Another 100 days on the hook!

[stevensuf]

As a follow up to a previous post
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ook-88983.html

We have just spent yet another 100 days at anchor, this time in the Caribbean.

So whats different from 100 days at anchor in the med than in the Caribbean?

First of all, POWER, the 320w of solar that served us so well in the Med , just doesn't not cut it here, with the short days and lots of cloud cover, a wind generator is looking very tempting. Now i noticed so many boats here have the wind gennys shading the solar, so if fitting one in the northern hemisphere trade winds zone put the wind genny on the port side, you will get so much less shading.

Water? well the reason our 100 days has came to an end, the water maker has yet again packed in, now if you do want to live on the hook, please invest in a good watermaker, it will pay for itself in the long run, especially with the costs of water/drinking water/getting the washing done and the convenience of not having to haul jerry jugs of water all over the place.

Marinas, well they certainly are much cheaper than in the med, so at least that's one thing.

Beer, yes I drink lots of it, if you do cross from the med to the Caribbean and like a beer, stock up in the canaries and I mean fill that empty cabin with beer, not just a few crates!

Wind, wooow, you can actually sail here pretty much all the time, fuel is cheaper as well, but not so much of an issue as you can sail, granted the leas of the islands can mean some motoring.

Food, well that is more expensive here , rum is cheap and has a bad hangover, fresh meat is harder to find (unfrozen) and the local will milk you far more being a tourist for their produce.

Chadlerys.. more expensive, so take the spares you think you might need.

Early nights.. we struggle to stay up late now, dark at 6.30 all the time,, its a struggle.

Good sailing to one and all ...

[atoll]

sounds like you need to ditch the watermaker,get a raincatcher and a home brewing kit!

after 5 years of living in the WI,i do remember eating a lot chicken legs and not sure if i ever want to see a banana ever again!

thanks for the update!
,allways good to hear of cruisers experinces here on cf

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

As a follow up to a previous post
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ook-88983.html

We have just spent yet another 100 days at anchor, this time in the Caribbean.

So whats different from 100 days at anchor in the med than in the Caribbean?.......

Interesting contrast, particularly as we will one day migrate from the Med to the Caribbean.

Interesting that solar has not been adequate - at 330 watts we cope even in winter here. What charging are you averaging daily?

We have had 349 consecutive days at anchor now (not once even briefly tied to any jetty) .

[stevensuf]

In the med there is far less cloud cover and in summer far longer days, here in the caribbean there is lots of cloud and the days are short.

In the med on a a good day we could pull 200ah, bad days 80-100ah, here in the caribbean, the best so far has been 170ah, but more like 80-120ah on average.

We were starting to struggle a bit in the med in october before we left, with the shorter days,

[mbianka]

Steven:

Enjoyed your observations. Personally I like the early to bed routine. Watching the sunrise and the sunsets really make my day. So many people on land miss them. They just seem a little bit nicer on the water.

[boatman61]

For boat bits shop in Lille Marine SXM French side entrance to the lagoon...
As to your power prob's.. that's why I always have a quiet chuckle when I hear the 'Solar Only' crowd and their statistic's..

[shorebird]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Interesting contrast, particularly as we will one day migrate from the Med to the Caribbean.

Interesting that solar has not been adequate - at 330 watts we cope even in winter here. What charging are you averaging daily?

We have had 349 consecutive days at anchor now (not once even briefly tied to any jetty) .

So we can soon look forward to a new book?
"A Year on the Hook, a Retrospective"

[Pete7]

Don't forget to put this into perspective. Todays Dailymail says its the coldest March for 50 years. Its 2'c here today and up norf have blizzards.

Enjoy the rum.

What make was the watermaker btw?

Pete

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

In the med on a a good day we could pull 200ah, bad days 80-100ah, here in the caribbean, the best so far has been 170ah, but more like 80-120ah on average.

Thanks. We shouldn't have a problem then. Here in the Med winter we average a lot less in winter and manage .

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by shorebird

So we can soon look forward to a new book?
"A Year on the Hook, a Retrospective"

I think our record has been 22 months on the hook whilst moving around the Greek islands between haul outs.
No time for retrospectives LOL, my gaze is firmly on the present .

[Kettlewell]

This must be specific to wherever you are in the Caribbean, because overall places closer to the equator have more solar insolation, and on average the Caribbean has more than Southern Europe. See here.

[stevensuf]

Well maybe its been a bad 4 months for sun, yes you are closer to the sun and it is higher in the sky, but if big bad clouds are in between... All the insolation in the world is of no use!

The figures they quote are for the upper atmosphere not what hits the ground, which is a very different number.

Pete . The watermaker it is a katadyne 40e, maybe i am over working the poor thing, when it works we have it on for about 4 hours a day, making 20 odd litres which covers our daily needs.

[tbodine88]

I also had trouble keeping the batteries up in the Caribbean with just 300 watts of solar coupled with older electronics.

[Graceunderway]

How many and how big are your batteries? 300W seems that it should be enough.