New batteries in their crate
I arranged to get a rental car and my new friend Ken, skipper of s/v Trim, offered to come out to help me with picking up the battery. Ken used to work for an electric vehicle company that tested these batteries. So, he has some unique perspectives on the technology. We headed out and drove the 45 km out to the Noumea international airport, and soon found the “fret” (freight) area. After asking a couple of people, we found the right building and were soon in the right office. The gentleman there checked my papers and passport, and gave me the required paperwork. Then directed me to the customs office. Since we are a yacht-in-transit, the normal procedure in most countries is that you show your customs yacht papers and you do not have to pay duty. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple this time. They said we had to get an agent to fill out some forms before we could get the package. So, we had to go to another set of buildings, pick out an agent, and wait 15 minutes for them to fill out a form. Then, after paying nearly $100 for their VERY valuable time, we were ready. We went back to the freight center and were able to get our package. They conveniently brought it out on a fork lift right to the back of the car and it fit perfectly in the back of the rental car.
New batteries with DVD for size reference
Update: Since many are asking here are the details on the batteries we got, and we purchased them from an outfit in Auckland, New Zealand called AASolar.
Meanwhile, since we had a rental car, we drove around and did a bit of sightseeing around Noumea. We found a nice French restaurant and had a nice dinner with our friends from s/v Kilkea. We plan to do some more sightseeing with the car before we have to return it today.
Hi Frank
You may remember me, I wrote to you a few months ago enquirin about the St Francis. In the mean time we have chosen to buy the new Knysna 480 and they have started building as we speak.
I am following you blog with interest and must congratulate you about the variety of information that you provide on such a regular basis. In preparation of our plans this is most useful to us.
I have followed your blog regarding the new Lithium Ion batteries with particular interest because I believe this is the route we will also go but right from the start. The builders of the Knysna are currently dealing with Vectra and they do not have an inverter developed yet for these batteries. Mastervolt is present in Soouth Africa and they supply these batteries and inverters.
Who is your supplier and how many ah have you installed now? I am looking forward to hear how the installation went and how happy you are with their operation.
Enjoy your travels but always make sure there is enough time for writing this blog.
@Heiko: congratulations on selecting your boat. We purchased our batteries from an outfit in Auckland, New Zealand called AASolar (http://www.aasolar.co.nz). The batteries come from a China outfit called Winston Battery (http://www.winston-battery.com). Here is a link to the specific battery we got:
http://en.winston-battery.com/index.php/products/power-battery/item/wb-lyp300aha?category_id=182
I have heard some positive reviews on Mastervolt’s new Lithium-based batteries, but have not looked at them myself. Thanks for the compliments on the blog!
Question:
Tahina use AIS transmitter (Automatic Identfication System ) ?
We only have an AIS receiver, no transmitter.