Single Handed Live Aboard

[Mouse]

I am currently a live aboard on an Alberg 35. I have been at the marina for over a year now and have acclimated to the boat life. I.e. Long term food storage, fast easy meals the require a minimal amount of energy to prepare, water conservation and tracking etc. I intend to live on the hook, slowly at first but when all bugs are worked out, full time.
I will have aprox. 800 dollars a month for any expense that may arise. I am a competent electrician and mechanic and can do all repairs that may arise myself (provided parts aren't an issue).
What areas of my vessel do YOU fee I should focus on upgrading, overhauling, adding equipment like a water maker or solar panels (I have a wind gen) to improve the quality of life while on the hook?

[Hudson Force]

Mouse, Are you out in the Thunderbolt area, on the Wilmington River or closer to downtown and up the river? We pass through Savannah twice a year and usually anchor on the Herb River. I would think that your needs would present themselves as you experience more time and cruising. Although I am not single-handed, I do take on the solo task at times and I find that an autopilot is most useful to engage while leaving the helm at brief times to take care of needs on deck or below. In addition, when single-handling and especially with an autopilot, items like jacklines, harnesses and a remote mechanism to disengage the autopilot become important. With "life on the hook"
the dinghy with outboard engine and a bicycle that has fore & aft quick release wheels or a folding design become important for many. We store 200 gallons of water aboard and have not found a need for the watermaker with our activities, but I can see where that could be higher on the list for some. I like the Albergs,- keep us posted with your adventures....

[Kevin84]

Mouse, I'm on an Alberg 35 myself. Unless you plan on going to the marina every so often to top of your water tanks and pump out your holding tank, I'd recomend a watermaker, unless your Alberg holds a lot of water. Mine holds 70 gals, so I rarely have to top them off (but I'm at a Marina and take my showers there). To tell how much power you need to generate, unplug your shore power and see what the draw on your batteries are. If they hold a steady charge, your wind generator will be more than enough. If they don't, consider adding a solar panel or two.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Mouse

I am currently a live aboard on an Alberg 35. I have been at the marina for over a year now and have acclimated to the boat life. I.e. Long term food storage, fast easy meals the require a minimal amount of energy to prepare, water conservation and tracking etc. I intend to live on the hook, slowly at first but when all bugs are worked out, full time.
I will have aprox. 800 dollars a month for any expense that may arise. I am a competent electrician and mechanic and can do all repairs that may arise myself (provided parts aren't an issue).
What areas of my vessel do YOU fee I should focus on upgrading, overhauling, adding equipment like a water maker or solar panels (I have a wind gen) to improve the quality of life while on the hook?

Do you have a refrigerator? You're going to have to go ashore for enough things without needing ice to keep your perisables unperished.

[jcapo]

Back in the day, early 1980's, I could go to the ice house in Clearwater, FL and buy a BLOCK of ice that would last a week. I thinking the cost was $12 or so for that big block of ice. Maybe 80 pounds, just don't remember, it was heavy but I was younger too.

The cost of refrigeration then did not make sense. Today there are no real ice houses in the US. Buying ice in 10 pound bags will break the bank. That shaved ice doesn't last like the blocks I used to get either.

Ya gotta have refrigeration if you want cold beer and ice for margaritas.

John

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by jcapo

Back in the day, early 1980's, I could go to the ice house in Clearwater, FL and buy a BLOCK of ice that would last a week. I thinking the cost was $12 or so for that big block of ice. Maybe 80 pounds, just don't remember, it was heavy but I was younger too.

The cost of refrigeration then did not make sense. Today there are no real ice houses in the US. Buying ice in 10 pound bags will break the bank. That shaved ice doesn't last like the blocks I used to get either.

Ya gotta have refrigeration if you want cold beer and ice for margaritas.

John

Actually, there's an ice house in St. Petersburg, and for that $12 a week there's a place where you can get enough dry ice to make your own ice blocks out of bags of ice. Of course, you need a source for the ice that's affordable.

Making sure one's ice box is really well insulated helps tremendously, too. I use ice myself, but I live in a marina and my live aboard fee includes ice.

[jcapo]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Actually, there's an ice house in St. Petersburg

I stand corrected. Ice houses still do exist.

john

[Blue Crab]

Yep. There's one in Beaufort, NC too. 4 blocks up from Town Docks.

[sailorchic34]

A couple solar panels for when the wind dies. Led Lighting and a LED anchor light.

A really good anchor (2 sizes up) plus a few backups too

I've 45 gallons of water (35 gal in one tank and two 5 gallon jugs), which easily gets me two weeks. I'd save the money on the water maker as you'll be hitting the stores for food and trash removal at least every two weeks or so.

Enough batteries for a day or two.

Heat for the winter times, unless your heading further south. Though winter there is not that long overall.

Screens for the hatches to keep the sand gnats and skeeters from caring you off in the evenings.

A good dinghy (rather then a watermaker)

Sun shades / boat cover for summer.. wind scope

solar shower...

120v bar fridge and inverter (uses same amount of power as the fancy 12V units). Just bolt in place and put a latch on the door. Mine's been working for 5 years.

Least wise that's how I do it... :-)

[Blue Crab]

SC, when you say "bar fridge", are you meaning a small frig like a dorm room size?

[Cheechako]

refrige, solar/wind gen, watermaker.

[Mouse]

These are all the exact kind of suggestions I was hoping for! Thank you all very much and please keep them coming!
To clarify my situation more I will list more of my equipment and such that I currently have, working on what has been suggested thus far.

I do have refrigeration, and a freezer in the fridge. It's a top loader but it freezes the ice trays so I can in fact make ice for rum drinks.

I currently have 2 AGM 12v house batteries but they are not enough I feel. They are 50Ah each. I was just given a good flooded battery so I thin I will get a second and create a second bank with appropriate switches and wiring as my charger cannot do 2 different types of batteries at the same time. In my mind, the more I have in reserve the better off I will be. Is this sound reasoning? I also have a single dedicated flooded battery for the starter.

My water tank is 45 gallons and using the water conservatively (for being in the marina) it lasts me a week. That is to say, i top it off weekly. I am concerned with running out of water while cruising and have heard tell that some places in the Bahamas charge a dollar a gallon for it. I've watched some cool videos on you tube about making rain catchers to add the the water tank and other neat ideas but I feel strongly that if I can carry more (say another 45g tank) and have a small water maker like a katadin 7gph, in a worst case scenario I would survive. I do keep 20-30 ponds of rice and beans on board as well.

My holding tank is 35g as well is my fuel tank. I have a completely rebuilt original atomic4 which is good because it runs like new, however I strongly dislike that it runs on REGULAR gas. Not unleaded mind you, regular gas.

I do have a screen for the companionway and half the ports on my boat as well as a sun canopy I made out of sail material.

There was a solar shower that came with the boat (black bag with a hose type) but it still had water in it when I discovered it and was kind of funky, so I tucked it back into the lazerette and have been meaning to pull it out at some point to see if it is salvageable.

I have been slowly replacing bulbs as I can with led but as they are quite pricey it's slow going. My thought was to take advantage of the sun when I can and when I can't try to make to with a lantern as much as possible.

I have an auto pilot (simrad) but as it is a battery drain I really fantasize about getting a wind vane styled auto pilot. Thankfully wind is still free and breaks down less frequently than electronics. Hehehe

I have a 3 burner pro pain stove with an oven and the pro pain locker is in the aft lazerette in a proper vented pro pain housing. I also have a round BBQ which I find I use far more frequently than the stove. It gets bloody hot in the cabin even if I simply boil water for tea!

I also have a ventless propane heater for the cabin should I find myself in cooler latitudes but I intend to do everything in my power to never be anywhere I would need it. South is the direction for me.

Please keep the suggestions coming! It is really great to get helpful advice and conformation I am on the right track with suggestions I have in inventory currently.

Cheers!

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

SC, when you say "bar fridge", are you meaning a small frig like a dorm room size?

Yes, In my case a 3.5 CF magic chef from home depot. Think it was $130

[sailorchic34]

Yes some places water can get pricey. Might aim for a 20 GPH unit as the cost is not so much more and it runs less. The fella off Third Day as a nice RO system. Probably need a honda generator to run it, but its nice to have the generator for when it rains for days and the wind does not blow.

I have a ventless heater too. Of course, being blonde, I installed a vent on it to get the moisture and hot gas out. Plus hooked it up to the low pressure propane. Totally voids manufactures warranty and ups CO a little, but for under $150 ish, I have a vented heater. Lots O moisture in unvented heaters BTW...

Ha Yes rice and beans. I see your going for the $500 ish cruising. A small 4-6 quart pressure cooker will cook the beans and other things in 1/3 the time. Though I find I don't use mine all that much.

On Led lights, I found that buying the halogen reading lights and swapping out the bulb for a LED from superbrightleds saved money compaired to buying a Led Fixture. Florescent fixtures are good too.

BTW you can use flooded batteries with a battery charger set for AGM, as long as they are on a separate branch. AGM has lower internal resistance and the chargers switch to float at about 14.1V.

Me I don't have a start battery, just two house banks. Two group 27's deep cycle battery's are fine starting a small engine.

[Rakuflames]

Solar showers are cheap. Throw the funky one out and get a fresh one.