 2 will give you 220 to 250 AH (110 to 125 usable AH).

[Ex-Calif]

I'm with onestep - You know more about this already than you know - for 5 days aboard I would pre-prepare a lot of meals and bring them in Tupperware etc. Slow cook on a boat sound crazy - too much power.

You can do a fridge but I think onestep has it right - with no engine alternator you are probably going to need a Honda.

With kids (presuming iPad age) I'd get at least 300 a/h if you can fit it and 280w solar if you can get it on there.

Along with a small coleman cooler fridge, I am replacing the built in ice chests (foam jobbies) with a coleman "extreme" built in with extra insulation around it and drain plumbed into sink. They advertise 5 days of ice - Id' be happy with 3-4

[atoll]

save your self a whole lot of expense and hassle,forget having an electric fridge on such a small boat,that essentially is just a weekend cruiser.

get a swamp cooler,just carry a bit more fresh water to replenish it,though if you are on a fresh water lake this will not be an issue,and the boat will sail better without all the scafolding.

Coolgardie safe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[a64pilot]

As far as a swamp cooler, work surprisingly well in the Desert, but have you ever tried one where the humidity is high?
Good ice chest makes the most sense, followed by one of the good 12V compressor fridges, but that pretty much means a gas generator, forget cooking with electricity, or using electricity for anything that there is another way.
If you were going to use the blender a lot, then consider this
Amazon.com: Tailgator Gas-Powered Blender: Electric Countertop Blenders: Kitchen & Dining
But using a blender a lot means a lot of ice doesn't it?

I think the trick is to have a big battery bank, one that will work without recharging for the majority of your trips, the two day ones, and for the unusual 5 day trips, bring a generator, maybe you can rent or borrow one?

[Ex-Calif]

A64 is on-track.

Get the "best" solution you can and add the generator later if after you get out there a few times you realize you are short on amps.