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Covid was the best time to get a yacht in living memory. IDK why small recreational sailboats are so associated with wealth, it's a very accessible middle class

Covid was the best time to get a yacht in living memory. IDK why small recreational sailboats are so associated with wealth, it's a very accessible middle class hobby and most of the people doing it are not particularly wealthy. If you can afford a second car you can afford a sailboat. The problem with starlink for sailing is the power usage. Prime solar panel space is pretty limited on a sub-30 foot boat and the starlink hardware takes approximately as much power as everything else you would want to run combined (gps/plotter, ais, nav lights, radios). Unless they're releasing new hardware this won't really be usable except on large cruising boats, which are more of a rich people thing.

cromka 1y ago
Starlink Mini consumes 25-40W. That's 0.3/0.5kWh a day.
- giraffe_lady 1y ago
  So pretty much what I said? A small boat will usually have two 200w panels, at any time one is blocked by the sail and the other usually doesn't make more than 75-100w bc of bad angle.
  - cromka 1y ago
    Panels are already at 25% efficiency, so 650 and 715W (bifacial) today and 750W by the end of this year, at around 100 USD a piece. If you need more power, you can easily upgrade at almost no cost, compared to the gains of having a Starlink onboard.
    - giraffe_lady 1y ago
      Those are twice the physical size of the 200w I use now. How big is your boat because if I give up any more deck for panels I'll be at very serious risk of stepping on them when working fore. If you have like 35+ feet then sure put whatever panels you want on there. I have two square meters of space I can give up and no more. Or build a bimini to mount them but that's $$$ and extra maintenance and more cockpit clutter. I'd also need to upgrade my batteries, deep cycle marine batteries aren't cheap. So like yeah I could get starlink on there if I really wanted it but it would not be cheap. If I was a different kind of sailor it would be worth it but it's not a trivial upgrade. But I'm on the great lakes, I rarely have to go more than a day or two without cell signal. If it was just a matter of slapping new panels on there I'd go for it though.
      - cromka 1y ago
        Fair enough. Although regarding the batteries, LiFePo4 seems cheap as well and I don’t particularly get why people insist on buying the „marine” product which is same battery in a different package. Something very typical in marine industry.

cromka 1y ago

Starlink Mini consumes 25-40W. That's 0.3/0.5kWh a day.

giraffe_lady 1y ago
So pretty much what I said? A small boat will usually have two 200w panels, at any time one is blocked by the sail and the other usually doesn't make more than 75-100w bc of bad angle.
- cromka 1y ago
  Panels are already at 25% efficiency, so 650 and 715W (bifacial) today and 750W by the end of this year, at around 100 USD a piece. If you need more power, you can easily upgrade at almost no cost, compared to the gains of having a Starlink onboard.
  - giraffe_lady 1y ago
    Those are twice the physical size of the 200w I use now. How big is your boat because if I give up any more deck for panels I'll be at very serious risk of stepping on them when working fore. If you have like 35+ feet then sure put whatever panels you want on there. I have two square meters of space I can give up and no more. Or build a bimini to mount them but that's $$$ and extra maintenance and more cockpit clutter. I'd also need to upgrade my batteries, deep cycle marine batteries aren't cheap. So like yeah I could get starlink on there if I really wanted it but it would not be cheap. If I was a different kind of sailor it would be worth it but it's not a trivial upgrade. But I'm on the great lakes, I rarely have to go more than a day or two without cell signal. If it was just a matter of slapping new panels on there I'd go for it though.
    - cromka 1y ago
      Fair enough. Although regarding the batteries, LiFePo4 seems cheap as well and I don’t particularly get why people insist on buying the „marine” product which is same battery in a different package. Something very typical in marine industry.