Cinnabar Gets New Batteries and I Get a Hat

Some people think that living on a boat, enjoying the outdoors and (currently nice) weather, is a dream come true. And it’s true that we are finally, in a way, “living our dream”. However it is also true that anything worth having is worth working for, and living on a boat most definitely has its share of work. If you walk down the marina dock you will see people on their boats working very hard at any number of projects.

While at dock we can plug into shore power and use the marina’s electricity. When we are off the dock we have to make our own power. We can charge the batteries using our 75hp (56kW) Yanmar engine, our 6hp (4.4kW) Panda generator, and our 310W solar panels. So we need to keep all these systems in good running condition as well as making sure our batteries can hold a charge. Typical boat batteries have a life of something like 5-8 years. Ours were 7 years old.

When we arrived back in La Paz we could see that when connected to shore power our batteries would not hold a charge above 12.4V, i.e. they were on their last breath. They were also getting hot (130F) from working hard to hold a charge, not a good thing, especially when MY favorite seat is right on top of them. So we ordered some new batteries, three (8D AGM) for the house bank and one smaller (G27 AGM) engine starter battery, all to be shipped down from San Diego (costly!).

After much cogitation, numerous emails, and placing the order, our batteries finally arrived this week, delivered by truck from San Diego. Tom managed to convince the delivery guys to actually bring the heavy batteries to our boat instead of leaving them in the dusty parking lot.

Batteries and other items arrive from San Diego

Down the ramp at a very low tide. Sure glad we had help.

The other guys we hired to help us exchange the batteries inside the boat were already on another job and would not be able to arrive until the next day. So Dennis from Ross Marine Services helped Tom move the batteries aboard for storage. The big ones weighed 160 lbs each and the small one weighed 62 lbs .

Strongman Dennis helps Tom put the batteries on the boat for the night.

Tom was keen to get started and he was able to remove and install the engine starter battery himself.  It barely fit into its own battery box and was a challenge to get it in; we had to move fuel levers, fuel hoses and wires aside to squeeze it in. I doubted a piece of paper could fit between the battery and the box. But...

...as it turns out there was just enough room for a terminal screw and washers to fall down into the box (terminal screw = connectivity).  GAH!!! Would we have to take the heavy battery out to retrieve it?

Luckily…no. Before we sailed down here our experienced sailor friend Bruce gave us this long, thin, snaky retriever tool with a claw on the end:

My new favorite totally awesome tool.

“You WILL need this someday,” he said. He was right. It worked!!

Close up of claw after capturing the escaped washers and bolt.

Tom finally got the terminals all connected even though it was a bit of a pain switching from using old automotive terminals to new marine terminals. We also had to trim the wooden hold-downs so they would fit over the new battery.

Tom soon switched to the die grinder to do this.

Tom finally finished the project about 11:00 p.m. that night. 

The next day Chava and Sergio arrived bright and early to help remove the old batteries and install the new ones.  They had to manhandle all six of the 160 lb. beasts in and out of the boat.

Down the companionway

Lifting into the battery box.

The battery box was VERY tight with no tolerance for any size differences between old and new batteries. In fact Tom had to drill a hole on some plastic side pieces to accommodate the threaded rod for the hold-down.

Drilled out plastic to accommodate the rod

Switching from the auto lugs to the marine blade lugs was also a challenge, especially since Tom did not ever cut the DC power during the reconfiguration. He used the old starter battery as an alternate power source. Luckily the job did not require any new cables. He almost finished the job that night, however the wooden hold-down needed some holes cut into it and we did not have a hole saw. The next day he borrowed a drill press from one of local service techs to cut the center retainer (hold-down) board to make room for the new lug configuration.

The retainer board was finally screwed into place and job was completed! And it only took 3 days of sweaty, hard work! This is typical for boat work, what we thought would be a one-day job at most took three times as long due to various unforeseen circumstance.

Cinnabar’s new and improved battery bank is now back in business.

If you live on a boat this is a beautiful sight.

Next on the menu: we need to order some parts for the engine and generator so they can be serviced and continue to play their part in making power for the boat.


Ahhh...“Living the dream” on a boat can be very hard work and is not for everyone. Yesterday a very nice man, holding a straw hat with a flowered brim in his hand, walked up to me and asked me if I would like the brand new hat that his wife bought. I was confused; if she bought it didn't she want it? “No,” he wistfully said, “she left the boat and she won’t be coming back to it. Ever.” (Sniff!) I didn't ask about the details, but I assured him the hat had found a good home. 


Technical stuff, boring to many, sexy to us:  Our house battery capacity is 765 AH (3 x 255 AH) of which about (383 AH ( 50%) is regularly usable.  We use about 200 AH per day, mostly for the fridge/freezer,  so we can only go about 2 days without generating some recharging power.