Sailboat Battery Charging

Sailboat Battery Charging.

Keeping the batteries charged on your boat is always somewhat of a challenge. On my little boat, I have a pair of solar panels that do a good job keeping the charge up. I also have a smart battery charger I can plug in to shore power.  My wife’s boat has a wind generator, solar panels, and the shore power option that charges the batteries as well as charging from the motor when it is running.  Having a high-output alternator on the engine can be a big help when cruising or living on the hook.  The 110 volt battery charger is also an inverter that will provide a limited amount of 110 volt current when not attached to shore power.

My little boat uses its batteries to run a trolling motor, navigation instruments and lights and a small inverter for AC power. We can both cruise and live on my wife’s larger boat.  If you are cruising or living on your boat, you can use a lot of battery power. Keeping the batteries charged can be challenging.

Check out the Watt & Sea:

The Watt & Sea is a product by e-marine that they call a hydrogenerator, and it can generate a charging current for your batteries as you are under sail. The unit is a fin that is attached to the transom of the boat and is hinged so it can be lowered in to the water when you are underway. It looks much like the lower unit of an outboard motor. The prop on it turns as you are going through the water, and as it turns it generates a charging current. It begins generating power at just 3 knots. It can be raised out of the water when not underway.

It was developed and used on offshore racing boats. The company has now come out with cruising models.

The Watt & Sea unit gives the Sail boater another charging tool to help keep the batteries charged up.