Resources
Field notes.
Practical guidance on specifying and living with marine and mobile power systems.
22 June 2026
NMEA 2000 monitoring: one screen for your whole vessel
What NMEA 2000 is, how digital switching and centralised monitoring work, and why one screen for your whole vessel beats scattered gauges and switch panels.
22 June 2026
DC-DC Charging for Overland Vehicles
Why a DC-DC charger beats a voltage-sensitive relay for charging an auxiliary battery from a modern smart alternator, and how to specify one for an overland build.
22 June 2026
How to size a lithium house bank for a cruising catamaran
A practical method for sizing a lithium (LFP) house bank on a cruising catamaran: estimate daily loads, choose days of autonomy, and add charging headroom.
22 June 2026
Solar, wind or alternator: power production at anchor
A practical guide to solar, wind and alternator charging at anchor for cruisers, comparing the three power sources and how they work together on a marine DC system.
22 June 2026
Watermakers explained: choosing reverse-osmosis desalination
How marine and overland watermakers work, what the Clark Pump energy-recovery concept does, and how to size a reverse-osmosis system by crew and usage.
21 June 2026
How to Calculate Your Power Budget
A step-by-step method for turning daily loads into watt-hours, amp-hours, battery-bank size and a charging requirement, with a worked marine/overland example.
16 June 2026
Lithium vs AGM for a Marine House Bank
A technical comparison of LiFePO4 versus AGM/gel for a marine house bank: usable capacity, cycle life, weight, charge acceptance, cost-over-life and the cold-charging caveat.
11 June 2026
Sizing Solar for a Liveaboard or Overland Rig
How to size a solar array from a daily energy budget — peak-sun-hours, derating, panel vs controller sizing, shading and mounting realities for marine and overland use.
5 June 2026
MPPT vs PWM Solar Charge Controllers
How MPPT and PWM solar charge controllers differ, why MPPT recovers more harvest in cool light and with higher-voltage arrays, and how to size one to your array and battery.
30 May 2026
Choosing a 12V, 24V or 48V System
How to choose between a 12V, 24V or 48V architecture for a boat or overland build: current, cable size, inverter and device compatibility, losses, and when to step up.
24 May 2026
Battery Monitoring and True State of Charge
Why battery voltage alone misleads you about charge level, how a shunt-based monitor counts coulombs to track true state of charge, and how it ties into NMEA 2000.