Now that spring has me thinking about sailing again, I am seriously considering installing a small diesel gen set on Esmeralde. Having recently retired (at too young an age), I am rethinking some of the decisions we made when we first equipped the boat. (I need a project!)

When we built our Sabre 386, we had the Newport to Bermuda race in mind, so we kept systems like a/c off the boat (who needs the weight anyway?)...
Having doublehanded in the race three times I seem to have that one out of my system. Other than those races the bulk of our sailing falls into two categories, cruising the coast of Maine and local cruising south of Cape Cod. Our local cruising has traditionally been three days at a time. Block Island, Cuttyhunk, Martha's Vineyard are typical weekend destinations. We always anchor or grab a mooring. When not out cruising, Esmeralde calls The 300 dock of New England Boatworks home.

There are a couple of "issues" with our boating lifestyle that are pressuring me to consider some changes.

The first is that we never installed air conditioning on the boat. No problem I thought, this is NE and we are on the water right? Who needs a/c...This was before we moved the boat up the bay to NEB. When we kept the boat in Newport, I used to love coming back to the dock, squaring away the boat and just hanging out. Not now, it gets so hot in our marina that as soon as the boat is safely secured and cleaned up, I am in the truck and heading home! Hot and sweaty is not my idea of leisure. We love the marina for the security it offers for the boat and would never consider leaving but...

The other issue is that over the years I have grown to hate running the main engine simply to charge batteries. I slave over the maintence of our boat and I maintain everything as best I know how. That includes the mechanical systems. I am clearly a little nuts on the subject of maintenance. Hey, it makes me happy...
Anyway, the thought of running our Yanmar to simply charge batteries makes me "unhappy". It is simply not a good use of the engine.
Last year I installed a very nice, very quiet Superwind 350 wind generator that has extended the amount of time we can spend at anchor befor charging.
It is a very nice addition to the boat that I would label a success.

So anyway, now that I no longer have a business to fret about, we hope to spend more time on the water. The first thing I want to do is to install a/c. If for no other reason than to keep the boat dry and mold free while at the dock. I am sure it will be a good addition as it is a relatively simple installation. I have it on the list for spring projects.

This leads me to the second "issue". Why not a small Diesel gen set? This project is nowhere near as simple as adding a/c but it is certainly "up my alley". Sabre did build one 386 with a generator so I know where to begin...I have pictures of the installation.
I would use a smaller generator, I would work very hard to make it quiet and vibration free...I can use a water separator exhaust to eliminate the splash noise... At some point I have to run an engine anyway, why not dry the boat and charge batteries? All with an engine that is properly loaded and doing what it is supposed to do?

Am I out of my mind? Do I need another job?

Bruce