POLL: What makes you installed more eco systems on your boat?

[northcave]

I'm writing an article for a magazine on the subject of being more sustainable / green / off grid on a sailing boat. More and more people are installing systems to that effect. However I want to understand the motivations for doing so. Please can you answer the poll using your main driving factor:



Examples include: LED lights, 12v systems over 240v genset systems, solar, windturbines, eco antifoul, induction cooking etc


*Disclaimer: I'm not claiming boating is green I'm merely understanding the drivers and movements which are driving the increasing use of solar / wind, use of alternatives to antifoul, moving away from gensets and so forth.

[AndyEss]

I think your poll would be more useful if it were a ranked poll, rather than single choice.

[northcave]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

I think your poll would be more useful if it were a ranked poll, rather than single choice.

I tried that on the YBW forum and most just ticked the top three. I want to understand the main driver, not every option that someone agrees with.

[AndyEss]

Life choices are rarely binary.

By a ranked poll, I mean you would put your top choice first (as you have now) but then identify the next most important, etc until the least important.

I agree, just checking three choices (no ranking) would be next to useless

[northcave]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

Life choices are rarely binary.

By a ranked poll, I mean you would put your top choice first (as you have now) but then identify the next most important, etc until the least important.

I agree, just checking three choices (no ranking) would be next to useless

Standby.. I didn't see an option for ranking... Let me check and start the poll again.

[thinwater]

You assume sustainable and off-grid are the same thing. They are not.


Green is also not as easy to identify as you thing. Let's try paints.

• Water based. The impact of the solvent is trivial. Additionally, nearly all paints are now reduced VOC. Finally, remember that water based does NOT mean you can clean up with water (the waste cannot be discharged).
• Copper-free. Washington state was on the verge of requiring copper-free paints, but they stopped when they realized that the alternatives might be worse (more toxic than copper). The best answer may be reduced-leaching paints, which we already have. They are called...
• Multi-season paints. Not all are reduced leaching, but in order to last 2 years, they pretty much have to be. Common sense.

For me, I like solar and better water systems because they free me from marinas and listening to generators or running the engine. It's nice that they are green, but that's not the reason.

[northcave]

Originally Posted by thinwater

You assume sustainable and off-grid are the same thing. They are not.


Green is also not as easy to identify as you thing. Let's try paints.

• Water based. The impact of the solvent is trivial. Additionally, nearly all paints are now reduced VOC. Finally, remember that water based does NOT mean you can clean up with water (the waste cannot be discharged).
• Copper-free. Washington state was on the verge of requiring copper-free paints, but they stopped when they realized that the alternatives might be worse (more toxic than copper). The best answer may be reduced-leaching paints, which we already have. They are called...
• Multi-season paints. Not all are reduced leaching, but in order to last 2 years, they pretty much have to be. Common sense.

For me, I like solar and better water systems because they free me from marinas and listening to generators or running the engine. It's nice that they are green, but that's not the reason.

That's all absolutely fine so click 3 then if it is the closest option. I appreciate I can't cover every persons exact motivation.

[slug]

Originally Posted by northcave

That's all absolutely fine so click 3 then if it is the closest option. I appreciate I can't cover every persons exact motivation.

I keeps the boat up to date , modern

[AndyEss]

This is hilarious.

I love this forum.

Where else could you have a tri-dimensional conversation

Sailors (and I include both sail and power) are a special breed

[Mike OReilly]

Interesting discussion topic. A bit harder as a simple binary question.

I wonder about your premise though. Do you have data or other evidence to show that an increasing number of people are "moving away from gensets and so forth." If anything, my anecdotal experience suggests the opposite is happening. Seems to me more cruising boats now carry dino-generators.

But to try and answer your question, my main motivator is independence and self-reliance, coupled with a great dislike of unnecessary noise. But a third consideration IS being more environmentally friendly.

I'll pick option three, but it feels rather artificial be so b&w.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Interesting discussion topic. A bit harder as a simple binary question....

We run our boat almost entirely on solar power. We average needing to run an engine to produce electricity once a month or so when we've had poor solar production for several days. We try to manage our power use by moving discretionary use to times when we have excess solar (watermaker, laundry).

Some people think we're minimalists, others living in luxury, so I'd guess we're about in the middle. Fridge, freezer, watermaker, autopilot, washer. No air conditioning, no generator, only(!) one fridge. LEDs for lights that spend a long time in use, but not worth the cost to upgrade the lights that are only on 5 minutes a day (the one in the sail locker, the one in the "garage").

I maybe like the reduction in fuel use for green reasons, but really it comes down to two things; I absolutely loathe listening to and feeling an engine running on the boat, and I like to stay away from civilization as long as possible. Looking honestly, any other reasons are more coincidental than anything else.

[valhalla360]

You missed an important one...when the "eco-friendly" product is competitive versus traditional methods.

LED lighting is a perfect example. They have gotten cost competitive, put out much better light compared to 20yr ago and use a fraction of the power that incandescent lighting does.

Solar on boats also has reached the point where it makes a lot of sense if you aren't trying to run air/con at anchor. Cheaper and more effective than installing and running a generator.

[Paul L]

#1 reason: reduce noise, heat and maintenance on gensets and engine.

[Mystic38]

none of the above.

the poll makes no sense to me .. and if the OP wants to understand the motivations he should ask, and spend time talking to sailors and cruisers rather than dictating what the choices are.

[GordMay]

A multiple-choice question (MCQ) is composed of two parts: a stem that identifies the question or problem, and a set of alternatives or possible answers, that contain a key, that is the best answer to the question, and a number of distractors, that are plausible, but incorrect, answers to the question. Respondents select the “best answer” (most important), rather than the “correct answer” (only).
Disadvantages of multiple choice questions:
They don't produce any qualitative data, solely quantitative.
They limit the respondent in his answers, which is why it's useful to provide an "other" option with a textbox, or a “ranking” option (order of importance).

As Mike pointed out, we seldom have a single reason for doing something.
By 1907, only 8 percent of Americans lived in homes served by electricity, nationwide. It was not dispersed super swiftly, because the infrastructure had to be built. Once that was in place, the question was whether you could you afford it. For every new technology, people have to be persuaded that it’s important, to them.


I think one thing that made people really want electricity, nearly as much as lighting, was the radio*, which didn’t become ubiquitous until the 1920s and ‘30s.

From January 16th to February 17th, 1932, an international thriller, intrigued radio audiences everywhere, as they followed the RCMP manhunt for the man called “the Mad trapper of Rat River*” (AKA: Albert Johnson). The saga is credited with “boosting radio, from a curiosity piece, to a place of importance in the news media field. A boom in radio sales, across North America, in early 1932, can be attributed to coverage of the manhunt, with people eager to hear the latest developments in the case.
* ➥ https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2017/02/17/...e-mad-trapper/