Chrysler Sailors Forum

I'm sliding this over to a new post from summer Vacation. HP18carr wanted to know some of the changes we've made to make the boat more comfortable for longer term cruising.
My wife and I along with our 3 year son are on our second summer vacation. Some of the changes/additions we have made to the HotDot for longer term cruising are: new and thicker berth cushions (these are a must!), 3-50 watt solar panels to run the waeco/dometic 50qt refrigerator (must have cold beverages for a quality experience!), 30 gallon built-in water tank with 3-7 gallon reserve tanks in an under cockpit "corral" (daily cockpit showers are a necessity), cockpit Bimini with open mesh screens that attach with Velcro to block the afternoon sun, 16 gallons of gas, 3-12 volt outlets to plug fans and devices into for charging, effective hatch and cockpit screens to keep out the bugs, 2 tillerpilots (they have a reputation for going bad just when you really need them), 2 different anchors, a bruce and a CQR plow on a single anchor line (sounds weird but works well), effective roller furling for the jib and a reefing setup for the main, and real cockpit cushions (ours use the same cushion material as life vests so they can double as a large throwable if necessary). But the most important thing we have is a good sense of humor.
We are currently into our 6th week aboard the boat and are loving it

Good info. Love the blog too. Fort Jefferson is certainly top of my bucket list !!

Thanks for the information I can't help but feel envious (LOL) of those who can spend weeks at a time on their sailboats. I'm sure your young son may not realize it yet, but he is living a life most of us only dream of... in the future (and now) he will thank you for it.

Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26' 1980
Pandora (for now)

That it super sweet!

Where did you mount your solar panels?

Where is your built in water tank?

How about some pics of your bimini and side curtain arrangement?

We've not gone the refrigerator route, instead we have a 2 cooler system. One for drinks, and the other for food. That way the food cooler only gets opened once or twice a day.

So far the longest I have spent on my 26 was 14 days and I also use the 2 cooler system and wish I could spend more time but that nasty thing called work gets in the way. I do go to work from the boat and back to boat but swmbo gets upset.

This is a link to the HotDot at ligmun Vitae Key near Islamorada Florida. You can see the bimini with screens (the screens are meant to give some protection from the sun) and the solar panels. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimlesakaelin/7402242062/ Currently were setting at Cayo Costa State Park near Boca Grande waiting out an afternoon rainstorm.

Nice setup. I mounted my solar panel to the sliding hatch. There's room for 2, so I might end up adding one, although I'll probably relocate the battery and add a second one first.

I am soooo envious of your location. Have a great time.

Great pics

Good work James How did you do refrigeration and battery banks? I have my present solar panel on the stern pulpit and the other 2 will go on the bimini.

Thanks for the nice comments. Fort Jefferson was a week 10 days ago. I keep losing track of our days. My solar panels feed into a charge controller then into 2 deep cell (gp29 Walmart ( actually Johnson controls made in USA)) batteries. I have a perko a/b switch with A as a single deep cycle and B as a 2 battery deep cycle. This trip I have kept the switch on "all" so really I have 3 batteries for the charge/discharge cycles. The fridge actually pulls very little juice. We were in Marathon stuck because of tropical depression Debby in June for 2 weeks, and the batteries held up fine. I'll try to take some pictures soon of the solar panel arrangement and inside. A quick thought about solar panels on the Bimini top: There are times we needed to be able to close and cover the Bimini (during the gulf crossing for speed, many times when we were anchored in poor holding and a storm seemed to be coming (trying to reduce my windage) so if you put panels there make sure you can remove them easily if necessary. I really need to label the pictures, but 100 36 is Garrison Bight in key West. HotDot has a 3 gallon Nissan tank tucked into the starboard side of the lazerrate in chocks, a 6 gallon metal tank in chocks crosswise again in the lazzerate and we carry 3-2 gallon jugs in the cockpit locker. its a tight fit but it works and leaves me room of the 2-cycle oil.

Where do you have your batteries mounted? What brand solar?

All of my batteries and switches are under the starboard settee. The solar panels are 6-7 years old, 2 are BP solar, and one is a Siemens. All are 50 watt. The charge controller is on the backside of the galley, I believe its a Sunsei brand. I have been very impressed with the performance of the panels. If I were a rich man I would put a system on my house. As we have cruised we really appreciate the lack of noise, we find we actually look for boats with wind generators so we can anchor far away from them!