The adventurers of Krabat

When sailing (with no engine use) for days on end the battery state of charge becomes a pre-occupation. Powering all the instruments (plotter, wind, depth, speed), VHF radio, AIS, lights, SSB radio, fresh water pump, Auto Pilot, Fridge, charging of Sat phone & iPads etc 24 hours a day, not to mention running the water maker for a couple of hours a day, takes a lot of power so the batteries need to be monitored and charged accordingly.
On Krabat we have six large solar panels mounted on the Bimini which, on bright sunny days (and provided they are not in shadow from the sails, radar etc), produce the bulk of our needs but, of course, they are only producing during the day time and, at this Latitude, that is 12 hours a day.
The solar panels are supplemented by a hydro-generator (a device hung on the back of the boat with a propeller in the water) to produce power by the action of the boat moving through the water. It however, produces much less charging current than the solar but itâs big advantage is that it produces 24/7 so is great at keeping on top of things especially at night.
Between them, these two systems are generally capable of keeping up with our demands however what I didnât expect was quite so much floating seaweed and this of course gets wrapped around the hydro-generator propeller rendering it ineffective (and also causing excessive vibration). I therefore have to lift it out of the water and clear the weed on a regular basis which is OK during the day but too risky at night so if there is a lot of weed at night I cannot deploy it at all. We therefore have no battery charging at night so the batteries become pretty depleted by morning time. If this happens then we hope for a bright day so the solar panels can recover them to full/nearly full charge. On a dull day there maybe insufficient charge and I have to resort to running the engine for an hour or so but, so far, I have only had to do that once.

Comments

Vessel Name:	Krabat
Vessel Make/Model:	Malö 39
Hailing Port:	Poole UK
Crew:	Bill Tee & Moira Shaw
About:	Mad people!
Extra:	The story of "Krabat" When we purchased the boat, she was already named "Krabat". Our research revelled that Krabat is a children's fantasy novel written by Otfried Preußler, a German-speaking author born in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). The book was first published in 1971. The [...] English translation first was published as The Satanic Mill from 1972 to 1991, then republished in 2000 as The Curse of the Darkling Mill, in 2011 as Krabat and in 2014 as Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill. The book deals primarily with black magic and the lure of evil. Other themes include friendship, love, and death. It won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (Prize for Literature for Young People) in 1972. Set in the early 17th century, the story follows the life of Krabat, a 14-year old beggar boy. For three consecutive nights, he is called through a dream to a watermill in a nearby village. Upon heeding the call and arriving at the mill, he begins his apprenticeship as a miller’s man. He soon joins the secret brotherhood, composed of journeymen, and discovers that the skill he is meant to learn through this apprenticeship is Black Magic. Other peculiarities of this watermill include the lack of any outside visitors, including farmers who would have brought corn. The only visitor to the mill is one Goodman, who may be the devil. Tonda, Krabat’s best friend and older brother figure, dies ostensibly of an accident on New Year’s Eve in Krabat’s first year at the mill. Krabat’s suspicions of foul play are further reinforced when another journeyman and friend, Michal, dies the following New Year’s Eve. He soon realizes that the master is bound in a pact to the Goodman: the master must sacrifice one journeyman every year on New Year’s Eve in exchange for his powers. Wishing to take revenge for his friends’ death, Krabat secretly trains to increase his magical strength so he can fight the master. His quest is aided by a girl from the nearby village, whose name is never mentioned. Her task is to distinguish Krabat from the rest of the journeymen, all dressed identically and standing motionless in a lineup. Ultimately, she rescues Krabat from death, and they and the journeymen escape the mill. The master is left to die in the burning mill on New Year’s Eve. Krabat - the protector of travelers....... More

Krabat's Photos - Main

Tongariro Alpine Walk

18 Photos

Created 10 January 2020

The adventurers of Krabat

Power generation

Krabat anchored Herm, Channel Islands