Keep it Simple: Diversify Power Sources (Electric, Propane, and Human)

We generally have a rule of thumb for sustainable life on the boat: we need to be able to successfully drink water, eat food, poop, and sleep... not necessarily in that order. More and more what I see are boaters deciding to make every aspect of those items (except sleep) dependent upon electricity. In line with this series of posts on simplicity, my goal is to make a case for simplifying your boat in order to enjoy more of where you are and spend less time fixing things that are either prone to breaking, or are simply so vital that when they do break you can't ignore them for any period of time.

One thing in our experience is resoundingly true, our electrical system seems to have issues more than any other system on the boat. Whether it's battery issues, corrosion, loose connections, experience shows it to be true that the complexity that comes with even a simple electrical system creates numerous ways for things to go wrong. With that, I tend to presume that at some point (probably the least convenient time possible) our electrical system will malfunction somehow. Thankfully, we're diversified across different forms of power.

Eat Food: Food is best served cooked. If your electrical system goes down and your galley is 100% electric, it's snack time all the time! For in-shore or coastal cruising you can likely find a fix or a professional to trouble shoot your system, but it's still a significant inconvenience. In the middle of an offshore passage, it's more of an issue. This is one reason we've stuck with propane for our cooking power: yes you would need to bypass a solenoid valve, but once that relatively easy job is done you've cooking with gas again! The other reason we favor propane or some kind of liquified gas is how much power is packed into the space and weight it takes up: to replace the raw energy stored in one gallon of liquid propane, you would need a 26.8 kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery. That's absolutely amazing that a source of energy exists with that level of density, and it's easy to simply pick up and move around in a tank or replace once it's been used up. And it's simple: plumb it to the right fittings and light it on fire. It works every time.

Drink Water: We have an electric water pump onboard for day-to-day life, but just in case the motor dies or the electrical system gets fussy, we have a human power: there's a foot pump plumbed to the fresh water system so that we can get to the fresh water stored in our tanks even if there's no electricity. Not only does this mean that we can access the fresh water to drink, but also to cook with. And if we can eat food and drink water successfully, any electrical system outage is manageable and not an emergency like it would be if we could neither drink fresh water easily nor cook.

Poop: What goes in should, ideally come out! And when it does it's nice to be able to dispose of it appropriately. If you're at anchor or at sea, it's never the right time for the toilet to stop working because the electrical system is down. That's why we haven't converted to an electric toilet. We had one previously on our Catalina 30, but on the boat we take offshore it's a manual pumping head. Not only that, but the pump to empty the holding tank is also manual. Again, if humans are fed and watered, they'll have human power to pump the toilet or empty the holding tank when necessary/appropriate.

So all this is to say that an amazing electrical system can bring loads of convenience to daily life, but when it breaks, and it will eventually break in minor or more severe ways, it sure would be nice to cook a nice breakfast, have some hot coffee or tea, take a big poop (but not too big, and no TP please), and then solve the electrical issue at your leisure.