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Installing our Rutland 913 Wind Generator, by Paul Clevett

  As we liveaboard without a shore line it can sometimes be frustrating to have to run the engine every day to charge our big bank of 6 leisure batteries, so I have been looking at alternative means of doing so. I have had 4 solar panels for some time, but I don't feel that they are really pulling their weight especially as there are not enough panels for the 6 batteries so we looked to upgrade the charging system with something else. 

  Originally I was going to go for the 503 wind generator but we decided to go for the 913 with the "Marine Fitting Kit" (which is only a part of what you actualy need). 
  The unit comes in a kit form but it is very simple to get together, getting it in the air however is a whole different matter. The fitting kit did not come with any wiring or guy ropes, or in fact, anything to attach it to the roof at all. I did not have any instructions so this meant phoning the dealer as I thought we were missing the mounting brackets, which, it turned out where what I thought were for the guy ropes. 

  In the end my crew and I decided to mount the pole near the engine room, it's always good to do anything that charges batteries as close to the batteries as possible. We installed 6 mm wire instead of the recommended 3 mm simply because we could not get any 3mm anywhere! 
  Drilling through steel is not fun at the best of times, we put two of our 3 guy rope eyelets through cupboard roofs and sealed with marine sealant. Chris my crew spliced some hemp coloured polyester rope, this is about 2 cm thick so it really provides an attractive look. 
  So basically you bolt the base plates to the ground, run the cable through the pole and to the regulator supplied. Install the fuse holder/fuse supplied (I actually bought a nice looking and practical fuse box on "ebay"). 

So, how good is it?  
  Well since we put it up there has not been much wind! I've stood there staring at it. One night we did have a storm which made it go mad but one of the wires had become detached in the pole so it did nothing at all!
  I think it would help if the boat was moored in a wind tunnel. We do suffer from trees but it is the winter, I have seen it go round and charge but not for a long enough time to make an impact on our battery bank because it is so big. Saying that Marlec were VERY helpful especially a guy called Dave who really talked me through all the testing I should do to check it worked. 

  Overall - I do recommend it especially if you are a liveaboard. I've heard stories of some people not having to charge their batteries for weeks on end because of the wind generator but I guess they must have been living in a field. It's expensive but of good quality and I'm sure will give us many happy years free electricity…roll on wind.

For more about living on board a narrowboat please Click Here to buy Paul Clevett's ultimate guide for five pounds.

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Paul Clevett, who submits articles to JustCanals everyweek, is a Waterways Author. He lives on a 70 foot Narrow Boat (NB Tafelberg) in Cowley, Uxbridge with his Wife, Two Children and Crew Chris, and of course the cat. As well as writing his amazing electronic book which tells the reader everything they need to know about living on board a narrowboat (Click Here to find out more) Paul Clevett is an apprentice Roses and Castles painter (Click Here to visit his Roses & Castles website).

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