Trip 1, Day 7, Layover Day
Trip Day: Monday, August 2
0525-66F/61F. Solar battery indicates 49%. Coffee, study, and reading all finished.
0923-72F/72F. Will be much warmer today! Calm, high haze layer, but sunny. Had breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and OJ.
1037-76F/78F. Sat on my chair overlooking the "pond" and finished reading the Captain Kidd saga. A sad story, but very interesting.
 |
| "The Pond" (Click To Enlarge) |
1050-Solar is 57% with 126 watts input. Good!. 76F/79F. Checked charts for potential boat sites tomorrow.
1129-79F/81F. Getting hot! Solar is up to 60%. Washed dishes for the day and watched a houseboat monstrosity heading up the bay to the trail head. Glad I didn't go! It would have destroyed the sense of solitude.
 |
| I Installed A Grate Over The Heater Which Greatly Expands Counter Space (Click To Enlarge) |
Will lay the solar panels flat when the sun is close to zenith to maximize angle (watts). Mid-afternoon I will face them to the west. I'm shooting for 100% in the solar battery by the end of the day.
1345-82F/86F. Transferred pics and videos from memory to my laptop for back up. I noticed my primary camera is over exposing, so I made some adjustments. We'll have to see how that works out?
Ate a boat lunch of apples, cheese, crackers, and nuts with white wine. Getting too late for a nap!
73% solar with 126 watts of input. Not sure I will make 100%?
Another big houseboat poked its bow into my bay, but left, fortunately! It is just too busy this time of year! Everybody is hunting for boat sites and can't find ones that are vacant. Fortunately, I have the flexibility to anchor, but they can't. I can go into spots they can't go as well. So at least when sites are filled I have more options.
 |
| This Butterfly Kind Of Adopted Me And Followed Me Around (Click To Enlarge) |
1428-82F/87F. Very warm! Blew a fuse trying to charge my laptop using my USB 12 vdc adapter, not sure why? I put the laptop on my backup solar battery instead. I also changed the fuse and replaced my under powered USB switch with a 150 watt inverter that has a better USB output (2A).
I listened to the handheld VHF for any traffic but heard nothing, no weather, no conversation?
Hazy sunshine from smoke. Some thin high clouds too, so I'm not getting optimum solar energy. Nevertheless, I am up to 76%! 67% was the high yesterday. Got down as low as 25% one day and never recovered above 70% since then, so it is doing better to day in spite of haze and high clouds.
1515-Solar 80%. 82F/89F. Will angle the panels west to catch as much sun as possible, as it goes down.
1644-Put out the small solar panel to charge the backup solar battery back to 100%, after recharging my laptop.
81F/86F. Solar 83% with 109 watts input. Still lots of smoky haze and some clouds. Not getting the best sun this afternoon.
Finished dinner. Grilled chicken, potatoes, hot roll, salad, and white wine. Fantastic! The wood smoke from the grill even smoked the potatoes!
 |
| I Added The Sink And Stove Covers To Expand Counter Space (Click To Enlarge) |
Combination of heat and sketchy sun will not help me make it to 100% on the solar battery today! I was hoping for better.
1906-79F/83F. 87% solar is final. Didn't make 100%, which was my goal for the day. Nevertheless, that percentage is nearly back to where I started at launch (90%).
Sat out by the pond and just watched the critters, smelled the air, and listened to the silence.
 |
| "The Turtle" Was Back (Click To Enlarge) |
 |
| A Loon Cruising By (Click To Enlarge) |
Will put away the backup solar, but leave the roof until morning. Still too hot to sleep!
1944-Changed my mind, since it was so hot, I decided to go ahead and put away (flatten) the roof top solar panels, so I'm ready to go in the morning. Temps are 78F in and 76F out. Still too hot to sleep! Listening to the audio book "The Whistler" by John Grisham. It is after sun down and I am still waiting for it to cool off a bit more so I can go to sleep.
Comments