On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:48:35 -0400, "Skip Gundlach" skip sez make
this all one word with my last name next to my first gundlach@adelphia
dot fish catcher net (sorry bout the spamtrap!) wrote:


Our experience to date has been that we've had to sleep under covers, and
sometimes blankets, in the tropics. Even if we had a genset, I doubt we'd
want to run it for A/C - and in our case, most certainly, as the reason it's
coming out is I don't want to make the investment to reduce the noise level
to our acceptability level (outside the boat it's very quiet - but inside,
we made the decision we'd only use it for emergency use).

Good point. Putting on a sweater and an extra blanket is MUCH quieter.

However,
I'd not considered the potential for the barter use.


Well, I haven't gone yet, but I just finished a good book called

Searching for Paradise : A Grand Tour of the World's Unspoiled Islands
by THURSTON CLARKE

which covered off the reality of island living all over the world, but
obviously a lot of the book is spent in the Pacific and the Caribbean.
It was very interesting, and I recommend it to aspiring cruisers.

Anyway, that book and many of the more "off the beaten track"
cruising narratives I've read reinforce the idea that some little
islands still lack very basic services and are quite grateful for the
help we affluent Westerners (and even a boat bum in a beat-up Wetsnail
is affluent by their standards) tend to have lurking in the lazarette.

This thread isn't
about the portable gensets, but I think I'll look into something which might
provide up to a KW, if it's available in a valise style carry, as I think I
recall some being. That could be a profitable addition to the boat toys if
it could be stowed in the pretty-capacious lazarette, and, in a terrible
pinch, could be connected, through our landside-shorepower 3-prong 15-to-30A
lockable adapter, to provide charging and inside AC (in the unlikely event
we'd need it - we're trying to minimize AC usage) beyond what the inverter
normally will cover.

I think that's a good "belt and suspenders" approach, and it's quite
possible you will use this "luggable genset" more than you think,
because power tools in particular provide plenty of beef on board, but
draw 5-10 amps usually.

If you have a Sailrite-type sewing machine, for instance, and that
little genset, you could do a huge business in barter and good will
just repairing Dacron cast-offs in Polynesia.

I've heard that if you can rebuild two-strokes, that good for a few
pig roasts. G

Anyway, while long-term cruisers frequently consider how to extend the
kitty from providing services for other, richer boaters, it's possible
to barter a lot of goods and services from the locals who can't afford
to patronize West Marine G

R.