We took the boat out today to see if it would finally go longer than 30 minutes autonomously. However, it was 4:30 pm when we got to the beach. The course would be just going back and forth between two points along the East side of the bay.
After we carried everything to the beach and sent the boat off we then focused on getting smoothies before the beach restaurant closed at 5 pm, as last time we wanted to get them but missed out. After we started to drink we looked up and the boat was on the rocks to the East. Took the kayak out to rescue it and it seemed ok, so let it go on but followed it. Out from the beach there was a strong breeze from the South. The boat has more trouble turning left and with the wind blowing on the back of the boat it did not make the turn to the North.
Again at about 30 minutes we had trouble. This time the motors had less and less power, and then the side LEDs did not even go on when the motors were turning. These side LEDs (with red and green filters on them) are on the same relay as the motor on their side. So the only thing that made any sense was that the voltage was too low for them to go on. When we got home we checked the main battery voltage and it was a bit under 10 volts. So this late in the day with some clouds the solar was not charging the battery nearly as fast as we were using the power.
There is no school Friday so we hope to be able to launch then closer to mid day.
Four boys and their Dad in Anguilla working to design solar boats that are safe, comfortable, easy to use, and can connect together to form a travelling community. "Art without engineering is dreaming. Engineering without art is calculating." Steven Roberts
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