21EC on order

[Pilotnavigator]

Hi all, I expect a new 2015 21EC to arrive early next year. I have a few mods that will make it ideal for my wife and I to continue crusing the North Channel of Lake Huron. We have been sailing the area for 4-5 weeks each summer on a Sun Cat so we know how to travel in a small boat. My first question is about power. I need some details from experienced 21ec cruisers on batteries. I suspect that the one house battery is not going to work if I expect to stay at anchor for a few days with out running the engine every day. I plan to add two more batteries in the stern port side locker. I plan to replace the two factory batteries with Optima AGM and add two more in the rear. I get conflicting info on if the two in the engine box and the two additional have to be of the same size. As only 2 D34M will fit in engine box I would like to put two D27M's in the rear. If not then I will put in two D34M and live with the smaller size. So what is you recommendation on wiring up the batteries. What should be changed? Battery switches? Alternator charging? External charger? We typically stay out 7-10 days before we hit a marina to resupply and connect to shore power. I have asked the factory to install all LED lights so while at anchor the only power draw will be the fridge and occational use of the VHF.
PS the boat will be called "Wanderer"
Thanks for your help!
John

 

[SGIDAVE]

Hello John,

WELCOME to Tugnuts! You will LOVE the 21EC - its a great boat.

I have done numerous mods to my 21EC including adding 2" memory foam to the Vberth and also cutting each side in half to make accessing the storage underneath easier.

I remounted the house power and bow thruster switches to make them more user friendly. Pics are in my album.

I removed the "house" battery that was under the engine box and moved it to the rear port side area. My house bank is now two 6V golf cart batteries. The boat originally had factory AC, so there where 2 batteries in the aft port area but the AC was removed along with the batteries by the original owner. So, my boat had TWO Blue Sea ACRs, one of which was no longer necessary after my re-working of the batteries...just a "start" battery under the motor box and a 'house' bank under the aft-port seat. This simplified things wiring-wise significantly.

Part of the wiring changes included adding a Blue Sea Dual Circuit Plus ON/OFF switch (item 6011) which controls BOTH battery banks. This way, I can turn ONE switch and the boat is either ON or OFF. No worries about parasitic drain, etc. The "PLUS" version of the switch has a 'combine' feature so I can combine both banks in an emergency. In the stock configuration (2013 MY) there were NO battery switches near the batteries; the 'house' has a switch under the console to turn off house power and the thruster has a shut-off under the STB v-berth. Otherwise, all wires are energised from the batteries forward to the switches. I prefer to have a way to shut things OFF nearer to the batteries.

I've read most of the electrical-related "How-to articles" on the Compass Marine site (http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects) This guy is a marine surveyor and has many pictorials of proper electrical, etc set-ups. He advocates using ONE battery bank for everything and keeping a second, single battery as a 'backup.' In this manner you would set up your boat with a 2-3 battery bank that serves as both 'house' and 'start.' The second bank (just one 12V battery) would start your engine if the 'main' bank gets too discharged. This sounded WRONG to me at first. Further, he recommends connecting the two banks with an A/B/Both/Off type switch. That way, when the 'main' bank goes dead ("A" on the switch, lets say), you turn the selector to B and you have the back up battery all charged and ready to start your engine. COMBINING a good battery with a DEAD bank is really a BAD idea. This way you ISOLATE the bad bank and dont waste the good battery by combining it with the discharged one. Makes sense. The two banks get charged just like usual with an ACR which will separate them and preserve the back up battery. This is not how my boat is presently wired but I think it is a good idea.

Congratulations on the new 21EC!

Dave

 

[Ard]

John-

Welcome aboard! I think you'll find very few here who actually cruise the R21. I would be at least one exception. Keep in mind that I have a 2002 R21 Classic so regarding my input, your mileage may vary.

By far the single most important mod to my boat was the custom canvas camper back (photos in my gallery). Besides protection from bugs, wind, sun, and rain, I require the additional dry storage space for the items I must carry to be self sufficient for up to a month at a time. Not to mention that it (for the most part) overcomes the low freeboard in the cockpit. If I were to purchase a 21EC I would seriously consider a rigid top for the cockpit with the addition of canvas sides. This would also allow you to permanently mount several hundred watts of solar panels since the pilot house roof is consumed with skylights.

I see you've posted more specific questions in other threads so I'll respond to those there. Feel free to PM me as I'd welcome a personal conversation where I can be excessively opinionated without soiling my stellar reputation on this forum :twisted:

Ard

 

[Pilotnavigator]

I had sailed a small Sun Cat and the first thing I made was a complete cockpit canvas cover. Once I get the boat I have a SS fabricator and canvas guy ready to go on the full enclosure.