Silverton Convertible 34 - "Solitude"

Geoff’s 34-foot Silverton Convertible, Solitude, came from the US and was designed primarily to move from one marina to another; it didn’t have enough electrical capacity to operate as a Pacific Northwest cruising boat. “When you do more anchoring,” he says, “you need more power capacity.” He and his wife became frustrated when, after being on the water for more than a day, the lights would run out. And they had to start the generator just to make coffee.

Even more worrisome was the fact that one of Solitude’s engines wouldn’t start after sitting at anchor overnight. Geoff overcame this problem by using a parallel switch, but this was less than ideal.

"Before PYS upgraded our power system, we had to start the generator just to make coffee," states Geoff.  "It was really awful—smelly, noisy, and it bothered other boaters. Now we can have coffee and use the microwave at the same time . . . no problem!"

PYS provided the solution by installing a dedicated house battery bank (4 L16 Flooded Acid Batteries) along with an inverter and a larger 60 amp Xantrex True Charge 2 Charger. With the engine batteries not running the house load, the engine batteries are never depleted. Geoff is secure in the knowledge that the engines will start, and that’s a big relief.