In a perfect world our budget would be measured in fathoms.

In the real world we do our best to simply not run aground. When we jumped into the waters of boat life there was a budget. We didn’t have a big budget, but there was a plan for what we needed and wanted. Then we got to the boat yard and discovered an unplanned project of the highest priority. Projects of that caliber are of course expensive, and that meant we had to reallocate our budget plan. Priorities prior to the discovery of the anchor locker holes were still important though. Priorities like power management.

Having power to run the various instruments can be the difference of getting stuck on anchor while a tornado forms in the Gulf and being able to start the engine and motor to safe harbor. We know this from experience.

We had a plan to install solar panels while on the hard. With the depletion of funds, we had to seek an alternative solution. Enter Dokio and Paxcess. We purchased the 500w portable power station from Paxcess and paired it with the 150w folding solar panels from Dokio from Amazon. They have been a life saver for sure. Although we still got knocked down and dragged 700 feet during the above-mentioned storm, this power house was enough to charge our starter battery and fire up the engine. What had happened was…

We went out on anchor knowing the storm was coming. Forecasts said it shouldn’t be that bad. We needed and wanted the experience of what it would be like to be on anchor in less than favorable conditions. In fact, the forecast changed to even less severe conditions so we figured it was the perfect opportunity.

We headed out into the bay and dropped anchor just after sundown. We slept on deck like babies. When we woke up in the morning, we realized we were a little closer to shore than we cared to be since it started to get shallow very quickly from where we were. Turns out that in the dark we let out less that 100 feet of chain in about 18-20f feet of water. We didn’t drag, but we knew it would happen if we didn’t do something about it.

On previously owned boats, the new owner gets to deal with all of the fun stuff the previous owner(s) have done. For us, that includes a rat’s nest of electrical wires. It looks like what happens when you give a kindergarten class a box of sharpies and cut them loose on a dry erase board that has quantum calculations prepared for lecture. Needless to say, there is a mess. We had a constant power drain that included incorrect wiring of the house and starter batteries.

At that time, we had enough power to start the engine so we picked up the anchor and reset it. That took a couple tries but we got it done tried to relax a bit before the storm came in. After a brief shore excursion, we returned to Sloop Naut to check in on our solar charging NOAA radio, courtesy of the Texas Association of Broadcasters. NOAA apparently changed their mind about the severity of the storm. Turns out it was going to be a good blow that would last the weekend. Still, it wasn’t anything to worry about. Some rain and wind with gusts up to 25 knots.  We should be fine!

We watched a couple sailboats and a coastguard ship come into anchor. Then the weather came in. Turns out we were not as protected as we thought. The wind was strong enough to cause us to drag a bit but not too much. When the first wave of the storm calmed a bit, we decided it would be a good idea to find better protection. At this point we realized that the starter battery had drained below cranking power. Not good.

The first part of the day while the weather was still good, we had pulled out the Dokio solar panels and hooked them up to the Paxcess. We reached 100% capacity easily. We were using the power source to supply our devices and it was working well. There are two 110v outlets, one 12v plug, three usb slots and one usb-c slot. The Paxcess has a safety feature that allows it to deplete down to 10% while supplying 110v power and down to 0% on 12v. However, someone left their laptop plugged in over night and that had depleted the Paxcess to 20% capacity. With a little panic as we were dragging slowly towards shoal and some quick thinking, we hooked up the 110v battery charger to the box.. We used the available 10% up quickly. Fortunately, that was enough to start up the engine! Just in time, we pulled up the anchor and got to moving into deeper water in search of more protected anchorage. The coastguard ship had moved so we decided they had the right spot that we wanted.

Again, it took a couple attempts but we got set in and we were more confident in our anchorage. Unfortunately, it was very overcast so recharging the box didn’t happen. All we could do was sit and wait for the next round of blow that was coming in the next day. We had power to start again so we figured we were ok.

We were wrong. The next day we were listening to NOAA as the weather blew in from the Gulf. It was definitely stronger than expected. So much so that NOAA ducked out on us for a bit. I mean, no signal. No broadcast. Nothing. No one on the other side of the transmitter telling us it was going to be ok or that it was going to hell in a hand basket time or anything.

Things got really blurry after that. The rain came in and the winds picked up. Gilligan’s island theme song came to mind and got stuck there. Our “tiny ship was tossed”. We bobbed and weaved like Mohammad Ali. At one point we were both below deck when the entire world went sideways. Everything from the port side of the galley was instantly on the starboard side and then the sole. Sloop Naut quickly righted herself but then the anchor alarm went crazy! We were obviously moving. Our anchor had jerked and broke free and we began a 700 foot drag towards shore.

We sprang into action and managed to deploy our CQR and about 100 feet of chain and rope rode. That anchor managed to snag an underwater obstruction, probably a sunken boat, and we jerked into a stop. After a few minutes of rattled nerves, we realized we were not dragging any more. That was when we looked at the charts and surmised what had happened with the obstruction.

We managed to ride out the next little bit just bobbing with the waves and swinging a bit, but we didn’t drag any more. Not long after NOAA came back to tell us the storm was passing and we would be ok. We later found out about the tornado that formed in the Gulf before falling apart in the bay we were anchored in. We got hit with 65-75 mph winds from that.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the power in the batteries to start nor had we the chance to charge the Paxcess. We were stuck there. Literally. We knew we were in a crap situation. The weather was abating but it was still going to be overcast for at least 24 hours. So we called SeaTow. It took a bit of effort to haul up both anchors by hand. The CQR had to be tugged free by the tow boat but we didn’t lose any ground tackle. After 4 hours of assistance, we were towed safely back to the slip.

It must be mentioned that had we been more responsible with the power we had managed to generate we would not have had that expensive towing bill. The panel really only pulls at max 75 watts to charge but that is sufficient to charge the power box. A better controller would allow us to take in more power. The controller that came with the panels maxes out at 10 amps.

The versatility of the controller is cool. It has an adapter to alligator clip straight to the battery terminals and 2 usb outputs for devices. It can keep a decent charge on the house battery. We have since upgraded to 400ah lithium plus a new starter battery that we had previously purchased. The panels also have an adapter for plugging into the power box which can charge the battery to 100% in less that a day when its sunny. Even on cloudy days we manage to pull 35w. That can get us to 60% at least from sun up to sun down. It took 10% on 110v to run the battery charger long enough to get the engine to start so that was impressive. We spent around $800 for this portable power station that can easily be loaded into Little Naut for off grid shore excursions as well. This is not a permanent solution by any means but it will get us by for now.