wind or solar for coastal cruising

[faraway]

I have a cd30b and over the next 4 years will only be able to make short coastal trips one to two weeks. (Fl,Ga,SC east coast)

Which would be best for this type of cruising, a wind gen or a solar panel?

I have normal lighting, a refrig that draws 4amp and two water pumps that draw 3amp in addition to normal radio, and nav equipment,(GPS, WIND, Depth and auto pilot)

I have a 184amp house bank and a 92 amp cranking bank.

input please

[Russell]

I have both on my boat, and if only could have one I would go with solar. It provides power more consistantly, especially if your going to be sailing that far north and out of the trades a wind generator isnt going to give you a ton of power. Just dont skimp on the panels, fit as much as you can, though you may have to get creative with mounting.

[MarcMcCarron]

On a CD30 where does one put a large solar panel?
Mine came with one mounted on the side (along the lifelines)
and it didn't look too pretty. I have a CD30K and the wind gen
in mounted on the mizzen mast. Think about glass mat batteries
for the future (I purchased Sears Platinum Marine 31 series) - they
charge at a quicker pace. Think about this - if you have wind the wind gen will give you plenty of current, if you don't have wind you'll be running the engine and charging your batteries.

[Boyd]

I suggest you read the most recent copy of Practical Sailor. They evaluate the real life output of various wind generators.

Here is another interesting idea.

http://www.duogen.co.uk/

Boyd
s/v Tern
CD30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

[Sea Owl]

There are a number of places on the web I have seen that talk about calculating your power 'budget' - that is, how many amps you will draw with what equipment on your boat if you turned everything on. This will help you figure out how many solar panels you really need/how big of a wind gen and which has any real advantage, if any.

Now, I am certainly not a nautical expert - more like a novice, but I am an electrical engineer. I believe calculating power has even been discussed on this site - use the search capabilty to take advantage of the folks that ARE nautical experts. Once you know what kind of power draw in amps you are feeding, you can better size your power source.

[Maine Sail]

I have an 80 watt Siemens panel mounted on my dinghy davits and the performance has been very, very good. I regularly see outputs of 4.5+/- amps. My one suggestion would be to add more amp hours to your house bank. Somewhere in the 250 range would certainly be better as you never want to draw down below 50% and 250 would give you 125 amp hours per day.

Wind generators are not as reliable as solar plus they are very loud and somewhat obnoxious. The guy on the boat nest to me has one and it drives us insane when were trying to relax on our mooring... Solar = reliable and quiet..

Here's a picture of my set up..

[img]http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/image/79648075.jpg[/img]

[Joe CD MS 300]

I'm not familiar with your new boat. After 20+ years of looking at Soundings ads, searching the internet, going to boat shows I don't recall coming across the make of your new boat. What sold you on her? Did she come with the Rocna or did you upgrade from the Manson Supreme?

[SPIBob]

I went through the wind vs. solar deliberation several years ago. I opted for solar because of simplicity and reliability. Mounting was the challenge.

After several sessions of sitting in the cockpit or standing in the companionway and staring at the open spaces in the aft area of the boat (I hope my neighbors weren't watching), I decided to go with a rigid, thin-walled anodized aluminum tubing bimini/solar panel frame. I had them fabricated by a local craftsman who usually makes towers and bimini frames for fishing boats.

I was surprised at how light the frame is. It weighs about the same or slightly less than my stainless steel folding bimini frame.

I went for rigid mounting for the panels---two Shell 75 watt ones---rather than moveable ones, again for simplicity.

It has worked very well and I love having the sturdy handholds it provides. Though some might deride it as a "roll bar" for a boat (it's actually more of a roll cage), I rank it as one of the best improvements I've made to the boat. Here's a pic:
[img]http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa12 ... C_0051.jpg[/img]

[Maine Sail]

Our new boat is a Canadian Sailcraft 36. We were looking for a high quality boat that was heavily built and also a boat in bristol condition. Our CS fit both of those bill perfectly. There are very few CS36's in New England and I think ours may be one of the only ones in Maine. She was designed by Ray Wall of Camper Nicholson fame and built to very high standards. She is quite heavy for a fin keeler displacing 16,000 lbs which is nearly the same as the CD36 and while not as traditional looking as a CD she still has striking lines and a nice sheer.....

Yes I purchased a Rocna and upgraded from my Manson. Not that I had any problems with the Manson, and it's still a great anchor that's head and shoulders better than the competition, it's just that the Rocna is constructed much better. Performance has been about the same because they both set 100% of the time and I've yet to have a non-set, drag or a pull out with a Manson or the Rocna..