POWER PLAY

We all know the story. You’ve been on the water since daybreak, you’ve managed a tricky navigation through unfamiliar waters, but at last, dogtired, you’ve finally arrived! Drop the hook in a spectacular, quiet bay, enjoy a lovely dinner and a bottle of wine, then close your eyes and fall asleep to the soothing chorus of the water gently lapping against the hull. Except you can’t hear the water lapping away. Lying there, wide-awake as the clock strikes three, you can barely hear your own thoughts over the incessant noise of that bloody generator.

There’s no way you’re shutting off the air conditioning on such a hot night. But there’s also no way you’re ever going to sleep with all that racket. Sound familiar? Trust me – you’re in very good company.

From the smallest open fishing boats to the largest luxury yachts, the heart of any vessel on the water these days is its DC power system. And while that may not sound terribly exciting, the reality is that without power, nothing else onboard works. The stereo, the air conditioner, the fishfinder, the GPS