The first significant tie is broken! We are running under our own electrical power! Late this summer, we mounted our new solar panels, and for the first time this week, we are running totally on power from the sun. It is such a good feeling to be out of the water, and we don't have to plug into shore power.

Our 3 Kyocera solar panels are capable of running 235 Watts each, for a total of 705 Watts. Last night, we really put things to the test . . . we had after-dinner guests over for drinks. Most lights were on throughout the boat, as well as in the cockpit. The stereo was playing through the speakers to the cockpit, and the kids were watching a movie on TV in the main salon.

Over this next week, we will be paying special attention to our power consumption to see how well we can manage our power. Later this week, we're supposed to get a couple of cloudy days . . . we'll see how that goes!