Sailing SV Delosvideo
A Very Different Kind of Week 🙃 Building Our Own Aluminum Catamaran Pt. 68
8 May 2026 · 23 min · 230K views · Australia
What this video covers
Brian installs the 48-volt DC electrical distribution system aboard the aluminum catamaran Delos 2.0, currently under construction in Australia.0:10 The port forward technical space receives a panel of Starlight units controlling pumps, toilets, fridges, nav lights, steaming lights, and AC loads including air conditioning and the stove — all operable from a phone, helm buttons, or a manual override switch.14:33 The autopilot runs on 24 volts via dual 48V-to-24V DC-to-DC converters for redundancy; the rest of the high-current system runs at 48 volts.1:26 Battery installation begins with Simply DC battery boxes shipped from Finland, mounted in welded aluminum trays holding nine batteries per tray — 18 total, roughly 50 kilowatt-hours.20:27 Hull fairing work runs in parallel: the aluminum bottom is sanded, acid-etched with an aluminum etch solution, then coated with a micro-balloon-and-epoxy mixture to a peanut-butter consistency, filling weld craters to prevent marine growth and improve water flow over the rudder, skeg, and mini keel.17:13 Friends Warren and Erica visit the yard, help fabricate a custom part for their own boat from scrap aluminum, and are shown local wildlife.9:11 Kaz discusses managing mental exhaustion during the build through guided meditation and therapy.5:21
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