Date: 28 July 2021. Computer Mistake
(off-grid error)
©
janice142
Recently I
was asked what I did wrong when I first bought Seaweed. What items
were mistakes? These are errors I feel most of us have made in one
form or another. It is the "quiet anchorages and life of ease"
fantasy world versus the reality of life afloat. For those of us who
prefer life off the grid, here are some of the changes made during those initial months afloat.
When I first
was contemplating my boat I bought a laptop computer with a DVD
tray. I envisioned long hours watching movies at anchor. Then I
bought a 75 watt solar panel with a Morningstar-10 solar regulator.
Later I upgraded to a
MorningStar ↑ ProStar-30 solar controller.
ROUGH solar
power calculation: At the Florida/Georgia border
(30th latitude North) take your wattage, divide
by 3 and you'll have your average amps per day with the cheapest
solar regulator (not MPPT). So my 75 watt panel generates on average 25Ah
(amp hours) a day of usable power.
My old laptop used 7 amps per hour. Ouch!!! Newer models do require
less power. Still, it is these "little things" that can bring your
power consumption up dramatically. Thus I needed to make a change.
Additionally, the old 15" Toshiba
laptop weighed a lot. I had imagined myself carrying the computer to
shore in a waterproof bag, using it at a coffee shop and generally
being the cool boat-girl. At my age, how silly was that? Well, the
computer was heavy so hauling it to shore was a pain in the transom.
Toting it, along with groceries, laundry and propane back to the
boat was untenable. Basically, if there was a way to mess up the
whole computer aboard a boat thing, I managed to tick every wrong
way to do it.
In my defense, I did drag that
dang computer to a coffee/bagel joint... twice. Because surely it
couldn't have been "that" heavy the first time, so I tried it
once again.
It was too much. The second trip was the last time the laptop left
Seaweed before being shipped to my daughter's house.
The option I chose was to replace the 15" laptop with a Toshiba
netbook that used 15-18 watts (1.5 Ah)
The netbook has a 10" screen. It is perfect for my
desk. I don't want something that takes a lot of space.
You may notice
that the netbook is raised. That is to accommodate a height that
doesn't require me to tilt my head downward. "Posture is important."
Did you hear my Mother telling you that too?!?
So, to make
this long tale shorter, I replaced the heavy power hungry laptop with a netbook that
used 15-18 watts. Now I can use the netbook essentially at will. No
more movies on the 15" screen though...
You see, when first aboard your
vessel unless you are very fortunate your new boat will need things
for life away from a power cord. This is why I strongly suggest that
new boat owners stay at a dock for at least two months in order to
more easily work out kinks where folks (and stores!) are nearby. You
will definitely require both.
Friends can make early
times aboard your vessel great. I met Tessie and Bud Hinckley
(yes, he's one of the Hinckley brothers of Maine boat building fame)
who freely offered advice.
Boat folks like Tessie and Bud aboard the Edge
can provide valuable advice. They were both gems.
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Bud Hinckley along with Chuck from S/V Kairos repaired my Singer221
Featherweight sewing machine. Later Mabe and her sister were
able to find another Featherweight machine which I used to
make the quilt shown below. That *millennial quilt was sewn at
anchor while the wind was blowing. The Air-Breeze wind
generator I purchased from Ken powered the sewing machine.
*In the year 2000,
millennial quilts were all the rage. They were to be made
with 2000 squares of fabric. Mine has just over 1000 different fabric squares.
Boat friends make a world of
difference.
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The Featherweight
↑ Mabe found for me. |
My Utilitarian
quilt with Skipper. |
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What this article is saying in
a rather convoluted fashion is that friends made out here can make a
world of difference. No matter how smart we think we are, mistakes
will occur. Goodness knows I've made more than my fair share of
them.
Choosing a laptop
computer that required so much power as to make it unusable at
anchor was one of the first mistakes I made.
For more details on
starting life aboard a boat, the articles
Boat Search for Beginners (DIY survey)
and
Boat Buying with your New Partner
may be of use to you.
One of the best parts of boating is making new friends. I hope you
meet some great folks too. Thank you for reading.
Did anyone else have a "great idea" purchase for the
boat that turned out to be not-so-wonderful?
And, what was it?
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