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Key2Cay · 01-11-2022, 08:03

Good morning all. I joined to harness all the experiences and knowledge this forum has to offer. My wife and I bought our waterfront lot in Oriental, North Carolina in 2019. The village boasts a population of 850 people, no traffic lights, and over 3,000 boats (mostly sailboats). With great access to the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound, this town is a sailor's dream. In March 2020, I left the Northern Virginia lifestyle and moved to our house full-time until I retired later that summer. My wife, Carole, joined me full-time in 2021.

We own two boats now. The first is a 2020 WorldCat 230DC "Pandemic Edition". I refer to it as the Pandemic Edition as we took ownership the weekend that the NC governor was shutting the state down for COVID-19. As new boat owners, we had a plan for getting help from a friend to help us learn the basics of boating. Now, with the country shut down we found ourselves with a boat on a trailer and have never launched or operated our boat on our own. So what do you do? YouTube "How to Launch a Boat". It worked and we managed to get the boat in the water and to our house on our own. Since then we have put over 300 hours on our Cat including an adventure this past June that included over 550 miles in the Bahamas.

Our latest addition is a 1987 Albin 36 trawler that we purchased in July. We had a thorough survey done on the Cummins 6BT engine as well as the boat with the full intention of re-fitting the boat's systems with new technology. The boat's systems screamed the latest and greatest of the 1990s. I started in the saloon but quickly found myself in the bilge. After months of work and some really nasty jobs, we have new black and gray holding tanks; all new hoses; cleaned and painted bilge; new batteries; and the absence of miles of dead wires and old technology. Our plans are bold, but we want a cruiser that will offer us the modern comforts of extended cruising to Florida and the Bahamas in the chilly winters of North Carolina. I have built a house battery bank of 1,400 Ah of LFP batteries. I am designing a full electrical system using Victron Energy components to charge the batteries with solar power as well as the engine and shore power. The galley will be all-electric including an induction cooktop and microwave/convection oven. To remain connected we will have high-speed internet using Starlink while on the water. For our navigation needs, we will use Garmin products since that's what we have on our Cat. I joke we bought a $50K boat; are investing $75K into it, and might have a $75K boat in the end.

I'm looking forward to the experiences we can learn from the members of the forum. I'm sure many will consider our venture a little crazy, but that's how we roll.

Cheers!

GreenWave · 01-11-2022, 08:33

Awesome stuff Tom. So many questions that I could ask you. Let's start with- what Lithiums did you go with and what does the charge circuit look like?

Key2Cay · 01-11-2022, 11:02

After many hours of YouTube and questions with other builders, I ended up building my own batteries. I used grade A EVE280 Ah cells (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CZ14741) and combined them in battery boxes sold by EEL (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09X343Y4Y). The assembly takes about 15 to 20 minutes per battery. Each box includes a 200A battery management system (BMS). I am going to link the five batteries together in parallel with 4/0 cables in a box that I have built to contain the cells and clamp them from the top. I am still in the installation process. I am still working with an ABYC-certified electrician on the final system design. More to come!

clamshack · 01-11-2022, 12:52

Hi Tom,

Did we run into you at Hurricane Boatyard in July? We had our Beneteau sailboat hauled out for some work. I think you were looking for a place to do the same later this year.

**Adelie** · 01-11-2022, 12:53

Welcome to CF.

Key2Cay · 01-11-2022, 15:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by clamshack

Hi Tom,

Did we run into you at Hurricane Boatyard in July? We had our Beneteau sailboat hauled out for some work. I think you were looking for a place to do the same later this year.

That was me . . . I'm planning on hauling it later this month for some bottom and thru-hull maintenance. Where are you located?