Off-Grid Solar Install on 30ft Sailboat for Full-Time Living Cruising to Alaska! Lithium Powered⚡️

Exploring far reaching fjords & remote anchorages of the Inside Passage charting a course North to Alaska (slowly), we're a Canadian Aussie duo documenting an adventure-based alternative life off-grid on a small 'no-frills' sailboat, Uintah. No refrigeration, no auto-pilot, hauling our anchor up by hand & adventuring off the beaten path with the purpose of living a more sustainable, self-sufficient life connected to nature.
SUBSCRIBE! Join us on the journey North!
LINKS TO PRODUCTS WE LOVE IN THIS VIDEO
► WEGO SOLAR Panels & Victron Gear! www.wegosolar.com
► NiLight Bar Clamps amzn.to/44XSJXD (Amazon)
(when available, we use affiliate links and may earn a commission)
THANK YOU for considering supporting our film making so that we can continue to produce videos for you each week, as a small channel your generous support really goes a long way
►Become a Patron / allisonandjames
►Buy us a nice tasty cold one! Here is our Paypal link to send a one time donation www.paypal.com....
~We recognize & are grateful to the Kwakwaka'wakw people, as cultural & environmental stewards of the lands and waterways on which this film was created, here in the traditional unceded territory of the Namgis First Nations~
Ahoy! We're Allison & James 👋 a Canadian Aussie duo who left the conventional life behind to live an adventure-based alternative lifestyle here in the Pacific Northwest! Continually chasing our dreams of adventuring off the beaten path & living a more sustainable, self-sufficient life.
We'd love for you to join us!
SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss the next episode!
🔔If you're into outdoor adventures sailing, skiing, hiking, tiny homes, off-grid living and DIY projects then you'll want to click that notification bell so you don't miss an episode!
Want MORE sailing content? Binge watch from the beginning!
• The Start of Life at S...
Follow us on Facebook! / allisonandjames.youtube
Connect with us on Instagram for real time updates
A Instagram / allisonmcisaac
J Instagram / james_stce
Music from Epidemic Sound
#sailingadventure #sailinglife #offgridliving

[@F1ComputerServicesWestKelowna]

Watt have you guys done? I am so ammped and wired to see positive results. Here's wishing you calm seas, full sails, and sunny days.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Hahah yess love a good pun! It’s been exactly that this afternoon, can’t ask for much more!!!

[@kirbymcd1]

Great to see solar go in! The installation looks very clean and having charge controllers with temperature sensors in them prevents a very expensive lesson in how lithium battery's really don't like to be changed below freezing.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Cheers mate! The Lithium batteries we went with have built in self-heating mats designed into the batteries, it's pretty cool. Well have more about that in a future video!

[@MrHogadog]

Great set up guys! I can see how the breakers are important. We put fuses in but breakers seem to be the way to go.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

“Don’t forget the breakers”!! Good cause it allows you to disconnect the panels and work on the system without damaging anything.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

😂 you guys are the first I've seen actually using a net to catch a drone .. well done but it's a better strategy for when it's rough And there's no landing area without risking a trip in the drink. 🇬🇧🧙🏻‍♂️🌌

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

😂 think we might be into something! Works like a charm and doesn’t chew up your hands!

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing I've been telling people for years .. I'm a RC model's fan and also Environmental scientist.. so have seen plenty of bird mist netting. Btw.. always loved flyingboats and amphibious planes so if you want to protect your electronics cameras etc .. get something like corrosion x spray.. we use it on our RC gear and motors for model planes and boats and off road buggies. 😎🇬🇧🧙🏻‍♂️ They will even work under water in fresh/brackish water...but will stop corrosion . Just wash salty dunked stuff off in fresh water then dry. Besides foamy fpv flying wing designs float and glide.

[@douglasstinson9833]

Owning a Cat 30 as well, we love watching what you have accomplished with yours. That aside, you two are making remarkable, high quality videos that are incredibly entertaining and educational. Thank you both and may God bless you and keep you! Safe travels! 😊 SV Agape Grace

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Awe, love to hear that. Thank you so much!

[@todddunn945]

I have a comment about mounting those Victron charge controllers. They have a blue LED that flashes at night when the batteries are not charging. It is very bright and quite annoying. The LED is bright enough that even reflected light from it was very noticeable. Because of that issue I had to relocate my charge controllers to a location where they could not be seen from the main cabin>strongly suggest you have some sort of light block around the solar controllers. I can't comment about the DC:DC converter because mine is mounted in a cabinet.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Yess we’ve noticed that! Luckily they’re mounted all the way at the back of the boat, in the aft cabin. Basically our garage 😅 we have totes and other gear back there that seems to do a good job at blocking the blue flash and we sleep up in the vberth where it’s nice and dark

[@randyjackola]

Why 3 controllers? I'm still learning!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Hey Randy, we used separate controllers for each solar panel to prevent the system from loss of power output due to shading from the rig. Regardless of the direction of the sun, the mast and stays are always casting shadows onto some part of the solar panels which caused a significant reduction in power output from that panel. If all the panels are run through the same controller then the whole system suffers around a 50% power loss. When you run each panel through its own charge controller, if a panel is shadowed then only that panels power output is reduced and the remaining panels can continue to produce at maximum yield. It’s not typically an issue on land based solar arrays as the panels are in a static orientation to the sun. Hope that helps to clarify!!

[@bradjlang7944]

Maybe a ice maker and a couple of 5 day coolers would work for you, Amazon has ice makers for 125$ ,makes 26lbs in 24 hrs

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Those ice makers are pretty nice and would be handy, but just so I can have my bourbon on ice! We have two separate ice boxes that we made, they’re both more insulated than yeti coolers, they keep ice for well over a week. I’m planning on adding a compressor on board next year and having one ice box as a dedicated deep freeze.

[@AnthonyParr-do5jk]

You guys seem very clued in a lot of people who put bigger systems in seem to attempt to run max appliances possible killing there expensive victron fairly quickly I'm pretty sure you won't be those people.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Yeah haha our track record tells us we probably won’t be those people! Cheers mate!

[@rodneyallen5003]

#WeGoSolar … awesomeness seeing a small solar company step up and make life better for Allison and James !

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Yess so happy to work with WeGo Solar for our first sponsor-collab! They’re such an amazing small local business. Fortunate they were happy to support or project, cheers Rodney!

[@bobschick2943]

Love the episode! I won't punish you with any more puns - it seems other folks are much better at them than I am 😀

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Hahaha cheers Bob! We do love a good pun! Lay em on us!

[@brianhockenstein7011]

oh my god you guys are so epic! love this video... what energy!!!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Awe, thanks so much for the support and hype Brian!!

[@SvGemstar]

G'day guy A 900 watt solar system ? Wow! that will be able to keep the batteries going . I am installing a 600 watt system with 2 135 amph lithium batteries and will be able to keep my system going and a 400 watt wind turbine. I am also installing an electric gully. P.S I tell people to spend the money and do not go near those cheap plastic panels and the decent panels are affordable especially in the long run. Gerard.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

G’day Gerard!! We have a 300watt system, 3x100watt panels. But that is proving to be more than enough! Those plastic panels really don’t last very well before they go opaque! An electric galley sounds like a super interesting project! Hope it goes well and keep us posted!

[@SvGemstar]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Firstly, it is G E R A R D. I am installing two battery banks, one is for the cabin, the other is for the gully.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Why yes it is! Sorry about that, I recently got a new iPhone and the autocorrect has gotten my fat thumbs in trouble a few times already. So that’s two lithium banks, 135amph each?

[@SvGemstar]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing I know that feeling too well. I recently bought a new phone myself as the other one got too old to keep up. I got a pixel 8 made by google. A great phone took a while to get used to. Good luck with your install. Gerard.

[@SvGemstar]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Yes. That's right having two batteries on an switch means i can have one on charge, the other in use switching of battery no 1 and run number 2 next day The battery number 2 goes off and i will use battery 1. That's for the cabin and instruments The gully will have its own power station bank that will supply 240 volts main at 1400 watts and as the induction cooktop and oven combo will run at 1200 watts, powering will not be a problem Gerard..

[@southernpaths2986]

If you don’t mind me asking, what was a ballpark total $ figure to install your system? That setup seems like it would be 100% sufficient for what I’d like to do with my own soon-to-be purchased boat.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Hmmm good question, we actually never really priced it out. But I would ball park $1500-2000 + Time + batteries. So far the system has been working great, we’re putting out a small charge even with overcast and rainy days.

[@southernpaths2986]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Wow!! I would have thought it’d be at least twice that much… I’ll be following your lead here for sure. There’s not much in boating that’s inexpensive but comparatively speaking… that’s dirt cheap, especially considering the return on investment!!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

@southernpaths2986 it’s wild how much these things have come down in price! The lithium hiked it up a bit, but still a pretty sweet ROI. Can price it out on their website. They’re super helpful if you have any questions at all! www.wegosolar.com

[@HalcyonGuitars]

That’s gonna make your cruising a lot more comfortable! Off topic, but…how much do you spend per year storing your boat when you’re not using it?

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Gosh, long time coming but we couldn’t be more stoked! Massive game change for life onboard! We’ve been overwintering in one of BC’s cheapest marinas, about $150/month

[@HalcyonGuitars]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Thanks! That seems an approachable price. Hauled out?

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

@HalcyonGuitars nope, floating. No need to haul-out overwinter here

[@curtkuhns]

And we love you!!❤❤

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Always so nice to hear from you, Curt!

[@francinegolbeck3116]

On a more serious note, you must check your Alternator - regulator to make it suitable for the Li Batt charging, many boaters using Li Batt use a special regulators that limit the amp output to prevent overheating the Alternator and or damaging the Alt. belt. Please check into this, cheers from Sechelt, BC

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Yes! We have a regular internally regulated alternator ~ 35amps (tiny little thing)! Currently I have it still connected to the lead acid starter battery to keep that bank topped up (we can’t change it’s charging profile) I’ve put a dc-dc charger between the lead acid and the lithium to move current between the two banks but that’s more of a ‘back up’ system in case we run our 400amps of lithium down! I do have a balmar regulator and a 70amp externally regulated alternator for our engine but just didn’t have enough time to install it (we have it with us though). So far I’ve been very impressed with the solar, even on a grey day the put out a couple of amps!

[@francinegolbeck3116]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Thats great but I do not have experience with the DC-DC converter , I know it can supply the power for a fixed load example to supply all your Instrument load but I do not know what it will do with supplying a Battery charging load.... do a limited shake down trip to see how everything works and go from there, cheers from Sechelt.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

It’s also our first time with one and I defiantly agree that it might not hold a battery charging voltage for long, but we’re very curious to see what it can do! The eventual plan is to have a larger alternators eventually charging off the main power plant.

[@markhoene9984]

Great job!!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Thanks so much!!

[@MichaelSellery-k6o]

Congratulations on what is becoming an independent, self-supporting super yacht. I look forward to the resulting sailing experiences.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Roughing it for so long, we have so much appreciation for what this upgrade brings! Set sail three days ago and life has completely changed onboard. Hope to bring you some adventure content soon, thank you for being here!!!

[@SailSmileReDo]

Thanks so much for your new episode) It seems like I'm waiting for my old friends to show up ;-) Congrats on your new solar power plant. I jumped on the wagon a few years ago. I wasn't that lucky to employ a friend so I did it on my own. And instead of installing 3 smaller panels like You guys did, I put up a SS bimini with a 400 Watt Canadian Solar panel on top. That was one of my best decisions ever. So when You're explaining all the benefits of solar, believe You me - I feel for You ))) Smart move, what else can I say? Again, welcome to The Club! This time around pretty much Unlimited Cruising Club )))) Should we call it UCC, for Christ sake? ;-) But jokes aside, I'm quite happy for You. Good stuff. All the best. Fair winds and calm seas

[@SailSmileReDo]

And let me guess... Would you move to Starlink next????))))

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

We already have starlink (last szn) but now we can use unlimited, which is a curse more than an upgrade maybe haha😅

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Awe, it’s good to hear from you! That sounds slick! Good on ya! The SS bimini is the way to go! Might do the same down the track! And enclose our cockpit a bit cause we’re getting pretty wet out here haha Thank you!! We’re super stoked, this upgrade has changed cruising for us forever!

[@SailSmileReDo]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Staying dry is one thing. Staying out of the relentless Sun is way more important, in my humble opinion. Both of You look fairly young. And chances are, You don't care much about this. Especially Alison being from Sun drenched Australia. But listening to quite a few local senior sailors, I have have decided to be Better safe than Sorry. And of course, I'm not giving You a lecture. I'm just saying that having a bimini was one of the most important things on our boat. And practically unlimited power doesn't hurt either 🙂

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

@@SailSmileReDo We def care a great deal about sun exposure but unfortunately for us it's Spring in Northern Canada in a rainforest 😅We would be LUCKY to have even a day of sun where we are heading haha UV and our Vit D levels are dropping drastically. James is actually from Aus (I'm from from Newfoundland) so he might have a few extra reserves! A covered cockpit would certainly come in handy to keep us dry! It's a project we have lined up for our next round of upgrades, cheers!

[@francinegolbeck3116]

Watt ? Love James solar sunshine enthusiasm, he gets an A+ for that. Love the Breaker sets and the fact you use 3 - Mppt's, way to go !! Its good to have a shot of Sunshine reality, you can easily have every day rain during the month of January as we experienced in our Cat 30 in Sechelt. The other reality you need is the Lithium Battery reality, it can just cut out any time any time without a good reason, so be ready for that ! So good for you keeping the old trusted Lead Acid job, way to go Guys, you got what it takes !

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Haha James bringing the photon energy for sure, thank you so much!!! The sponsor + solar is pretty exciting for us :)

[@paullaviolette2610]

Very cool install. And great to see Sanford - I have several pieces of his work. He is truly an artist. We have solar on our RV and it works great. You will love it.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Fantastic!! Sanford is such an amazing and talented artist! Such a fun guy to hang out with as well. Really enjoyed our week there on Nootka camping out on the beach! Hope to sail down the west side of the island to visit him again soon. Thanks so much Paul, we’re amped on all our power!

[@coolhand6669]

Hey guys congratulations on the solar my suggestion also would be get yourself a Honda portable generator just for the times you need it because you're just trying to charge batteries it'll help like on cloudy days or during the winter

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Cheers mate! We actually cruising with a Honda genny in the lazerette one year and only used it once (this was before Solar mind you). I’ve been very curious as to how the panels preform on cloudy days, it’s really neat that evening when it’s full grey out they manage to still put out an amp or two each! We have a dc-dc charger in between our lifeP04 and lead acid bank which allows us to use the alternator on our inboard as a gender.

[@simonfarrow5873]

Congrats you guys! We put a 100w panel on our 23’ sailboat last year and it was a game changer!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Revolutionary!! Stoked we could all join the solar club. Cheers!

[@slimdog72]

I think we have the same opinion about generators in boats and RVs. Stoked for your amps.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

There ain’t nothing more relaxing than sitting in the back woods hanging out with the steady hum of a generator! Pure bliss! Cheers slimdog!

[@dancampbell8149]

we powered our boat with WeGoSolar as well. Great guys! Great episode too

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Amazing!! They’re so awesome. We really can’t recommend them enough! Thanks so much!!

[@MrEragon21]

Great video great install looking forward to the continuing adventure

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Thanks so much! We set sail three days ago, hope to bring you some more adventure content soon, cheers!

[@herbertocobock9436]

I was down in the dumps when I ___________.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Dropped our new Nav lights into the drink

[@carlylawrie8963]

Awesome install, LET THERE BE POWER !

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Yewwww it’s been such a game changer! You’re the best!!!🤍

[@LifeLongLearner222]

Great system! Love the Victron stuff. Good to meet you in Alert Bay. Safe travels.

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

It’s the best!! Thanks for saying hello! Hope you got your exhausted sorted out!?

[@LifeLongLearner222]

@@AllisonandJamesSailing Thanks. Friday hopefully everything will be here. Cheers.

[@lorenneil8176]

Congrats on solar!! Great video!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Thanks so much, cheers to photon sequestration!!

[@geoffreylomas944]

Enjoying the episodes guys!

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

Cheers Geoffrey! Hope you’re well mate!

[@patcosgrove3077]

another great video enjoyed

[@AllisonandJamesSailing]

So glad you enjoyed Pat, cheers!