Expedition Evans · video

What this video covers

Brett and Jade Evans, with guest Ayana, spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mid-ocean on a 19-day passage, managing a series of compounding problems in building swell. The engine alternator stops charging the batteries — field current rises and the unit heats up, but no power reaches the battery bank — leaving the crew reliant on solar panels, a generator, and Bluetti portable power stations (Elite 100 and Elite 200) for redundancy.3:48 Brett explains the Bluetti units can run a washing machine, stove, oven, fridge, laptop, and Starlink in an emergency, and describes keeping one charged as part of a ditch kit alongside a life raft.4:49 A separate water shortage surfaces mid-dog-bath after three showers and two laundry loads drain the tanks; Brett starts the watermaker to replenish supply.8:44 Jade and Ayana make salt-dough Christmas ornaments and bake an apple crisp and orange rolls in the boat's oven.2:15 A weather system moving in from the north sends large beam swells ahead of the wind, making cooking increasingly difficult; Jade describes the galley floor moving out from under her repeatedly while preparing French onion soup for Christmas dinner.22:14 The passage confirms that power and water redundancy are essential on long ocean crossings, and that alternator failure mid-passage is manageable only with multiple backup charging sources already aboard.

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