Alternative eleectrical power for 1969 370

[emeraldmist]

Hello All,

I'll start by saying this is a great website and forum. Our names are Trevor and Rebecca and we have recently purchased a 1969 Alcan 370 named Emerald Mist. We haven't had much time on her but I am sure we will grow to love her. The boat came without the onan generator that had been installed on it. I am trying to gather information regarding a battery bank of 6 volt batteries as well as any upgrades that may be required for charging. We hope to spend at least a week on her at a time. The boat currently has a "full" sized fridge in it. I was thinking of purchasing a 1K honda generator as a backup and to trickle charge the house batteries. Any information would be appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Rob]

Hi Trevor & Rebecca
Welcome to the world of Alcan boats !
This site has gone rather "dormant" in the last little while . . . as you can see by the comment dates.
I have an Alwest 370 (which is very similar to your boat)
Running a full size fridge takes a bit of doing.
I run mine through an inverter from a dedicated bank of 3 group 27 deep cyle 12V batteries.
The trick is figuring how to recharge this bank in a reasonable length of generator run time.
I do this with a 90 amp alternator run by the Onan generator.
See http://www.alcanboats.com/generator_mods.htm
Two hours a day (usually an hour at breakfast and and an hour at dinner) will run the fridge for 24 hours.
I can provide lots more details if you are interested . . .
Rob