Love the French Islands

[Como No Cruising]

Well, we are still in the Saintes. We are anchored 100 yards to leeward of a bakery that produces the majority of the Baguettes for the island. The aromas that waft over Como No every morning are just sometimes too tempting to resist, so I get in the dinghy and pick up our daily Baguette, fresh out of the oven, plus a few of those wonderful French Pastries. We will have to leave here before we become candidates for Weight Watchers. Actually, our departure is planned for tomorrow, the 14 th. We will set sail towards the northwest end of Guadeloupe, anchoring at Deshaies for the night, a trip of about 35 miles. With any luck it will be a close reach in 15 knots of wind. Depending on weather conditions we may stay for two or three days before heading onwards towards Antigua.
Antigua has a Budget Marine-similiar to West Marine- but not as customer friendly. We purchased a Xantrex Smart Regulator from Budget Marine when we were in Grenada. The unit failed two months later and so far we have gotten a run around from Budget on replacement. We are hoping to meet with some of their management people and sort out the problem. If this were West Marine we could have exchanged it under warranty at one of their agents in Martinique or Dominica. But such is the nature of business in the Caribbean.
Fortunately we had a spare regulator and although it is not a 3 stage and only brings the batteries up to 13.8 Volts, at least it will not fry our expensive AGM batteries. It will get us there.
We have had good winds in the anchorage here and our Four Winds wind gen has been keeping up with all our electrical needs. We also have 3-75 watt solar panels but in fact they are not even needed as long as the wind over the decks stays in the 15 knot range.
I did have to perform a major service on our Wind generator a month ago in St. Lucia. The propellor stopped spinning and was difficult to turn. When I dismantled the unit I found that the front bearing was badly rusted. Fortunately we carry spares so that after cleaning up the armature we installed a new bearing and four new brushes. Back in action again. Over all we have been most pleased with the performance and service of the unit. It is quiet and dependable. We installed the unit in 1998 and it has been in continous service since, has seen us across 3 major oceans and over 30,000 sea miles. Not bad for a mechanical/Electrical device in sea service.
More later, if my posting are not too boring to the other members.

Will La Fleur and the crew of Como No

[Evergreen]

Do you have your solar panels mounted on an arch?

If you have an arch for the panels is the wind generator also on the arch and does it cast a shadow on the panels?

Thanks for your response as we are contemplating such a project.

[Como No Cruising]

We originally installed the Four Winds Generator on the pole mount on the stbd stern. When it came time to install solar panels we simply installed another pole on the port side stern corner and put a cross bar between the two. Two 75 watt panels are mounted on the cross bar. We have another 75 watt panel mounted on a rail that we installed to replace the upper lifelines from the stern rail to the lifeline gate. That panel is easily swapped from side to side as the situation warrants.

Yes, we occasionally have a shading situation with the wind generator. However, it all depends on the anchorage and wind directions. It has not proved to be a major concern.

This past several days in Antigua the wind has been at 15 to 25 knots continous, so we have not wanted for power. As usual, in the Caribbean there is also plenty of sun.

Our set up is not elegant, but it is functional and easy to dismantle and remove if the next owner desires, and will not leave a permanent disfigurement. Not every one uses their vessels as full time live aboards.

I would be happy to post photos if I knew how. But I can put some on a Picassa album and post them for you to view if you would like.

We have internet on board for several more days, so let us know. As soon as the wind and seas abate somewhat we will be sailing towards St. Martin.

Best wishes,
Will and Annie

[Evergreen]

Photos would be great!! If all else fails you can email them.

Thanks so much and have a great sail.