I have the 1000 watt Honda generator the size is great but you have to watch
what you try to run with it. I made a cord that plugs in to my shore power
and I set it on the swim platform I went to Target and checked all of the
coffee pots and found a melita with 2 travel mugs that only draws 800 watts
We also found a electric griddle that works great at 350 degrees.But the
thing we use it the most for is the blender my wife has fallen in love with
my margaritas 1/2 can frozen limeade ice tequila and tripplesec
"Paul" wrote in message
le.rogers.com...
Thank you all for your advice and for the time you spent replying, it's
much
appreciated.

I laughed when I realized that it never occurred to me to use a small
invertor for the laptop ... when Peggie said it I realized it was the most
obvious thing in the world but it had never occurred to me and probably
wouldn't have for a while. Geez ... I can be thick headed.

Laptop also solves the problem of watching a movie in the evening ...
built
in dvd player.

My friend has a 1kw Honda generator that he offered to me and now I'll
give
it another think. I also wouldn't mind having it here at home in the
winter
in case we lose power (I'm in Ottawa, everyone here remembers the ice
storm).

I've been worried about propane on a boat because of its tendency to
settle
low but I'll see how everyone else is rigged and check out the rules on
that, perhaps that deserves a rethink too.

I appreciated the math on the coffee maker but I'm going to run those
numbers myself. It seems to get pretty complex.

I have about a million more questions ... thanks again for your help on
this
one.


"Paul" wrote in message
le.rogers.com...
Hi all, I'll find out this week if I'm a new owner. God help us all.

The boat is a 30' Wellcraft.

We're going to use the boat almost exclusively on weekends with probably
1
or 2 times in the summer where we'll be able to spend a week on it. It
will
basically be our cottage. We're not new to cruising, just new to having
our
own boat for cruising.

The boat doesn't have a generator and I'm not sure if I need one. Here
is
what I'm thinking, hopefully you guys can give me some advice.

What if I set it up with 2 deep cycle batteries, a high output
alternator
on
one engine and an inverter.

We're not looking to run a small city, just make some coffee and toast
in
the morning, possibly run a bit of stove or microwave at lunch or dinner
and
maybe watch a movie in the evening. If I'm working then I'll probably
want
to either charge my laptop or run it on ships power for a while.

This of course on top of regular DC usage for water, fridge, lights,
etc.

It doesn't have air although if we go hardcore into the later fall
season
and early spring we'll want to bring a little heater with us.

My thinking is this. It will be hooked up to shore power all week with
the
3
stage charger making sure my house bank is topped up. If we run down
below
the threshold while were at anchor I can run the engine (I know, it's a
very
expensive generator) to get us back up to about 80% charge.

That's assuming we anchor the entire time and not go for a mid-day
cruise
which will have the benefit of charging us back up. And also assuming
that
we don't go for a visit to somewhere with dockage and shorepower --
which
we
would most definitely do for a day or so during the weeklongs, and
probably
do during some of the weekends.

It also seems to me like I could configure for this and try it out to
see
how it works. If I find I'm running the engine too much I could then buy
a
little generator since the rest of the setup as described above would be
required anyway.

Do this sound like a reasonable approach?