OK so I finally took a look at the electrical budget worksheet.......I will of course fill in some of the blanks but only hope that this is the kind of test I cannot 'fail' !!!

However, as I see it I can not (truthfully) complete this to reflect what may, or may not, get either consumed or produced while sailing from San Francisco to Hanalei.
-Which drive unit am I going to use with the AP??
-Or will the windvane happily steer the boat all the way?
-What will cloud cover be, and how much will my new solar array REALLY produce.
-Maybe they will get washed off the boat again??
-I trust engine will start and alternator charge when requested, but maybe they won't.....

I do not question the purpose of the worksheet, (probably a good way to make people think about their electrical usage) but wonder at the necessity of inflicting it upon this group of sailors. Everyone, I am sure, is aware that whatever power they consume must be somehow replaced - but this is only common sense and anyone whom has gone far enough down the road to get to the beginning of this event must have already figured that out for themselves.

Isn't that what the qualifying cruise is supposed to get them started thinking about???

What may be more helpful is to ask them what they will do if the on-board electrical system suffers catastrophic failure halfway there - then what??? They lose charging ability, storage capacity, or suffer an electrical fire.... A lightning strike, anyone???

Do they have a plan for that???? How exactly do they get the boat across a thousand miles of ocean and find a safe harbour - at that point, probably not even Hanalei Bay??

Surely they must have a workable solution to this scenario apart from pulling the string on the EBIRP??? Yet without a little foresight, planning and the right equipment available, perhaps that may be what some would resort to.....

Comments????

Jim/Haulback