"Skip Gundlach" wrote
As we prepare to cut the cord for the
rest of our lives, we're actively considering
an arch to carry solar and wind gear, as
we'll be spending the rest of our lives in the
Caribbean, where there's ample of both.
However, the boat currently (pardon the
expression) has a working generator of
recent vintage (under 600 hours). It's got
a (Diesel) Kubota engine driving an Onan
6.5KW 3600 RPM electrical end (along
with an alternator on a belt).

Unfortunately, despite its large motor
mounts, hush box and muffler, and
located inside an engine room, other
than from a fair distance off, outside
the boat, it's enough to drive you (well,
me, for sure!) mad with the noise, and,
to a much lesser extent, the vibration.
As a result, I refuse to run it except in
emergency conditions, and wouldn't
consider running it for more than a few
minutes in an anchorage. FWIW, the
exhaust noise outside the boat is pretty
minimal - but the engine noise from inside
is fierce.

Good on you for your plans. I'd love to be doing the same. Regarding the
generator, if you do sell it (which is surely possible for less than the
cost of any hopeful, but ultimately futile, attempts to tame it) consider a
whispergen as a replacement. It uses a quiet Stirling cycle engine, which
burns a constant flame externally rather than intermittent explosions
internally. You'll find details at http://www.whispergen.com/