Making Progress of the Dodger....

Thanks again to Mike D. for coming over the other night and cutting out the windows on the dodger. A big job made to look easy when a pro steps in...  After we fitted the windows we cut the solar panels to accommodate the wiring.  Sadly some of the primer got scratched when we were working...  I am wondering if I didn't let it cure long enough before we touched it...  Why can't paint cans put all that info on them?  The only instruction was "leave overnight between coats"...  Oh well...  Today I touched up all the scratches and pre-drilled for the 12" grab bars I will install after the final paint is applied...  As soon as all the work is done on this dodger, we will be storing in Mike's storage shop for the winter and install it on the boat when we bring it back from Rochester in the spring...

The very last project we will undertake before we leave will be to replace the 4, five year old 6 volt deep cycle Trojan house batteries.  We plan to replace them with the same kind but this time a bank of 6 batteries instead of 4. this should give us just over 600 amp. hours of house batteries.  In addition we have 2 starting batteries, and a single battery bank for the windlass.  To keep that all charged we will have 400 watts of solar over 4 panels (2 x120w. & 2 x 60w.), (plus an extra 40 watt panel dedicated to the windlass bank) and our awesome wind generator for the days that the sun doesn't shine... Last summer when we were on our shakedown cruise we lasted 5 days on the hook, never once starting the engine or generator, all the while never dropping below 12.4 volts on the house batteries...  After adding the 2 solar panels this winter and the 2 extra batteries in the spring we hope that we will be able to sustain our power needs without running the engine or generator...  Here's to hoping!