Category Archives: Liveaboard Topics

Topics related to liveaboard issues

Public Auto Charging at Port of Seattle

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To have a comparison with the public charging station in Ballard that I looked at on Friday I took pictures of the north facility at Shilshole.

Working device

One of the two devices has no charge cables. The second device had both charging points in use.

I took pictures of the charging state on each of the vehicles. The PoS devices charge by time plugged in. The Seattle charger I looked at seemed to charge by KWh. Charging by power delivered seems to make a lot more sense. I was trying to get an idea of how much power these devices can deliver.

I’m learning about electric vehicle economics right now.

It looks like each of these cars is charging at about 1 kWh / 10 minutes. Because the rate at PoS is based on time, $5 and 4 hours might get 30 kWh delivered. The rate at the Seattle charger in Ballard was listed at $0.21 / kWh, with a maximum parking time of four hours. If the charge speeds are the same, 30 kWh in Ballard would cost $6.30. While the pricing structure is different, at least PoS doesn’t appear to be more than nearby.

Please leave comments about how usable the system is and how often you have to wait for available chargers.

Public Auto Charging in Ballard

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Public Charger on 57th Ave east of 17th

While walking to the post office I noticed changes to the public charge point nearby. When the charge point was initially installed it had long cables hanging down to charge two cars at the parking spots on either side of the utility pole.

Retracted Cables

Today I initially thought that the cables had been stolen for $5 in copper. Then I noticed the standard plug up high and out of reach.

This design seems a great idea to reduce cable theft. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone that has experience with this system as to if it works well or otherwise. Simply not having the inactive cables stretched out on the ground seems like it would reduce wear, though the need for the motor to lower the cable on demand from the app is one more thing to go wrong.

For the Port of Seattle to install something like this would require moving the existing charging spots to be at the lighting poles or installing significantly taller poles at the current locations, but it’s the first real solution to cable thefts I’ve seen.

Shilshole Billing Update

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Accountants at the Port have been painstakingly connecting moorage payments to customer’s accounts manually for months to get caught up. They tested out billing with Fisherman’s Terminal recently and found a couple errors, but making progress. Shilshole Bills could be sent out as early as this Thursday the 20th.

Everyone should receive one bill with line items for each month plus utilities. Please check bills with your past payments to ensure accuracy.

No late fees or penalties will be issued for past months until March at the earliest.

Please be patient and courteous with staff if you see any errors. This hasn’t been easy for anyone involved and they’re working hard to get it right.

Welcome To Our New Neighbors!

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We have many new neighbors and families on our docks, so please introduce yourselves around!  We have a great community here at Shilshole and as liveaboards, we also provide a high level of security by knowing who should be on the docks and watching out for each other.

Get to know your dock captain and make sure he/she has your contact information for marina updates, security issues and upcoming events.  Ask questions if you are unsure about hazardous waste disposal, pumpout service, parking or pet issues.  And…please review the pages and links on this website for items of interest to us here at Shilshole.

Here’s some other helpful info…

Renewing Your Vessel Documentation

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If your boat is documented with the US Dept of Homeland Security, (NVDC-National Vessel Documentation Center), then you have received, in the past, a notice approximately 45 days prior to your documentation expiration.  The fee is $26 for a 1 yr renewal and can be done completely online.  NVDC is now also offering a multi-year renewal up to 5 yrs.  See their website for more details.

Last year, several boaters got a letter from a company (there are several) soliciting renewal prior to the regular letter they receive from the NVDC.  These companies’ fees were approx. $70 for 2 years.  Their paperwork and websites look very “official” and have caught many boaters off guard, including a neighbor of mine who had direct conversations with one of them.

These are 3rd party companies that have obtained the publicly available information on documented vessels and their owners.  They may be legit companies and are counting on us boaters to quickly make a decision or not verifying our GOOGLE search.  (Please read the NVDC site about 3rd party awareness information.)

If you want to remove yourself from any (non-political) solicitations, you can contact these opt out options posted on the Federal Trade Commission’s site.

Lat38 article regarding documentation scam

SLA Annual Meeting

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This Friday evening, your Shilshole Liveaboard Assoc. will hold its annual meeting online. This is an opportunity to hear what we have accomplished this past year for our community and our goals for the coming year. Your thoughts and questions are always appreciated -please watch for details on how/when to be posted on the gates and in the Oct. newsletter.