Winter Muses: Solar and Wind

There is no denying that winter is setting in, and the promise of an Indian summer seems to be disappearing into the distance as the Siberian winds loom across the fields towards NB Bones.

My solar panel isn't doing a great deal at the moment, and I am seriously thinking about installing a wind generator so I can have power during the winter months. The first boat I had had a Rutland 913 and I LOVED it; there was something rather welcoming about seeing the blades spinning round as I came home in the evenings. When I first moved aboard, I noticed that my wind generator seemed to work better than others, but I think this was because the pole it was mounted on was so much higher than other examples of the same generator. As the years have gone by, I have noticed other people extending their poles and this has certainly made a difference to their generators - they actually turn now!