Batteries, laundry and little tugs
26 September 2017 | Annapolis
Cloudy and warm
Last night was the last night for Chris, Julie and their two dogs. Yesterday afternoon was spent looking at new Juneau sailboats, including two 51 footers. Roger spent part of it working with a marina to get new batteries. That evening we ate at Pussers and had painkillers (drink) all around. Back at the boat there were more painkillers, courtesy of Julie. So after that, nothing really hurt anymore.
Tari and I visited another laundromat. Maybe I should be posting picture of all the laundromats we have visited ... or not. Another boater was also there. The mooring ball area emptied out Monday, but it is steadily filling back in again. I was told the boat show is so large, my mooring ball will have a floating dock over it.
Roger was working with a marina on his batteries, which by now were totally on the fritz. Today they had two 8D Lifeline AGM deep cycle batteries installed. That is my battery brand of choice, so I was happy they got those. I lobbied hard for three batteries, but the space for the third battery was not big enough to hold a battery comparable to the 8D batteries. The next step is solar and dingy davits. An arch for the solar is difficult. They have found an example, but now the projects are getting expensive, as were the batteries. And the big boat show is coming here real soon, so marina folks are busy. This whole project is beginning to get him a little discouraged at this point.
To reduce their power draw, they are trying to switch their lights to LED. The tricky lights are the fluorescent lights. The entire fixture had to be replaced. I replaced all my lights last fall to get ready for this trip.
The blog photo shows an interesting solution to a boats power problem. There are several old style sailboats giving tours. This boat does not have any place to put an engine and still keep it authentic looking. So that floating box behind the boat is actually an engine. Sorta like a tug. If they want to turn sharply, they pull on a line at the back of the boat that pulls the tugs stern to one side or the other. So this unmanned little tug pushes and pulls the boat around. I found the whole setup quite humorous to watch.