Here we are back in the same spot we were this time last year – one of our favourite places in the world, near the village of Hapatoni in Tahuata, Marquesas.
Hanetefau- Hapatoni anchorage
The sunset here are always amazing
A manta cruises by.....
As we have visited so many places we’ve been before in the last year I have not really been motivated to write much; well that and the mixed emotions of living in paradise while the world still copes with covid….. However, we have sailed a lot of miles (nearly 5,000 miles) and life in French Polynesia on a yacht, whilst not always without stressful times, gets richer for the knowing more….More about the nuances of culture and customs, more local people and more time just to take it all in slowly. Our French has improved a little but our friendships in this incredible part of the world have improved a lot.
Where we have been - more detail on our map page
Most of February and March 2021 we spent in Tahuata and with a side trip to Fatu Hiva, we met a great bunch of French cruisers who love diving, have many friends in the villages and enjoy a nice glass of wine or two – quite different to the stereotypical French cruiser, eh! Eric and Magali, on Masims invited us to a food sale after church one morning, here we met Tehina and were invited to her home – where we spent many an hour along with Dianne & Richard on Rodignard who we originally met in Panama, Didier on Manana, JP & MC on Holnis and many other great people, who drop in to Tehina’s terrace for a bit of wifi or long lazy shared lunch.
Everyone is welcome on Tehina's terrace
We spent some of the time with our good friends on Fat Susan in Vaitahu and we introduced them to Hapatoni, we went diving a lot at the wonderful shark point, visited our friends in the village, Floss from Fat Susan and I even went to church.
Amazing Hanavave Bay, Fatu Hiva
With the Fatties at Christian and Etienne's house
In Fatu Hiva with the Fatties we bought uke’s and had a hilarious and memorable meal at the home of Christian and Etienne. We made a side trip to Hiva Oa and did a fantastic trip all around the island by hire car; we really do not like the anchorage in Hiva Oa so prefer to keep visits here brief; we refuelled and provisioned a little and were gone the next day. Back in Hapatoni we did a few more dives and had some wonderful times, then we thought it was time for something new. That was when we called on Tafeta and Imelda – Imelda picked a mountain of fruit and veg for us from all around the village. We sailed upwind to the Gambiers on 18th March – 821 miles in 5 days.
Hiva Oa - harbour at Atuona
As part of the island tour we saw the largest stone tiki's
We learned to shuck Marquesan Oysters in Hiva Oa
We did write about the Gambier islands earlier, where we stayed until 13th April 2021 before we sailed on 450 miles – 3 days- to Hao in the Southern Tuamotu. Here we stayed for a few days with the kid boats Due South and Slingshot, we had met in the Gambiers. Also Perigee and Burisari were here and we all shared a fabulous curry night on the dock before we left and sailed onto Tahanea – 233 miles and 2 nights at sea.
Hao is not the prettiest of the Tuamotu but super friendly
Fab curry night at Hao
Diving the pass Tahanea, Tuamotu
One of three passes at Tahanea - so lovely
We were on a mission to get to Tahiti to collect a package from Oyster and for our covid vaccination but we spent 5 days diving at Tahanea, which remains one of our favourite spots in the Tuamotu. From here it was just 2 nights at sea (just over 300 miles) to Tahiti, where we arrived on 26th April and anchored by the airport and readied ourselves for the big city.
It's not so bad in the city with this view - sometimes it also blows 40kts here though
We had a warm welcome from 2Drifters who we hadn’t seen in like forever, so that deserved a GnT or two. We had packages waiting for us from Oyster and we opened the eagerly while enjoying a cold Hinano beer in a glass at the bar at marina taina. It was such a long time since we enjoyed a drink at a bar. The next morning early we dingied to a park opposite the townhall, presented our ‘carte de sejours’, which are our temporary residence permits, and within an hour received our first vaccination. That set the three-week timeline we had to get all we needed done in Tahiti and get off on our travels again.
The stand up paddle bar in Tahiti became a 'thing' - pic by Fat Susan gang
Whilst in Tahiti we made enquiries about the impact of our residence cards expiring as I needed to send off my UK passport for renewal; without even asking we were invited to the high commission and given a 5 year residency. We were beyond delighted and this cemented our decision to stay in French Polynesia for another year. Friends were heading off to Fiji, but there were reports of yachts not being welcome to visit some remote islands where people lived, so we decided we would be patient and wait here in the hope that next year the vaccine roll out would make it possible to explore more of the western Pacific. In French Polynesia the impact of covid on our cruising and everyday life was so insignificant, as the people here are just getting on with things, the idea of going where things could get difficult and could be a burden was something we didn’t fancy.
We had a wonderful time in Tahiti catching up with old and new friends but as soon as we had our second jab we pulled the anchor, refuelled and set sail for Bora Bora. This was on May 21st and as French Polynesia was about to open to tourists we thought we’d start our tour of the society islands in the most touristy island whilst it was still quiet.
We spent a wonderful month in Bora Bora, hiking, meeting locals, diving, and exploring the iconic lagoon. It really was magical, only a few boats and the weather was just divine. In Bora you must take a mooring and the price structure meant it was efficient to stay a month- not that I wanted to leave sooner. One morning Andrew went to help what we thought was a Belarussian boat with engine problems, it turned out to be Teiki and Te’a who live on a house boat in Huahine – it was the flag of Huahine they were flying on their newly gifted to them old Nicholson yacht. The next evening they invited us to the Bora yacht club for what ended up being such a fun and interesting night with a few long island ice teas. We learned all about their exploits on the ocean from Teiki captaining a raft from Peru to Nuku Hiva, to the goat that lived on their house boat and about living of the land/sea on the atoll now Marlon Brando’s for, I think, 4 years. Later Teiki took on the role of servicing the moorings in Bora, so we gave him our old dive gear and we remain friends. Bob and Ann joined us, we met briefly last year but often hear them on the PolyMag net – we enjoyed some nice dives with them and also L’orient who we met underwater one day…. but the most amazing was when a fever of about 50 eagle rays joined our dive. Just incredible and inside the lagoon.
With Teiki and Te'a
With one false start due to a huge 30 knot squall, we left Bora on 20th June for Maupiti. This magical island is just 20 miles west of Bora but the pass into the lagoon can only be entered in just the right conditions; we therefore left early to ensure if we couldn’t enter we could come back in daylight. As it happened conditions were perfect and we entered the lagoon, yes with my heart in my mouth, but actually very comfortably. We found only one other yacht there and then they left that day. We anchored for some windy conditions off the town and spend two wonderful weeks here. It really is the most beautiful island.
Drone flight over Maupti
We flew the drone to capture the pass, we enjoyed the Saturday BBQ with food cooked underground and got to know the local dance/music group who were practicing for a trip to the USA in October. The highlight of our stay was however when a new ship made it’s first visit to the island. This ship is a lifeline for the island and will only visit 8 times a year, it was a massive deal for everyone. Those who know us know that Andrew used to run a ship building company so we have been to our fair share of new ship celebrations but this one surpassed all – I made a video. It really was a day I’ll never forget.
Maupiti - Terevau Piti
On July 5th we had a good weather window to sail directly back to Bora – that doesn’t happen often, so after waving our friends Dirk and Annie off to Australia a few days before we enjoyed a fantastic sail right in the pass at Bora and took a mooring back at the familiar Bora Bora yacht club. Yes did we say we like Bora – we stayed another month, taking in some more adventurous hikes, hanging out with friends and a spectacular dancing show, when the dancers returned from Tahiti they put on their special show for the community of Bora Bora and we got to be there, courtesy of our friend and moorings guy Rudolph who drove us to the event. Sarah and Aurelian joined us in Bora for their holiday – they now live in Raiatea, it was super good to spend some time with them and see their little ones Nael and Mia growing up – Mia was born when they were next to us back in Bonaire; I even babysat one afternoon, which was interesting with kids that only speak French.
Super lovely to see Sarah & Aurelian again
Baby Mia in Bora
Great hikes in Bora
Raiatea from Bora Bora
Bora Bora show - just incredible
One windy afternoon we spotted a big Oyster approaching the anchorage; it was Uhuru. A few wines and laughs with the James’s and we knew it wouldn’t be the last we saw of them. A super interesting night on Uhuru for a 4 course meal cooked by fabulous Chef Dan, with the first Pearl farmer in Polynesia and his lovely ‘daughter’ from Bali, Jade was another of many fun times with these guys, including some lovely diving outside the pass. We love that in Bora you can go the beautiful natural parts of the island with no impact of tourism or enjoy great food at local or expat restaurants – we particularly love St James bar, Anthony always gave us such a warm welcome and the tapas and cocktails are just so yummy, one time a local guy here insisted on buying us both a special shot drink he liked and another evening we were having a sociable evening with a group of French nurses, when the most senior covid nurse ended up dancing her way into our dinghy tied to the dock in front of the bar. We always end up meeting people and having interesting chats here – even one of the captains of the Buckletlust (don’t get me started on that catastrophe though).
Lovely night on Uhuru
Social times on Uhuru
Mid July we sailed onto Raitea to catch up with Andy and Clare on Tintamarre we hadn’t seen since the Galapagos and to get some canvas repaired. It wasn’t long before we ran into Uhuru and other friends and shared hikes and meals in the beautiful island of Raiatea; whilst also visiting the hairdresser, the dentist and possibly catching covid…..
Hiking with the girls - Slingshot & Belladona
Resort time - at La Pirogue Taha'a
We upgraded our batteries to lithium whilst hanging out anchored at the beautiful resort on Taha’a and had a fantastic time snorkelling the coral gardens – it really was very good. Then after a quick sundowner with Sue and Brian of SeaRose onboard Slingshot, talk of weekend lockdowns started in the society islands and possible more – we carefully considered where would be a good spot and decided on Bora! As we sailed down Taha’a we passed Leo & Karin on their Oyster, Bubbles who we hadn’t seen this year, they were heading to Bora too – it was a bit of a blustery day but we looked at each other and agreed it might be our last chance to go; so we went and the next day local lockdown was announced. Uhuru joined us back in Bora too and we all headed to the remote and isolated south east corner, for what can only be described as lockdown lite for the next month. Having such a great dinghy makes getting all around the lagoon super easy; the police got to know us ;-) and just waved as we zoomed across a deserted lagoon to pick up food or groceries. We used the time to sand Askari’s teak deck and learn all about sourdough bread, it was actually a very special time and not anyway near as stressful as lockdown Galapagos. In Bora we had good food, restaurants and friends all around.
Three oyster yachts in lockdown Bora
Teak deck all sanded
Lockdown bora - out for lunch
Beautiful Taha'a
It was the end of September when we started our trip East again – 20th September we set sail for Moorea, where we spent a few weeks diving and enjoying the whales. Memorable times include meeting the crew of the superyacht Askari who instantly became good friends and we shared some great times together. One night US boat Windward put on an impromptu music concert attended by all the dinghies in the bay and wonderful friends close by.
Diving with Andy and Lucia - newly qualified but still no reg for the pic!
Dinner on Askari senior
Moorea - Oponuhu bay
Such a beautiful anchorage but so busy
Best pic from our day swimming with whales.... or just swimming
Askari in Moorea - yes we also changed our flag....
Music night in Moorea
Hiking with Lucia and Andy
Moorea is a great island and we got to see a bit more of it this time around courtesy of Andy and Lucia’s access to a car. I don’t know why we haven’t hired a car here before! Dave and Lulu on Syreni joined us for a few days as they prepared her to be sold– our whale swimming trip wasn’t as successful as last year but we still had fun.
Early in October in our opinion it is the time to start watching for weather for an opportunity to sail further east. As the cyclone season approaches, the weather starts to change, light wind days are more frequent, as are northerly winds as the convergence zone moves north and pushes the trade winds aside. We prefer the drier steadier conditions in the Marquesas during cyclone season, despite arranging insurance this year to remain in the Society islands or Tuamotu, we were looking for weather to make the challenging trip east. We also love the marquesas; for us it is the beating heart of French Polynesia.
Andrew spotted a nice northerly and we picked up the anchor on 8th October and headed for Makatea – an island without a lagoon we haven’t been to before but are super keen to see. We arrived after a quiet night at first light the next morning, it was spectacular but so was the swell. We took a mooring after the fishermen ashore ushered us to the furthest spot south but they weren’t going out of the small harbour and we weren’t going in. We only had a short time to make a decision in order to make the slack pass at Tikehau – 50 miles to the north – ever cautious we opted to leave, but not before a whale breached right behind Askari.
Le Tikehau
We made it to Tikehau a little after slack but managed to make the entrance with a 4 knot current against us going in. We anchored for the night near the pass with sharks swimming all around us. We spent the next two weeks in Tikehau exploring all over the atoll as the winds came from all direction. It’s a beautiful atoll with lovely small islets inside the lagoon, sandy beaches and wonderfully friendly people. We spent a few days anchored off the ‘Le Tikehau’ resort, so of course we were keen to go in for dinner. This turned out to be a fantastic evening where we were welcomed by Raipuni, who after chatting to for a while had spent time in Australia as part of an Ausaid programme; he was a big fan of Australia. It also turned out he’d visited the Gambiers and had been guided by our friends Matt & Christine after he gave them a lift. He therefore took us on a wonderful tour of his island and we ate meals with his family and at his friends house on the beach.
With Raipuni’s friends for second lunch
Mantas at Tikehau are super cool
After a wonderful time swimming with Mantas and not so wonderful time running from clocking winds we grabbed a weather window to Fakarava – it was a motor sail but got us there. Sometimes you have to take what you can and we knew we could get fuel and gas in Faka. That all taken care of the day we arrived, we snuck in two dives at the north pass. The timing wasn’t great but we still saw lots of sharks and fishes before rushing to grab a two-day weather window to sail to Raroia. It was a really challenging sail with winds from all directions and squalls as the convergence zone was all around us, but we are tucked in behind the tuamotu atolls so protected from some of the seas we made it. We did use a bit of motor at the end to make speeds over 8 knots and a fortunate lull in the wind after a huge squall allowed us to enter the pass without wind but three knots outgoing – shortly after the wind filled back in and would have created potentially dangerous conditions but we were in. Conditions for crossing the lagoon were not perfect as the light was poor and as these lagoons have no navigation charts you have to spot coral heads by eye, but we had a track from our last visit and took it really slowly. We anchored in the NW corner for a couple of days before heading to the familiar twin palms yacht club – just a clearing on the atoll where we spent a lovely few weeks last year. This year however it wasn’t as settled as clocking winds had us moving all over the place, Andrew found a great sand spit to tuck in behind for one blow and then back to the favourite spot. I was really quite frazzled at this point; whilst we have had a wonderful time in French Polynesia, the always moving, the covid impact, the guilt, the boat chores, the challenging sailing east and wind changes and crazy bombie filled atolls, all meant my mental health was at breaking point. Andrew just had to get us to the safety of the Marquesas before I lost the plot! We spent two weeks on our own in Raroia and used the time to overhaul the dinghy including three coats of paint on the bottom.
Beautiful Raroia - all ours
Painting the dinghy in Raroia
Twin Palms yacht club - Raroia
Raroia anchorage- one of many this time!
On 10th November, just 3 days later than last year we pulled the anchor, crossed the lagoon and sailed north to the Marquesas. It was a mixed bag – as is the theme this year – two days of sailing in pretty bouncy seas but only 10-15 knots and then a calm day before a motor sail into Fatu Hiva. On the way we caught our biggest tuna ever and had a visit from a killer whale. The further we made it north the better I felt and when the anchor dropped in stunning Hanavave it was like a weight had been lifted – my depression void was filled with the comfort of a place so familiar, the light on and the rocks and before I knew it old and new friends welcomed us.
Wow a killer whale on the way to the marquesas
On the same day - our biggest tuna
We met Titou and Kathi, who had recently arrived and carry on their boat a piano – Titou is a well known Jazz musician in France and Kathi plays percussion, with our tuna and their piano a party was conceived at Sidney’s house. Sidney is a French guy building a house in Hanavave and he welcomed us all. One day we dingied to Omoa for lunch at the snack, and reconnected with our friend Freddie. Freddie loaded us with veg and agreed to pick us up next morning so we could do the 14 km hike back to Hanavave. He arrived on time the next morning with both his kids who wanted to come and meet us (rather than go to school), we then had to meet their horse before he gave us a litre of honey and a mountain of cooked plantains to hike with – the drive over included a break for a lesson in the 10 commandments (another story). The conditions were perfect to spend a week diving, sharing meals/drinks and hiking – but Nuku Hiva was our goal for Christmas and where we knew I could find solace in some regular activities, regular internet and reconnect. Before we left we arranged for Kohu to replace the strings on my uke and met Pori and Lea – more on them in a later blog…. We had a marvellous day sail to Tahuata but didn’t dare visit as we’d never leave and then continued the next morning to Taiohae.
Back in Hanavave - Fat Hiva
Lunch at Sidney's house
Exploring Omoa
With Freddie and Maurizio
Hiking with a litre of honey
Beautiful Hanavave
Hanavave from the ridge
We had an incredible dive - cleared water and octopus all out to play
We anchored between our good friends on Dandelion and Avenger on 22 November and after shifting to the west side of the bay near our other mates on Spirit of Argo, with a stern anchor, stayed put for 6 weeks of incredible local events, dancing classes and workshops in other villages, exploring, beach barbeques and my 50th birthday party – which was actually one of the best days ever, despite my trepidation, thanks to Andrew, the wonderful Mama Alice and our good friends in Nuku Hiva it was beyond my imagination. The video is long but lovely.…
My 50th Birthday video
Hiking from Hatihau - overlooking Anaho bay
Drinking mangoes... Cruiser BBQ Jan 2022
New years eve 2021/22 - we made our own flour crowns
Sometimes we chilled together.... mostly I was dancing......
Dancing workshop with Tumata Tapivai
Making flower crowns at Maison des enfants
Dancing workshop Hatihau - me and Annabella
Tumata with Mama de Hina - Hatihau Dance
Dance at Fitness Marathon - Hakamanu - Marqusan bird dance
Dance and Fitness Marathon - me, Linda and Daniella
Commune Christmas party - two days of fun
Annabella, Hina and Priscille - incredible dancers and friends; Kanahau Ori Dance School
Dancing Hakamanu at the big tiki
My lovely dance instructor Priscille
Christmas lunch - might have been in January ....
Andrew, Askari in her spot with her swan
Cathedral fundraiser - 3 days of fun, music, dance and food
BBQ with Avengers and Dandelion
I think Andrew looks a bit like this tiki.....
Annabella and Kevin at Yacht Services make our time in Taiohae so easy, but this year after I started going back to the Kanahau Ori dance classes (my kuku’s). Annabella invited me to tag along when Tumata, an elite Tahitian dancer, came for the dance marathon and then to visit all the small villages. This gave me a new love for Nuku Hiva and was such an intimate experience. For the Haitihau event Andrew and I hired a car, enjoyed lunch at Chez Yvonne’s (4th time lucky) and did some nice hiking before the hilarious Tumata show, where Hina’s mum made me feel part of the family by gifting me a beautiful garland. The dance marathon and fitness event was the first of it’s kind in Nuku Hiva and all the dance schools took part – Daniella and I joined in and bought the outfit, did a few extra fitness sessions and had flower crowns made for the event. It was really hard but super fun – I still am no good at Tahitian dance but wow it’s so much fun; girls in French Polynesia love to laugh and have fun or joke more than anything, so it was really great to be part of this.
The new years eve party for the village was also super special – the extended show by ManaHaka was just incredible – we have seen this group many times and the leader gave a Haka at my birthday party but they have recently enlarged the group and prepared a special show for New Year. We partied into 2022 (although there was no actual count down) with Joan, Esther & Gerrard, Kevin & Annabella, Linda, John & Bev, and Karin plus the whole of Taiohae.
Manahaka - New Year 2021
We felt very at home, but the barnacle growth on the boat and our desire to travel kicked in. One last trip to Mrs Hoata to stock up on wine, resulted in lots of gifts of branded store t-shirts and hats – if you see us looking like we work at Magasin Hoata, no we just share her taste in wine…. Covid of course was rumbling along but French Polynesia was in a definite lull all over the Christmas period, so this enabled all the parties to go on. Life also goes on and during this period two people we had spent time with last year in the Marquesas died, not covid, both young men who we enjoyed and added to our past adventures here – Stephen of Hanamoanoe, Tahuata who loved our coffee, especially when I added chocolate and lots of sugar to it and David of Anaho, Nuku Hiva, who served the best goat curry and wouldn’t mind sharing his beer on a Friday evening. We remember them both fondly.
Approaching Ua Huka
We have long wanted to visit the island of Ua Huka – the anchorages are often exposed to swell and its even further east against the trade winds but a weird wind pattern offered us the chance to sail to this little visited special island. January 14th and we had the most perfect sail from Hooumi bay in Nuku Hiva to Ua Huka – we approached the island with excitement and anchored in the entrance to the small harbour at Vaipaee. The swell was impressive and the entrance narrow but we felt comfortable to leave Askari to explore for a few hours. Ashore we met super friendly people and it turned out one girl, Kelly, was a cousin of our friend, Imelda, in Tahuata, we were encouraged to visit Hane the next bay along the south coast. So we didn’t spend the night here but pressed on for two fabulous nights at Hane, where we were the only boat and were made so welcome in Hane and Hokatu where we visited the sea museum, the petroglyphs and met some wonderful artisans.
Hane Rock from Hokatau
Vaiapee, Ua Huka
Have Bay Ua Huka
We loved it here but the weather said we had to leave and we left for Tahuata – a truly yucky sail in zero visabilty and rain, the like of which I have never seen in the Marquesas as a result of the weather further west. We arrived in Tahuata to find a huge swell that would be really uncomfortable, that was until we tucked into our favourite corner – with no other boats we couldn’t believe it. Next morning ashore we met all our old friends in the village; what a welcome back we received; there’s nothing Marquesans like more than when you choose to come back to their village or island. We brought gifts and received more fruit than ever. Then the next boat to arrive was JP & MC on Holnis who were also here last year.
Back at Chez Jimmy - Tahuata
Back at Chez Jimmy
First of many lunches on Tehina’s terrace with her sister Leone, niece Vi and MC & JP
We were invited that weekend to eat with Tehina, Mama of the Cruisers, together and from there adventures were planned all over the island for the last 2 weeks – totally fantastic exploits and some diving too (that I will write about later), but less sharks than last year. However, the dolphins still visit every few days and we have now spent 3 weeks here with no plans to move. We are starting to consider what’s next but to be sure these islands will be harder to leave than ever. The connection we feel to French Polynesia and especially the Marquesas is likely never to be repeated – how fortunate we are!
If you didn’t see enough of my birthday pictures on Facebook-
here’s the movie 🤪🎉25th December 2021 in Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. Our friends anchored in the bay were invited to Mama Alice's house to celebrate Christmas and my birthday with a special Marquesan feast, along with the family and friends of our host. It was a special day with incredible food music, dancing, haka, games and cake. Thank you to everyone that helped me come to terms with being 50 and for all of you that couldn’t attend you were there in my heart.
This is the first blog written by Andrew and it is about batteries. If you don’t like reading about
batteries stop reading now. If you think you might be interested in batteries find something better to do with your day !
We have lived full time on Askari since 2016 and have rarely been in a marina. The last time we had mains power on the boat was in January 2020 so we have built some experience about how to manage our electricity needs. By August 2021 the Covid 19 Pandemic was surging again in French Polynesia and we were at anchor in Bora Bora when two things happened. Our diesel generator stopped working and the government announced a likely new lockdown. This was going to make it tricky to fix our generator as the parts we needed were not available locally.
The old batteries in their neat box
We knew our house battery bank was getting old and we had been managing it carefully with our generator. Batteries on Askari get worked hard with big loads from the microwave and air conditioning. We normally run the generator twice a day for one hour to take care of our batteries (we always maintain a minimum state of charge of 60%). Without a generator this was now a problem. After almost 6 years of ‘abuse’ we had no complaints and set about finding replacement batteries. We planned to buy identical batteries that we could drop in. This however proved difficult, so we were faced with a choice between buying “unbranded” Gel batteries in Tahiti that didn’t fit in the existing battery box, or make the switch to Lithium batteries.
Following discussions with other cruisers that had personally reconfigured their systems to Lithium technology we were convinced to make the switch to Lithium. Thanks in particular to Andy on SV Tintamarre and Josh on SV Agape for sharing their experiences and for their encouragement.
Plan A......
During the build of Askari in 2015 we considered fitting Mastervolt Lithium Ion batteries as they would give us more useable capacity than conventional Lead Acid batteries. The price premium for Lithiums at that time though was enough to convince us otherwise and we installed 600 Ah of Sonnenschien Gel batteries (essentially 6V golf cart batteries wired in pairs to give us 600 Ah at 12V). We knew from our experience cruising on ReVision II that quality Gel batteries could last many years – when we sold her they had done 20 years although no aircon or electric cooking on that boat.
We did however expect that in the future Lithium batteries would become more affordable, so we made sure that our systems and equipment was “Lithium ready”. The heart of Askari’s power distribution is a Mastervolt Ultra Combi which puts out 3000 W of 230V power from our house batteries and charges our batteries at up to 150 A when the generator is running or in a marina. It also handles up to 30 A from our solar panels too although solar alone isn’t enough to run Askari.
Without a working generator we were reliant on the two alternators on our main engine for some of our power needs. We run two alternators with serpentine belts mounted either side of the engine. We had supplemented the stock Yanmar 125 A alternator with a second, externally regulated Mastervolt 90 A alternator. Both alternators have internal temperature sensors which de-rate the output if the alternator gets too hot. Normally the Mastervolt alternator charges the house batteries and the Yanmar alternator charges the start and thruster batteries via a battery mate. We have the option to connect all the DC systems together with a switch so we can effectively use both alternators to charge the house bank.
The management of all this is through a Mastervolt shunt and sensors to a monitor with alarms and preprogramed events. We can view and program everything with a laptop connected to the Masterbus.
We only had crayons for kids to colour the diagram for cables
All of these systems were working well and allowed us to run the boat as we wanted.It meant we carefully monitored the voltage and state of charge of our batteries and manually connected circuits and disconnected at the right time to get the fastest charge times when motoring.With the generator running the combi charger manages all this automatically.We had no interest in adding further complexity simply to replace old batteries for new.We also had a neat battery installation in a battery compartment under the floor complete with extraction/cooling fan.We knew that the Mastervolt Lithium batteries wouldn’t fit in the existing box so were not in our immediate plans as a solution.
On Saturday Carolyn called Michel at Tahiti Yacht Accessories- he’s quite a character but said we were in luck as he had six 100 Ah Victron Lithium batteries in stock. We were doubly surprised when he told us the price which was competitive with European prices. They would even fit inside our existing battery box with only a few modifications. On the Monday Carolyn called Michel with a credit card number. On Tuesday Michel made up some new battery cables for us and put the batteries on a ship to Raitea. Wednesday morning we collected the batteries from the ship in our dinghy and took them to Askari. (They may have been lost under the cheesy puffs for an hour or so but we finally got them).
7am we are looking for the batteries
They are in here under the cheesy puffs
They are here!
We simply followed the setup instructions provided by Victron Energy, the battery manufacturer. We charged each battery to full which is hold at 14.2 V for two hours. We then connected them up on the cabin sole to test them before we started taking apart the existing bank. We changed all our equipment settings so that the batteries would be charged at 14.2 V until full and then after 2 hours the voltage is reduced to 13.5 V. At the time the new generator part had somehow been lost in the Ivory Coast so we couldn’t fully test everything, but we established that the batteries would charge with the solar and alternators and we could run all our onboard equipment. Our generator is up and running again now.
Charging each one
I guess he was doing research
Testing the whole bank - we made changes to the cable runs after this
On Thursday we removed the old gel batteries and set them up on the cabin sole so that we could power the boat whilst we modified the battery box and secured the new Lithium batteries. By Friday the job was complete; and all systems were running smoothly. That’s it three days at anchor and the job was complete, and if we hadn’t got distracted by beer and burgers one afternoon it would have been quicker.
Old bank running out of the box
We used socks to protect the terminals
Two months later we have had no issues and are enjoying some significant benefits:
-We have mostly decoupled battery charging from power usage. This is because we now can safely discharge the Lithium batteries significantly more than our old Gel batteries so our available power is double what it was. This means we run the generator less often and at a time we choose so life on board is generally quieter.
-Many of our electrical systems run better, especially fans, motors, pumps and SSB radio because our new batteries have a more stable voltage under load. We are now almost always at 13-13.2 V rather than 12-12.4 V under load. It’s a bit more efficient too.
-Our total generator time has reduced because we are always charging the batteries at the maximum battery charger output of 150 A right up to full. Some appliances like the washing machine have a variable power offtake (i.e. when heating the water) so it makes sense to run this from the batteries rather than the generator or else there are times in a washing cycle when the generator isn’t fully loaded. This wastes energy. The battery power for a 60 minute wash can be replaced with 20 mins of generator charging for example. Previously we mostly ran the generator when the washing machine was running.
-The charging process is very efficient so 10 amps in almost equals 10 amps out. Before, losses were more than 10% so now it doesn’t matter when we charge up because the efficiency is almost 100%. Those losses generated heat which was wasted energy so our batteries which used to get warm when charging are now almost the same temperature all the time.
We learned a few things that may or may not be applicable to other boats
-Our internally regulated 125 A Yanmar alternator reduces power output when hot (as does our 90 A Mastervolt externally regulated alternator). They work without any issue either linked together or independently. The Yanmar alternator is always connected to the AGM starter battery as this protects the alternator from voltage spikes. When we parallel the batteries to boost charging we can charge at 100 A continuous (150 A peak) at normal cruising speed. Bigger alternators might be better but we don’t see the value right now as our generator is fixed. We were advised not to use the Yanmar alternator for charging the Lithium batteries and to buy a new alternator or a B2B charger. We use a manual switch to link them together and to separate them and have experienced no issues with this. We simply monitor the battery voltage and state of charge and connect/disconnect as required. We have tested what happens when the batteries reach full charge with both alternators connected and simply the Mastervolt alternator switches off and the Yanmar alternator goes to float at 13.8 V which is too high for long term storage of the Lithium batteries so I tend to unlink the circuits before full charge. I think we would run out of fuel before we damaged the batteries by forgetting to unlink them!
- Victron make two different Lithium battery products.
oWe have Victron Superpack batteries which have internal protections (internal BMS) for each battery which disconnect the battery if a fault develops or sensors identify a problem. Victron Superpack batteries were essentially a drop-in solution for us. Other than some system setting changes and the physical install there was nothing else to change on Askari.
oVictron Smart batteries are very different from Victron Superpack in that they need to be controlled by a separate battery management system. The two products have quite different features and benefits.
-We have set up audible alarms on our Masterbus which we think will be compliant with future standards being proposed. I feel being hardwired and permanently connected is better than relying on wireless options. I already sleep with the phone by the bed, if I could monitor the temperature of an internal cell in my batteries by Bluetooth in the middle of the night I would. Not sure what I would achieve from that other than less sleep. In addition to audible alarms our Masterbus switches off charging and inverting circuits at conservative levels with respect to the battery internal BMS settings. To date we have had no alarms or events which gives us confidence that the system has been operating well within specification.
-On Askari our new Lithium batteries charge at about the same rate as the old Gel batteries did up to about 85% full. If we charge to 100% full each day we get a 20% reduction in generator hours. If we had bigger chargers available, the benefit would be greater (because our charger and alternators always ran flat out up to ~85% full). If we had a 300 A charger rather than 150 A maybe we could cut generator hours by 50% but that would fully load the generator so some things we normally do at the same time like making water might be delayed. I guess you get nothing for free, the power you use has to be replaced somehow.
-The wiring is the same size as the original build and is protected by the same fuses and distribution unit. The heat generated during charging and discharge is much less than with the old batteries and is approximately 2 Centigrade at 150 A.
-The automatic fan on the battery fan is controlled by a voltage sensitive relay from the battery bank. This is now an ineffective control as the voltage of the new batteries doesn’t change enough when being charged to work well. The sensor needs to read from the starter battery and this is on the job list to be fixed. This is the only issue we have found from the whole installation.
-I still have to run the generator to start the dive compressor because the inrush current is too much for our invertor.
-We were able to recycle our old batteries to another user in Raiatea which was a good way to finish the job.
-Our project was straightforward, and we are pleased with the end-result. If the new batteries last ten years then we will be in front financially. Time will tell.
Monitoring the systems
Charging to the max right up to full
Like most projects on a boat you will get three different opinions from three different captains.
There are captains that have employed a company to do the job and they have been sold a bunch of things that they believe they needed.
There are captains that design and do the job themselves but buy branded kit as it gives them confidence that the solution will work- that’s me.
And there are captains that build the components themselves and they will tell you how much money they saved.
Anyway, we found that there’s so much information and opinion out there that the hardest part of the task was sorting out fact from fiction. If you are thinking of taking on a project like this then its not difficult, just do your own research and make your own informed decisions.
La Pirogue for burger and beers
Note from Carolyn – Thank you Andrew - always direct and to the point – while he’s been playing with this project I learned to make sourdough bread, which I cook electrically so I’m happy. I also like putting the washing machine on while I drink my morning coffee rather than kick starting the day as the generator is on so all things electric need to get going. The place we did this project was anchored of La Pirogue resort in Raiatea and its super stunning. Ps I’m pretty proud of my battery geek
