November 1. Happy Birthday Mom.

Today finds us as the only boat anchored in Factory Creek, SC. We’re not going anywhere for a few days as we’ve got some boat chores to do.

When Christy’s cousin Cindy and her husband Allan came down to see us in Charleston last week they brought along quite a truckload of goodies for us. We had all of the things that we ordered at the Annapolis Boat Show mailed to their home. The biggest of those goodies was a pair of Kyocera 130 watt solar panels. I’ve been collecting the tubing and wire to complete the installation of this new solar array.

The early part of the day was spent measuring, drilling and pre-fabricating down in Veranda’s salon. When all was ready Christy and I gingerly placed the panels up on the new framework. Of course the wind had chosen this as the time to start building. As soon as each panel was put into place we quickly tied them down so they wouldn’t take flight.

Once everything was bolted into its permanent place we removed the temporary tie downs. Next came the wiring which presented somewhat of a problem. The panels are 7 feet off the deck out on the back of the radar arch. I can reach the electrical connections with either hand but not both at the same time as I’ll fall off the back of the boat if I don’t hold on.

All of our movements so far have been watched by some lookie loo’s sitting up on their condominium balconies. The last thing I want to do is give them a show by falling in the water. I decide that if I wear my harness backwards I can run a line from it to the end of the boom and back to a cleat on the stern.



Now I can stand on the transom while leaning out over the water and be able to work with both hands. I lean out while Christy eases the line and when I’ve got the reach I need Christy cleated the line off. We completed the hook up at the panels with me standing out “over’ the water with Christy handing me each tool as needed.

Running the wire down through the arch and down through the boat to the solar regulator was pretty straight forward and went well. I had the whole thing done and ready to make power about 15 minutes before sunset. Damn.

There was enough sunlight to let me see that the regulator and the panels were working correctly and that was it. Waiting for daylight tomorrow is going to be real tough as I’m dying to see what kind of power we’ll be making.