So i have this buddy who has a sea ray 34 and just built a new dock on a peice of property on the intercoastal of south Florida, no house no power and his question is how long can he have the boat there without power? I told him he should start and run the boat at least once a week and get damprid's for the inside. is this even possible I have never been without shore power more than a week and that was when I was on the boat in the Bahamas.
No power at new dock
- Thread starter JDHKWH
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- Apr 18, 2003
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I have shore power available to me at my marina, but have yet to use it. My boat has been in the water since April. Long as I use the boat normally there are no problems. However, I have a 23 foot fishing boat with no refrigerators etc pulling down power in the slip. While I'm away for the week or two in between trips only things running are the bilge pumps and CO monitor.
If he shuts off his battery switch, should be able to sit for months with no power. The biggest danger to leaving the boat with no power would be if the boat were to develop a leak or even get overwhelmed with rain. The bilge pump would eventually wear down the batteries and down she would go..
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Many factors are involved here.
It depends on type and size of boat, and how
much DC drain it is using.
Some boats do not get wet on the bilge when raining,
so rain is not a factor for those.
If the stuffing boxes are OK (inboard),
no leaks into the bilge and no DC current
drainage whatsoever, you can get by weeks at a time
without charging the batteries.
On the other hand, there are boats that would deplete
a house battery in less than a week if no shore power
is connected. Indeed there is a problem in the system,
but the battery charger simply masks it.
Having said that, I would never leave a boat in the
water unattended for more than 2 days, shore power
or not.
It depends on type and size of boat, and how
much DC drain it is using.
Some boats do not get wet on the bilge when raining,
so rain is not a factor for those.
If the stuffing boxes are OK (inboard),
no leaks into the bilge and no DC current
drainage whatsoever, you can get by weeks at a time
without charging the batteries.
On the other hand, there are boats that would deplete
a house battery in less than a week if no shore power
is connected. Indeed there is a problem in the system,
but the battery charger simply masks it.
Having said that, I would never leave a boat in the
water unattended for more than 2 days, shore power
or not.
I left my small boat on a mooring for weeks at a time without an issue, but it was clearly wired so only the bilge pump was powered when the battery switches was off, plus it was covered well so rainwater never made it to the bilge.
That said, a mid size cruiser has a dozens of systems and it will take a detailed analysis or measurement of the ciruits to make sure there are no sneak paths. My cuiser has at least three, the impressed current corrosion cicuit, the radio channel memory, and the CO detectors.
That said, a mid size cruiser has a dozens of systems and it will take a detailed analysis or measurement of the ciruits to make sure there are no sneak paths. My cuiser has at least three, the impressed current corrosion cicuit, the radio channel memory, and the CO detectors.
I do not think it would be difficult to add panels to the dock since he is the owner. I get the impression that the boat will sit for a period of time. With that said I would not want to keep to much of a DC load just in case some wisenheimer comes along and cuts the wires; which would drain the batteries and leave the bilge pump useless. With the right battery setup, even that risk can be reduced.
With everything turned off except the pump, it won't take much of a solar panel to keep the batteries hot and run the pump unless it's a real leaker. the CO monitor and "memory circuits" for the clock, stereo etc. are just about negligible; 10 or 20 watts (cheap) should do it. He should be able to find room on the boat for that, and not worry about someone unplugging the boat or cutting wires. The flexible panels can be sewn to the bimini.
The biggest risk is forgetting to turn everything off. One light bulb will kill the batteries.
The biggest risk is forgetting to turn everything off. One light bulb will kill the batteries.