We made it to Lake Erie and Replaced Batteries

We made it to Lake Erie!

We left Grosse Point and headed on down the Detroit River.  This took us past Detroit where the GM building sits on the shores of the river in downtown Detroit.

South of Detroit was very industrial with heavy manufacturing facilities lining the shores.  There was none of the residential sites we had seen on the St Clair River until we were nearly out of the river and about to enter Lake Erie.

After entering Lake Erie we followed the shipping channel to keep water under the boat as outside the channel the water was as shallow at 3 – 10 feet until we were a couple of miles into the west end of the lake.  As soon as we were able we then made a beeline to our next stop.  We were headed to North Cape Yacht Club at Toledo beach.  I had called the club’s manager a couple of days before.  Barb told me that the club would be closed when we arrived on Monday, but to come on in and tie up to their dock.  This club was a jewel.  It sat across from the Toledo Beach Marina. That was a very nice marina having such things as a small bar and restaurant, ship’s store, brokerage facility, three lifts to haul boats in or out of the water. 

While sitting in the cockpit a club member came up and struck up a conversation.  Being another sailor, we spoke of solar panels and batteries.  He was very interested to find out about how satisfied we were with our solar panels.  He gave us the pass code to be able to enter the club’s showers and restrooms which was nice.  Although we have a shower in board, it is much preferable to use land based facilities to avoid the clean up on the boat. 

Cruising has been defined by some as ‘making boat repairs in exotic ports’.  Although we have not had many repairs, there is always something that needs to be done on the boat.  Here at Toledo Beach was no exception.  Although the solar panels generate all the power we need while on Grace, it requires that it is stored in the ‘house bank’ of batteries so we can use this stored power at night.  The batteries on the boat were over five years old and had not been holding a charge as high as I would like when we woke up in the mornings.  So I called ahead when we were at Port Austin to a battery dealership in Toledo, Oh and had ordered all new Lifeline AGM batteries to replace our lead acid batteries.  The AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries are similar to lead acid except they are truly no maintenance.  Plus they accept a charge faster meaning they can get back to full strength faster than the lead acid type. 

The battery dealership (Batteries Plus) delivered our new batteries to us at the dock where the boat was tied up.  Even better, the guy delivering the batteries helped me carry the old ones out of the boat and place the news batteries in to the boat.  Since each of the two house batteries weigh about 100 lbs each I was glad for this (so was Pam).  I replaced the starter battery with an AGM battery too so all batteries on the charge system would be of the same type.

That night we did not turn on our battery charger even though we were hooked up to shore power.  I wanted to see what kind of charge these new batteries would have in the morning after an evening of power usage of the interior lights and running the refrigerator all night.  When I woke up the next morning I climbed out of bed to check out the battery monitor.  Boy was I happy to see the new batteries had gone through the night and was now holding 12.7 volts charge!  This was GREAT! Our comfort and cold beer in the refrigerator depends on how well the batteries can store power.  Did I say we occasionally keep ice cream in the freezer?

These batteries would not be considered 25% drained until they hit 12.5 V and we were above that.  I could go on praising these new hunks of lead, but I’ll hold off for now. 

Don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions.

Have fun – We are.

Jeff