Powerful digital tools for working on a sailboat
Don't imagine being able to tell your boss that you couldn't work because you ran out of battery and your computer cut out. When you take your work on board your boat, there is no right to make mistakes!
The first principle to put all the chances on your side is to acquire quality equipment. Beyond protecting you from breakage, this will optimize your time of use: the devices released in recent years have a lower consumption and a better autonomy.
The load of computer equipment at sea
Use the boat's energy to recharge
At the dock, with your boat connected to the 220 v power supply of the port, the installation is almost the same as at home. Take advantage of this to charge all your work tools before departure!
At sea, you will then have to use your boat's battery(ies) to supply your tools with energy.
A sailboat with service batteries in good condition will allow you to recharge your equipment almost without constraint. For smartphones and tablets, the use of a 12V cigarette lighter can be sufficient. A USB power strip allows you to charge several tools at the same time.
For charging computers, a voltage converter allows you to work almost like in the office. Of course, it is out of the question to leave it constantly in power: remember to unplug it once the charge is over!
Installing solar panels, a wind turbine or a hydro-generator on board will bring more flexibility to the use of the boat's energy. With solar panels, it can be wise to privilege the load during the sunny periods, not to draw too much from the resources of your sailing boat.
Charging autonomously with external batteries
When the boat's batteries are not sufficiently charged, external batteries or back-up batteries are an interesting alternative. The charging speed with these tools is significantly slower, but you will be able to work while recharging and choose to set up wherever you want.
Of course, you will have to think about charging these mobile batteries beforehand. Some of them can be powered by solar energy, which is quite practical when sailing.
Optimize the use of instruments to save money
As you sail away from the coast, it becomes increasingly difficult to get a signal from the various networks. On your smartphone, disable the mobile network search to save battery life! The same goes for WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC networks: turning off unnecessary network searches will increase the autonomy of your tools.
Reducing screen brightness, closing unused applications, using Airplane mode or the "battery saver" mode offered by some devices can also help save time.
Preserve IT tools over the long term
Your computer tools are very fragile and without them, your whole way of working would have to be rethought!
Protect them from the aggressive environment in which you find yourself humidity, salt, sand and sun are very harmful and considerably reduce the life of your tools. To keep them longer, think also of store them well after use and prevent possible falls at the cottage .
