*L* started Yoga, boat yoga that is!

It’s done, the install of the fabulous craziness is performed. One day of twisting, three hardware store trips. Results: We now have a boat who looks like a kindergarten room, and the kids drunk too much coffee for two days straight. Luckily,  I was on my own and could be has “manly” as I can be _ in this read swear _and of course I learnt by trial and error. The grand inspection from *V* will be Tuesday, I cross my finger that she will not see too much of the trial…

I now can say it out loud who ever said “a contortionist is a necessity on a boat” was right. I didn’t know that half of my body could go under the floor board via the lookout trap, or that my arm could reach places so far that you can only feel the object as if you were blind and above all sometimes a bit of sheer force is needed. Then again, the lack of photo or precise description makes for a short post, doesn’t it! Still intrigued are you?

But don’t fear, my electrical budget generated some great responses and suggestions. Therefore, I reviewed some of the mistakes and am now pleased to update the file. This brings us a lot closer to balance, even after reducing the input from the solar panel. We have a deficit of around 100 Amp per day on passage.

System	In Use	Amps	Avg Hrs	Amp-Hrs
			Per Day	Per Day
Refrigerator		5.0	10.0	50.0
Freezer		2.5	5.0	12.5
Fresh Water Pump		2.5	0.5	1.3
Shower Pump		5.0	0.1	0.5
Appliance		10.0	1.0	10.0
Gas Valve		0.3	3.0	0.9
VHF Radio		1.5	2.0	3.0
GPS/Chartplotter		2.0	24.0	48.0
Radar		4.0	4.0	16.0
Autopilot		8.0	10.0	80.0
Nav Instruments		0.1	24.0	2.4
Running Lights		0.2	12.0	2.4
HF radio		3.0	3.0	9.0
HF radio T		30.0	0.5	15.0
Anchor Light		0.2	12.0	2.4
Cabin Lights		1.0	4.0	4.0
Heater, incl. fans		2.0	2.0	4.0
TV/DVD Player		4.5	0.0	0.0
Radio		3.8	2.0	7.6
Computer		3.0	6.0	18.0
Watermaker pump		2.0	1.0	2.0
Solar Panels (460W)		-30.0	4.0	-120.0
Solar Panels (460W)		-4.0	3.0	-12.0
Solar Panels (460W)		-10.0	3.0	-30.0
Solar Panels (460W)		-15.0	2.0	-30.0
	CONSUMPTION:		Peak Amps:	90.6
			Peak Watts:	1,087.2
			Ah per Day:	289.0
	SUPPLY:		Ah per Day:	-192.0
	Minimum Battery Bank Size:			675
	6V or 12 V Batteries:		12
	Battery AH (20 hr):		250
	# of Batteries:		4
	Amp Hours of Bank:		1,000

And the solutions for that are,

• Increase the size of the alternators on the engine. (need to rewire and messing around with something that work fine)
  
• Set up a second alternator feeding directly the battery bank via a regulator. (the 3YM 30 may not have the bolt needed)
  
• Wind turbine with regulator. (passive system but I am still not 100% confident)
  
• Trawling generator (one more system who we need to look after)
  
• Increase the solar array (space is limited by now)
  
• Bring one more kids on a stationary bike ( might get somehow unreliable with time!)
  

The other question is what type of battery bank and capacity we can get on board without unbalancing the system. Too big and we can’t recharge it fully, too small we don’t have enough. Flooded need maintenance but can take the abuse, AGM passive but more finicky on the charge, the Odyssey pure lead can cook everything due to accepting large Amp directly.

Who said knowledge is the key, I feel that a summary is needed and then I will ask the question to the Man himself : Nigel Calder.

To relax I am going to New Guinea for our 229^th island. Care to join us.

New Guinea, the world’s second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km², is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Geographically it is east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago. Geologically it is a part, equally with Australia, of the continent of Sahul, also known as Greater Australia. The two landmasses became separated when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period. Anthropologically it is considered part of Melanesia. Politically, the western half of the island comprises two Indonesian provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half forms the mainland of the country of Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has a population of about 7.5 million, resulting in a very low population density (8 inh/km²).

New Guinea is differentiated from its drier, flatter, and less fertile southern counterpart, Australia, by its much higher rainfall and its active volcanic geology, with its highest point, Puncak Jaya, reaching an elevation of 4,884 m (16,023 ft). Yet the two land masses share a similar animal fauna, with marsupials, including wallabies and possums, and the egg-laying monotreme, the spiny anteater, or echidna. Other than bats and some two dozen indigenous rodent genera, there are no pre-human indigenous placental mammals. Pigs, several additional species of rats, and the ancestor of the New Guinea Singing Dog were introduced with human colonization.

The human presence on the island dates back at least 40,000 years to the oldest human migrations out of Africa. Research indicates that the highlands were an early and independent center of agriculture, with evidence of irrigation going back at least 10,000 years. Given the time depth of its inhabitation and its highly fractured landscape, an unusually high number of languages are spoken on the island, with some 1,000 tongues (a figure higher than that of most continents) having been catalogued out of an estimated world-wide pre-Columbian total of 6,000 human dialects. Most are classified as Papuan languages, a generally accepted geographical term which a minority of authors hold to be a genetic one. A number of Austronesian languages are spoken on the coast and on offshore islands.

In the 16th century Spanish explorers discovered the island and called it Nueva Guinea. In recent history western New Guinea was included in the Dutch East Indies colony. The Germans annexed the northern coast of the eastern half of the island as German New Guinea in their pre–World War I effort to establish themselves as a colonial power. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the German portion was awarded to Australia (which had already claimed the southeast, named the Territory of Papua) as a League of Nations mandate. The eastern half of the island was granted independence from Australia as Papua New Guinea in 1975. The western half gained independence from the Dutch in 1961, but became part of Indonesia soon afterwards in controversial circumstances.

That what I may look like, if I don’t find an answer soon