Warning… Sailors are showing signs of withdrawal symptoms!
- Increased sensitivity to pain
- Restlessness and insomnia
- Flu-like symptoms: weakness, body aches
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
Yes, that pretty well describes us! We haven’t been sailing in 7 weeks. If we don’t do something about this soon, our heads will look like that rock in the featured image! With the amount of jobs we had to do on the boat since our return from cruising, it has been all work and no play. The weather has not been cooperating either. We are feeling like two addicts in need of a fix!
By now we would normally have made a number of weekend runs from Port Albert to Wilson’s Promontory with friends on board, but this summer has been rather difficult, pricey and disappointing from a sailing point of view. However thank goodness a change is coming.
Wade and boat building friend Chris Guthrie have tackled the last of the maintenance with the installation of the lithium battery bank, and correcting a badly wired amp meter and isolator switch (from a previous owner). The installation of the lithium batteries was a little more involved than just replacing AGMs with lithium, as these are very sensitive to being over or under-charged and thus a battery management system needed to be connected.
Another big thing the guys did at the end of last week was to move Take It Easy out of the Gippsland Lakes to Port Albert, 90 miles down the coast – a 14 hour motor-sail at night with an unpleasant sea. The boys made it in just before a big weather change and Wade dived on the swing mooring for its annual safety check. So not only have we now got significantly more power on board, but we think there is less chance that Take It Easy will go for a little sail all by itself when we are not watching! We hope! By the end of the day, shortly after I joined the guys on board, a large storm drenched us. It was a spectacular welcome!
Storm brewing over Port Albert
Last sunrays before dark
We won’t be on the Port Albert mooring for long, mind you… Easter is coming and we have a 10 day adventure planned around the Bass Strait Islands, accompanied by our dear friend Sue. Stay tuned for the Easter Cruise posts! As a way of managing our withdrawal symptoms, and getting our minds off the boat maintenance chores, we are looking at our collection of photos from last summer. Here are a few of the rocks and islands we expect to visit shortly. Click on the first image to display in full screen slide show.
Sv-Anui 
Love Skull Rock – weird!
Yes from that side angle it really looks like a skull with the eye sockets and the bridge of the nose
How much of a boost do you get from the Lithium Ion batteries over the lead acid? I imagine there’s a lot of weight savings. What happens if they get wet?
Hi Fred & Mary – roughly speaking lithiums weigh about 1/3 less than AGMs. You get also about 1/3 more useable amps. It’s often said that if you want to replace a 600amp AGM battery, you can do it with a 400amp lithium.
They are sealed, and can be put on their side, but no battery likes to be immersed in water!
The downside is that you can easily destroy your lithium by overcharging or flattening so it’s important to install a management system capable of automatically disconnecting the battery from loads and charges if needed.
We got our complete system from http://www.evpower.com.au. Lots of good information there if you want to find out more… we are still learning!
1 week to go, can hardly wait to see Bass Strait again, should be fun, with great company. TIE all powered up too
Let’s hope the weather is kind to us and the gear works!!
I hope you get your addiction fix soon Chris, sounds like a great 10 days of sailing for you guys. I hope the weather is great, the winds in your favour and you get some spectacular shots.
Hope so too Leanne! Can’t wait!
Cool that you’ve got new batteries, and lithium ones at that! How did the price compare with AGMs? Be interested to hear how they work out for you. Read an article by Nigel Calder where he was all excited about them, so be fun to hear your experiences!
Happy sailing in the Bass Strait Islands!
Hi Ellen & Seth! In November 2012 we bought 400amp of AGMs – $1500. A year 1/2 later a spot light turned itself on (faulty switch) while we were away and left on for a couple of weeks, flattening the batteries. We recharged them but they never were the same! February 2015 we bought 480amp of lithium – $4600 plus battery monitoring system $325. Got everything from http://www.evpower.com.au – Lots of information on the site. We’ll let you know how it all goes… It’d better be the bee’s knees (Australian for super good!)
That is quite an increase in price, but from reading that article by Calder I think they must be the bee’s knees (that’s American, too!) Bummer about the light flattening the AGMs—no, they wouldn’t be the same after that…. You’re not supposed to get them below a 50%DOD and I think 75% is better (learned from experience…). Oh well, now you should have something pretty awesome 🙂
Hope so – will keep you posted!
A really great read Chris – wishing you safe sailing soon 😃
Beautiful scenery!
Thanks Robyn- can’t wait to sail and I use the new camera! Lots and of ND photo opportunities and sea birds coming up!