Westsail 32 — Full-Time Liveaboard on AGM
sailboat · 12V system · Sausalito, CA
Classic Westsail 32 kept on a mooring in Sausalito Bay. Three 100Ah AGMs feeding minimal liveaboard loads year-round. Deliberately simple — no watermaker, propane cooking, minimal electronics. 3 days autonomy sized for Bay Area fog stretches.
Daily load
2,266 Wh
Daily Ah
189 Ah
Battery
1200 Ah AGM
Solar
800 W
Load budget
| Load | Watts | Qty | Hrs/Day | Wh/Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12V Marine Fridge | 45 | 1 | 14 | 630 |
| Anchor LightCRITICAL | 10 | 1 | 10 | 100 |
| LED Cabin Light | 5 | 3 | 5 | 75 |
| Laptop | 60 | 1 | 3 | 180 |
| Phone Charger | 10 | 1 | 3 | 30 |
| WiFi Router | 10 | 1 | 24 | 240 |
| Freshwater Pump | 60 | 1 | 0.3 | 18 |
| Bilge PumpCRITICAL | 30 | 1 | 0.5 | 15 |
| Reading Light | 3 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
| Dehumidifier | 200 | 1 | 4 | 800 |
| VHF Radio (Standby)CRITICAL | 5 | 1 | 24 | 120 |
| Hatch Fan | 10 | 1 | 4 | 40 |
Battery bank
6 × 200Ah in parallel
Your daily consumption is 189Ah. With 3 days of autonomy, you need 566Ah of usable capacity. AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries should only be discharged to 50% depth of discharge, so you need 1133Ah of total capacity. We recommend a 1200Ah bank (6 × 200Ah in parallel), giving you 600Ah of usable capacity — enough for 3 days without any charging.
Solar array
4 × 200W panels · 84A charge controller
Your daily consumption is 2266Wh. With 4.8 peak sun hours, a 75% system efficiency factor, and AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) round-trip efficiency of 83%, you need 758W of solar panels. We recommend 4 × 200W panels (800W total). This array will produce approximately 240Ah per day at 12V. You'll need a charge controller rated for at least 84A. MPPT recommended — higher efficiency at this array size.
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