Frugal Boater: Pearl Lee Solar 1.0

In order to maintain our independence and lifestyle, we added a solar power system to Pearl Lee. While solar power can make us more independent, you must consider power generation, storage and consumption as a complete system.

LED Light Bulbs

Warm white LED bulbs

We started by cutting our power consumption. We found LED bulbs for our original interior light fixtures on Amazon. These use less power, and give off less heat, a real win-win for us.  We wanted to keep a warm glow similar to incandescent lights, so we stuck with “warm white” or 2700k color. You might notice one bulb is brighter than the other. That’s no accident, it allows us warm, soft light when one is lit, but nice, bright light when both are lit.

Read more at Frugal-Boater.com

 

New Sails from Mack Sails

Since purchasing Pearl Lee we have been in a whirlwind of boat activity. She came without sails, so first on the agenda was a new set sails. After contacting several lofts we decided to go with Mack Sails.

Mack Sails in general, and Travis in particular, have taken wonderful care of us. They rushed our order to meet our schedule and when UPS made multiple mistakes getting our genoa to us, Travis Mack Sailstirelessly tracked the package down, badgered UPS to ship it various ways and to various destinations. He simply would not give up. When I made an error slider size, Travis cheerfully offered both a temporary solution for the remainder of the season as well as a more permanent solution once we wrapped up our sailing for the year, all at no additional charge.  For sails done right, these guys deserve your business.

Colin and Travis at Mack Sails
Colin and Travis at Mack Sails

When problems arose, no matter who’s fault it was, Mack Sails and Travis were willing to go the extra mile to make it right. The sails fit as requested and have excellent shape and workmanship. We also ordered Mack Packs for our main and mizzen. We’re glad we chose Mack Sails for Pearl Lee’s new suit.

By the way, this is NOT a paid advertisement, just us giving credit where credit is due.