Anyone have a Watt and Sea generator

[tomfl]

Tried a search but not much turned up.

I am looking a t a boat that has one but my experience has only been with solar panels; which I have been very happy with.

I have a couple of friends with wind generators; but as I told Orville and Wilber 'too many moving parts, you will never get that thing off the ground'.

Thing is when on a passage the nav electronics and sometimes AP need power and often with the sail up on some courses the solar panels don't always generate enough power.

So is the Watt and Sea generator in particular and hydrogenerators in general offer any type of solution.

[a64pilot]

I don’t have one, nor experienced one, maybe my post will bump the thread.

I know race boats run them, it seems most do, but of course maybe that is because of how fast they go?

I theorize most cruisers don’t based largely on most cruisers don’t spend nearly as much time actually underway as opposed to say in an anchorage

[boom23]

I had the first generation Watt & Sea hydrogenerator on my previous boat (Lagoon 450). It was kind of a pain...

It does work, but you need to plan well. Here are some things you need to pay attention to:

Install it so that it is easy to lower & raise, and to remove (if you do not plan to leave it there permanently) . Once the boat is moving, it is difficult to lower it all the way. You should not back up with it in the water. Finally, you need to keep checking if the propeller caught any trash. If it did, you need to raise it to clean it, which means you'll have to stop the boat.

You need to get the correct propeller for the average speeds you'll be cruising.

The power cable was coming off the side of the hydrogenerator. As the hydrogenerator moves while sailing, the cable got cut at the exit hole as it kept bending at the same spot. I had to run a new wire but this time I made a new hole at the top of the unit (plastic area). It did not affect the lifting operation and the cable was not bending at the exit hole. I do not know if the current hydogenerators have fixed this problem.

The propeller makes noise. If your bunk, while sailing, is close to the hydrogenerator, it can get very annoying.

Get the highest wattage you can afford. They don't produce much as it depends on your cruising speed, unless you have a fast boat.

That's what I can remember. I did not care for it because it was a pain to handle, and it was only useful during crossings. On my current boat, my batteries can run everything I need all night.

Racers love it because they are constantly moving at high speeds.

I would get a D400 wind generator instead.

[tomfl]

Found this vid, they seem happy. Any other thoughts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzmHhwUI-V4

[WindyIles]

We have a Watt & Sea 300W Cruising version bought in 2016...and frankly it has never worked for us beyond early signs of life (since extinct), and I haven't been able to find anyone professional or otherwise experienced with them to diagnose the problem. We have a D400 Wind Gen too, so I guess this has moved down my priority fix list!
The charge controller is very good and also takes the feed from our small 120W solar panel and keeps the batteries topped up very well when moored on a calm day...so I know that works! I suspect the usual bad connections or voltage drop in the cable run from the transom to the charge controller, however testing it is impossible while sailing (need to do the sailing!) and impossible when not sailing too (need hull speed of 6kts and no engine charging...). I am planning to recruit a friend to drive the W&S prop shaft with an electric drill if possible while we're tied up safe in order to test it.
I guess the problem with having all three non-carbon generators and an engine alternator means it is hard to isolate any one charging source in normal operation!
Any wizard ideas most welcome please?! Thanks, Richard

[Freshly Hooked]

I have a W&S and produces lots of passage power. But it took me a lot of time to get dialed in. But now it’s working great and as long as I’m at 6 knots or more Im making some power and above 8 knots I’m producing lots. If you have questions with set up or troubleshooting feel free to ask I would be happy to help!

[lifgun]

I use a W&S 600 since 35000 nm and it works great - a service after 30 K nm was made and I also did some improvements at the bracket and hinges...

[Follow Me]

I have a new Watt & Sea hydro generator for sale. 600W short leg (610mm) with 4 propellers (280mm/240mm/200mm/high-speed adjustable pitch).

Equipment has been used for 2 hours only (I temporarily mounted to my F-27 trimaran to measure the output; needed the data for a research project).

Output @ 10 knots measured at 40 amps.
Cost to buy new: over $8,000.
Offered at $4,000. In original box.
Location: Florida.
More pictures available

[gallatin1988]

https://morganscloud.com posted a review of them in the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I think the article is behind a paywall. IMHO, though, Attainable Adventure Cruising (aka morganscloud.com) is probably the best sailing website on the internet and worth every penny.


I think they're basic take was that unless you have a fast boat that can maintain a speed > ~7kts and you sail relatively long long distances without stopping then they utility was questionable.

[wholybee]

I think one would be a good fit for me. I have as much solar as I can fit on my boat, and plenty of power while at anchor. But while underway, with all of my instrumentation on and my autopilot running, I fall short. I don't need a lot of power, just a little bit so my batteries are not drawn down so much overnight. The claimed 5A at 4 knots would be 120Ah over 24 hours, and plenty enough.

[bergius]

We went with a SailingGen hydrogenerator as the second renewable source on top of solar. Not as fancy as the Watt&Sea, but more affordable, and fits right under our windvane on the same bracket. For the power we get out of it, I couldn’t justify paying the Watt&Sea prices.



We only deploy it when sailing consistently above 5kt. That’s when it already covers most of our base load, and at 6kt plus boat speed, it actually charges the batteries. When the wind is right, it is a nice feel to have a higher state of charge after an overnight passage than when we started it!

The decision was made after quite extensive data analysis. Solar is by far the most cost-effective power source, but if you sail a lot (and especially if you have a fast boat, which we don’t), hydrogenerator is a nice addition.



Graph above is average Wh generated per day in a given month. We added the hydrogenerator for the 2023 cruise.

[Fuss]

I have a 60a 24v propshaft alternator that puts out amps from 4.5kts. The reasons to do this a few years back was , fixed prop, hydraulic gearbox so prop cannot be locked off, gearbox able to handle side loads, slow revving 2200 rpm motor.
This produces from 4.5kts, it seems similar to the watt & sea output specs.
The other good thing is that it also can be run when motoring sort of like a backup alternator, to either add to the other alternators output or provide redundancy.
At 4.5kts its up and down as its on the edge of producing or not so this seems to F up the battery monitor that thinks nothing is happening, but 12 hrs later it seems to have added capacity but the monitor does not seem to see that. Once up over 5kts, the monitor reports amps going in.

a bit crazy but V reliable.

[Hiva Oa]

I have one of the older 500W versions. About 10 years old and never serviced. Output dropped off recently to like 5 amps at 7 knots. Prop does not turn easily and the cost to send back to France is not worth it. I will/would replace as it kept batteries full on passage.

[Na Mara]

There is a another model of hydrogenerator that is the same output as the Watt and Sea 300 but that is much easier to use. Deploy before departure and then forget about it. The Finnish Remoran.

https://remoran.eu/wave3.html

It was the faff of using the Watt and Sea that put me off the idea. This unit is pretty much faff free so maybe one of these is in my future. I sail at 6-7 knot averages over average legs of 60 nm every 3-4 days or so. That equates to about 350Wh of generation per day on average, which is about the same as a 100W panel. Its an expensive way of generating electricity on average, but very useful underway.

[Networker]

Originally Posted by Follow Me

I have a new Watt & Sea hydro generator for sale. 600W short leg (610mm) with 4 propellers (280mm/240mm/200mm/high-speed adjustable pitch).

Equipment has been used for 2 hours only (I temporarily mounted to my F-27 trimaran to measure the output; needed the data for a research project).

Output @ 10 knots measured at 40 amps.
Cost to buy new: over $8,000.
Offered at $4,000. In original box.
Location: Florida.
More pictures available

I doubt it’s still available, but if so, I’d buy it.