S/V Argonauta - Goldenwave 42-44

There are some old school boaters (very old school) who don't really need much in the way in refrigeration on their boat.  Some even just have iceboxes but they are pretty rare except on much smaller boats.  We are in the opposite end in that we want to have ice cream and ice cubes in our freezer and room for as much vegetables, cream, and beer/wine as we can in the reefer side.  Some have very small reefer boxes and even smaller freezer compartments.  Some do not ever make ice although most would say that having a cold beer or wine is essential.  We like our cold ones, especially in the tropics, so this project is to ensure that is possible, with the least fuss and muss, and using the least power necessary.  Reefer systems are usually the largest use of power on boats.  Bigger boats often just run generators (gensets) to power their systems but they are noisy, stinky, take up lots of room, and expensive.  Some of them are AC only and don't rely...

Replacing the house batteries (those that power the lights, electronics, pumps, fans, refrigeration, etc.) was a huge project taking me two years to plan and install.  I replaced three 8D size AGM deep cycle batteries, weighing 468 pounds, with this one LFP battery that weighs one third less and fits in the same space as one of the AGMs.  If I take care of it, it will also outlast the AGMs many times over.  They are easier to charge and much more efficient.  They are also much more expensive and a bit bleeding edge in the stodgy world of boats.  They are so different that the tried and tested rules and systems (which many boaters don't understand anyway) do not apply. The way they are charged is critical since they are so efficient that they can cause alternators to burn up unless they are programmed to slow down.  They also do not like being overcharged so you can't just leave a dockside battery charger or solar chargers on in an uncontrolle...

We sold our previous boat, which was our only other boat, was S/V Maggie Drum - Whitby 42, to a great Australian family in New Zealand in April, 2008.  We sailed her around the Pacific Northwest in the US for five years before taking her south to Mexico and then over across the South Pacific to New Zealand.  We put over 15,000nm on her and we loved cruising.  The new owners are taking her around the world from Oz and are now waiting out the hurricane season in the south Caribbean.  The link to their blog and our previous blog will be added later. We were boatless from that time until 2015 when we made another mistake and purchased S/V Argonauata, a Goldenwave 42, from the previous loving couple who lived aboard her for many years, taking her all around the PNW, and to Hawaii.  She was designed by Bob Perry and built at the Cheoy Lee boatyards in Taiwan in 1981.  She is a "classic plastic" cutter with an aft cockpit, skeg hung rudder, large "fin" keel, old...