One of the things that has always concerned me when cruising is conserving battery power. In an effort to minimize those concerns, I have significantly increase battery capacity on my boat. Under the aft bunk on centerline there are several compartments. When I purchased the boat, the back compartment held the effluent bladder (lovely place to hold sewage – right beneath the owner’s bunk), and the forward compartment held two Group 28 batteries just behind the diesel tank. There was a battery switch mounted beneath the chart table to select and switch between those two batteries.

I have plans for long range cruising and want the ability to be on an anchor for several days with refrigeration and fans running and not have to run the engine too often. The plan was to add two large house batteries as a single bank (bank 1) and a separate starting battery as a separate bank (bank 2). To make room for the house bank, the aft vertical wall of the battery bin under the aft bunk was cut open, essentially enlarging the space to accommodate the longer batteries.

To support them in the area aft of the new opening, a piece of Starboard marine board was installed that extended into the void that was opened up. The enlarged battery bin allows ample room for the installation of two Group 4D AGM batteries in the space (height restraints prohibited using 8D’s). A stainless steel bar was installed on top of the large batteries to keep them in the bin in the unlikely event of a knockdown, and a piece of Starbord marine board was inserted between batteries and the fuel tank for safety.

The original large battery cables were reused, but new battery terminals were installed. The original battery switch was reused, which allows me to switch between and combine the two large batteries by selecting 1 or 2 or Both. That bank serves as our house bank and should allow us to spend 5 or 6 days away from the dock without running the engine and without shutting down refrigeration.

A single Group 27 AGM battery was installed at the bottom of the pantry to serve as the starting battery, and is designated as Battery Bank 1 on the original switch.

A second 1/2/BOTH/OFF battery switch was added to allow the house bank (Bank 2) to be lined up for the purpose of starting the engine in a scenario where the starting bank (Bank 1) is dead (the “2” side of that switch is connected to the house battery bank). However, under normal operating conditions that switch stays on “1” so the two banks remain separated from each other.

The alternator is connected to the starting battery (Bank 1 on new switch). A new three bank 30 amp A/C battery charger (Powermania Turbo M330) was installed. A battery combiner that allows the charge from the alternator to charge the house bank (Bank 2 on new switch) while at the same time isolating the two banks was also installed. (see photo 3) The combiner is located in the same compartment as the starting battery and connects the engine start battery to the house bank switch. The new battery switch is located in the same area as the original battery switch – adjacent to the starting battery beneath the bottom drawer next to the chart table.

In my quest to conserve power, all of the lights on the boat have been changed over to LED. For the most part, that was accomplished by simply replacing the bulbs in the existing lights. Some of the single bulb brushed aluminum fixtures that are scattered throughout the boat did not work but it turned out that the problem was that their rocker switches had failed. I bought a bag of inexpensive switches (about $2 apiece) and replaced the ones that didn’t work. I then replaced all of the bulbs with inexpensive LED BA15d bulbs from Amazon. I experimented with a couple different BA15d bulbs until in found the ones that were best for the brightness that we were looking for (LEDwholesalers Bayonet Dual Contact BA15d Base Omnidirectional 2-Watt LED Light Bulb).

As we frequently operate our boat at night, I replaced the two fixtures over the main galley with new LED fixtures that allow me to switch between red and white light. I replaced the fluorescent tube lights in the head and aft cabin with an LED light that can also be switched between red and white light (Aqua Signal 16530-7 Multi-Purpose LED Interior Light – 15.75″” x 3.12″”, Red/White, 12 Volt: Automotive), and I added a small LED strip light above the door in the forward cabin.

Now when the boys leave the lights on when we are on the anchor, I don’t get as wound up about it as the power consumption of an LED bulb is minimal. I also replaced the bulbs in the navigation lights with LED bulbs. Perhaps the best LED upgrade that we made, however, was the addition of a combination steaming and deck light (Forespar ML-2). The deck light is extremely bright and lights up the entire foredeck – not something we need often but when we do, this is as bright as daylight.

I also replaced the bulb in the anchor light with an LED bulb (4 watt 6,000K BA15s – Kakanuo E17 LED Bulb Microwave Oven Light Dimmable 4 Watt Daylight White 6000K 72X3014SMD AC110-130V (Pack of 2). It is helpful not only when on the hook, but in a crowded mooring field as a beacon to help us return to the boat after going ashore. I have been approached by several.

We also upgraded the stereo system on our boat. The stereo that we chose is a Bluetooth capable Kenwood that was installed in the electronics panel. It is connected to two pairs of six inch round PolyPlanar marine speakers – one pair inside on either side of the main salon and one pair in the cockpit at the stern of the boat just above the removable hump seat. There are not many places to mount exterior speakers in the cockpit, but that location has worked out well.

Additionally, we added a flat panel LED television on the forward bulkhead of the main salon just to starboard of the entrance to a the V-berth. We wanted a television that would work on both AC and DC power. Choices for those types of televisions are fairly limited, but we found a relatively inexpensive 22” Naxia model that also has a built in DVD player. As the television backs up to the hanging locker in the V-berth, I Installed a DC outlet at the base of that locker and ran wire to the DC panel where I was able to designate a separate switch for the stereo/television.

A Glomex antenna was installed at the top of the mast and the coaxial cable passes through a Glomex amplifier that is mounted right above the DC outlet in the forward hanging locker before continuing on to the television on the other side of that bulkhead. As the television allows inputs from various sources, I also ran coaxial cable from the anchor locker to the television. That allows us to tap into cable when available at the dock.

We upgraded the instruments to a B&G system. The display at the helm station is a B&G Zeus Touch housed in a Navpod enclosure. As the original pedestal guard was straight up and down, we replaced it with an angled pedestal guard and upgraded the tube size to 1-1/4”. The difference is sturdiness and appearance is significant and worth the effort of also having to replace the compass plate and the mounting feet to accommodate the larger tube size.

The B&G system on the boat also includes 2 LED Triton displays mounted in a housing that is attached to a stainless bar mounted across the companionway (which works well but requires a duck when passing through the companionway), a gyrocompass mounted in the lazarette, a GoFree wireless hub and a B&G V50 VHF radio. All of those pieces plug into each other via a NMEA 2000 backbone. The integration of the VHF radio into the Zeus touch allows us to see AIS targets on the chart plotter – a nice feature.