Catching the wind...

Okay...this is it...our new wind generator for Orion...my captain has assembled it painstakingly, drilled holes in the aluminum pole as well as in the damper attachment, and finally put it all together :). The unit is a KISS, which stands for "Keep It Simple Stupid"...honestly...no joke. Before we finally bought it we researched wind generators on the web and haunted many of our cruiser friends with our questions on what they have and why and are they happy with what they have and if not why not...you get the drift :) Affordability was of course a main factor as well in the decision making process! Well...the KISS wind generator made number one in our books. The KISS has been around for quite a few years and many cruisers swear to it...please note: swear TO it not AT it...(although sometimes they might swear at it as well, hahahaha). A clever guy invented the KISS and used to manufacture it in Trinidad. His name is Douglas Billings, but we could not get in touch with him...emails and telephone calls remain unanswered! Luckily we found the (only) distributor for the KISS in the USA...a very knowledgable entity called SV Hotwire. They sell the unit at a little higher price, but boy let me tell you...their customer service is outstanding...and I mean outstanding! John and Libbie of Hotwire Enterprises are alternative energy experts and it was a pleasure dealing with them. We chose the KISS for the following reasons: operates quietly...needs minimal wind to start...is of such simple design that (if something breaks, which is not often) spare parts are readily available in automotive stores (!)...is comparatively light weight...fits in our budget...oh...and the customer service from SV Hotwire (Hotwire Enterprises) is outstanding...I think I mentioned that twice before ;)

We bought the unit with all the bells and whistles so to say...a damper attachment, which prevents shaking and rattling noises inside the boat (so that you don't feel like being on an airstrip when the plane takes off) and an MPPT controller, which is too technical for me to describe...suffice it to say that the MPPT controller diverts excess energy without manual input, so that the unit does not need to be monitored 24/7...this comes in handy when leaving the boat to go shopping or for extended periods away and gives peace of mind to us troubled cruisers!

Here is the KISS lying on the dock ready to be installed...the three blades that belong to the unit and make it look like a proper wind mill are not attached yet. My wonderful husband spent many hours getting the KISS ready...for which he got a kiss from me :)

Then came the day of installation and nothing went according to plan...but of course this is normal for us now, because IT IS A BOAT!!!! We are shouting this out with humor, because for every cruiser it is the same and it is our way of life now :) So "do tell" you might say, and here goes the story: With the help of our friend Jonso (thank you Jonso) Rick erected the KISS on the aft deck and attached the two supporting poles to hold it in place...all week we had zero zilch wind at the marina, but as soon as the KISS was up on its pole a wind gust of about 25 knots or higher swooshed over Orion and started the blades on the KISS running like crazy...of course nothing was properly secured yet and the support poles rattled loose (!)...trying to stop the blades from spinning, Rick realized that it was almost impossible to reach them...the pole was too high (!) It also became apparent that the top of the unit was not swiveling the way it is supposed to swivel. To make a long story short...with the help of another friend Alejandro (thank you Ale) they were able to stop the blades and tie one to the pole...uff! The next morning Rick took down the whole unit, dismantled everything, and went to work again shortening the pole...a phone call to John from Hotwire resulted in the elimination of a spring situated inside the unit, which was the probable cause of the non swiveling top...

All's well that ends well...our new KISS wind generator is finally installed...now off to running the wires and connecting everything...a big thank you to Jonso and Alejandro for helping...and of course much love to my captain who never gives up and forges on in our pursuit of happiness...we shall be "out there" real soon...woohoo :)