Members' Online Book: Alternative Energy For Voyaging, Chapter 6 of 6

Watt & Sea Hydro Generator Review

AndySchell Published Aug 4, 2017 34 comments Updated April 11, 2018

‘Wattsson', a Watt & Sea 600 watt hydro generator, has become part of the Isbjorn (our Swan 48) family. He joins ‘R2-D2’, our autopilot, as simultaneously our most and least favourite pieces of gear on the boat.

We sail Isbjorn 10,000 miles a year, and Wattsson happily hums along, day and night, providing all of our electrical needs at sea and then some. However, it's taken a full year and nearly $10,000 to finally work out the kinks, but I still think he is worth it...to us. Here's why, and why he might not be worth it to you.

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Meet the Author

AndySchell

Andy grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and spent a year cruising Bahamas with his family. He met Mia on a backpacking trip in New Zealand in 2006, and the two have been seeking adventures together ever since. They've logged over 70,000 bluewater miles and have crossed the Atlantic a combined nine times (5 for Mia, 4 for Andy). Andy and Mia share their love of offshore sailing by taking paying crew on voyages on their Swan 48 "Isbjorn" and through their wildly popular podcast On The Wind Andy & Mia are based in Sweden when they're off the boat & love endurance sports!

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