1) Understanding your energy needs is essential to determine how much solar you need. Start by making an "energy budget". List all your consumers and their daily usage. For example, if your LED lights use 1W per bulb and you have eight bulbs on for 5 hours a day, that would be 8 Watts for 5 hours or (8x5) 40 Wh (Watt hours). I like to use kWh to keep things consistent. 40 Wh = 0.040 kWh. It's a good idea to list what you're using while at anchor and another list of what you're using while underway (for instance, you don't use your autopilot at anchor). Remember to list everything: fridge, freezer, watermaker, autopilot, nav lights, chart plotters, etc. For example, here aboard Athena, with an electric galley, fridge, freezer, watermaker, two computers, etc, we use an average of 5.5 kWh per day. 2) To give you a quick estimate, use https://globalsolaratlas.info/ to find "Global horizontal irradiation" per day for your location. Take your daily energy consumption from step 1 and divide that by the number of solar hours. In the case of Athena, located in the Caribbean, that would be 5.5kWh per day / 5 sun hours = 1.1 kW solar array. Keep in mind that this is a theoretical number that does not take into account the shading or degradation of the panels over time. Let's add 30%. 1.1 x 1.3 = 1.43 kW. You can now divide that number by the panel's Nominal Power output. In the case of Athena, our panels are 400W SunPower panels. 1430W / 400W = 3.6 panels needed to cover our 5.5 kWh per day consumption. 3) Understand that the amount of solar you can install on a small sailboat is limited by the size of the boat and heavily influenced by shading and, of course, the boat's location. The size of the panels might also be defined by the height of your stanchions or the size of an existing solar arch. Figure out where you're able and willing to install panels. That will dictate the size and number of panels. 4) Use Victron Energy's MPPT Calculator to calculate what MPPT is ideally sized for your solar panels and expected output based on location. Based on our experience in the Caribbean, the estimate provided by the guide is reasonable. https://www.victronenergy.com/mppt-calculator. Remember that it's best practice to avoid combining panels with different specs on the same MPPT. #sailboat #sailboatproject #boatwork #saillife #liveaboard #liveaboardlife #saltlife #sailing #sailingadventure #travel ingcouple #livingonaboat #solar #sailboatsolar

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Tribute to Mama Piru. «An incredible woman and ambassador of the Race for Water foundation left us. I met Mama Piru during our first odyssey in May 2015 when we came to study the marin plastic wastes on the Island of the Rapa Nui. She quickly opened her doors and gave her trust. She is a leader who dedicated her life to preserve the heritage, the culture and the environment of the Island. An engaging person, animated by a strength and faithless. She fought everyday to improve the Rapa Nui conditions. She stand for her people in front of the United Nations and the brought together people. Mama Riu will stay in our heart forever. What a joy to have met her and gain her trust. A heartfelt thanks to you, Mama Piru. » Marco Simeoni. The Race for Water Foundation is dedicated to the preservation of the water and the oceans in particular. Today, seriously under threat from plastic pollution, it is imperative that this essential resource for life is protected.To prevent plastic waste from reaching the waterways and oceans by developing social models and business models that give value to plastic waste and hence encourage its collection. Follow the odyssey : → Website : https://www.raceforwater.org/ → Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/raceforwaterfoundation/ → Twitter : https://www.twitter.com/RaceForWater → Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/raceforwater

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Palm and Sun

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Bali Catamarans launched 10 years ago with some innovative design features like the aft tilting door and solid foredeck. ▫️ They continue their successful growth as one of the big 3 manufacturers with a range that includes the 38' Catsmart all the way up to the flagship 5.8 which was launched this year. A real achievement in just over a decade. They are not afraid to try new ideas, many of which have been "adapted" by other manufacturers over the years. ▫️ Do you have a favourite model? ▫️ #sailing #catamarans #yachts @BaliCatamarans

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