Boat Life Diaries: Solar System Woes & Island Adventures in Curaçao

The Never-Ending Sanding Saga

The hull drying continues—slowly. While osmosis treatments demand patience, I turned my attention to another critical issue: my failing solar system.

The Great Battery Drain Mystery

At first, I thought nothing of it. The battery bank showed 100% charge when I took over the boat in Bonaire, but day by day, the percentage dropped—without recharging fully. By the time I reached Curaçao, the problem escalated:
🔋 Voltage looked fine, but something was off
🔌 Shore power worked—so the batteries weren’t dead
☀️ Solar panels? Useless. No charge, no explanation

I was stumped. My basic electrical knowledge hit its limits, and the original installer refused to help.

A Lucky Encounter: Meet the Solar Whisperer

Fate intervened when I met Tomek from SV Pluskata—a Polish couple mid-circumnavigation. After a fun day hiking and showing them around Curaçao, I learned Tomek was a solar system wizard.

Diagnosis?
🔧 One miswired MPPT (the solar charge controller) was feeding false data, crippling the entire system.
💡 Solution? A five-minute fix—repositioning a single wire—and suddenly, my batteries were charging like new!

Lessons Learned

✅ Boat problems multiply—but so do solutions (often from unexpected places).
✅ The cruising community is priceless. Without Tomek’s help, I’d still be scratching my head.
✅ Even “small” fixes—like a single wire—can make or break a system.