Prioritising Solar Over Shore Power: Setting Up Our Victron System An electricity bill from the marina prompted a real question: why is Paikea drawing power from shore when there’s a full lithium bank and a growing solar array sitting mostly unused on the roof? Flipping the default relationship As standard, the boat’s electrical system worked […]
Prioritising Solar Over Shore Power: Setting Up Our Victron System Read More »
Emergency Lamination: Fixing Paikea’s Solar Arch Before Shayne Leaves Antigua, weeks out from hurricane season, and Shayne’s just been asked to help deliver a Gunboat 68 from the Caribbean to France. Paikea stays put — Anna and the kids will be aboard her the whole time he’s away. Before he leaves, one job that’s been
Emergency Lamination: Fixing Paikea’s Solar Arch Before Leaving on a Gunboat 68 Delivery Read More »
Making a Solar Bracket and Leaving Cadiz Three days to build a new solar mounting frame from scratch, before a weather window slams shut and Paikea’s first real open-ocean passage begins. How the old frame broke The original solar frame took damage from something every liveaboard sailor eventually experiences: an anchor that didn’t hold. Riding
Making a Solar Bracket and Leaving Cadiz Read More »
Adding a 24-Volt System to a 30-Year-Old Catamaran We bought a boat with no working electrics at all. Three years later, we’re about to more than triple our usable power — and change the entire voltage of the boat to do it. When we got Paikea, “electrical system” was generous. The batteries held a charge
Why We Chose a 24-Volt System for Our Catamaran Read More »
