I bought a 26 Ft cruiser earlier this year, used. It has everything except a generator and I went out and bought a Honda 2000. It powers air, microwave, everything (just not at one time). I store it in the engine compartment next to waste tank while underway. Even with generator there, I still can get down to the engine to check oil and such. Air conditioning is mandatory on this type of craft in Florida. Microwave and gas grill has made life bearable for Admiral.

Mark Crowe

tommy / mark - thanks for the info on the portable honda's.

Guys I never like to attack someones idea that the use, but do a search about these portable gen sets. Personally when I used one I would leave it on the beach and run my cord to the boat. seems to me trailerboats.com or clubsearay.com hammered this to death and most agree that it will work but has allot of problems associated with it mainly with co and spill proof on the gen set and corrosion protection. Remember when you store this gen in the hold you have now added a source of gas fumes that is not normally available in there as all our fuel tanks are vented outside. Our generators are installed and made for the marine environment. I am not talking you out of it just that a little extra precaution is needed. Hopefully this does not start a 75 page topic but it may.

I have to agree. None of my friends will run a generator,Honda or built in generator at night while sleeping. I own a Honda, but rarely use it because like I said,there is no room to hang out in my cabin during the day. While on vacation we always have shore power for night time.While on the boat, mine is ALWAYS in the open air. (end page 1 of 75) Tommy

The Honda 2000 has an "off" on the gas cap that completely seals any gas fumes (safety feature incase it turns over, salesman convinced me it works). I also "hang" the unit off the swim platform when running with the exhaust pointed away from boat. I am not worried about fumes this way. I also have detectors in the cabin which provides more safety.

I figure if I ever need a generator, I'll just buy one of those Honda units; put it in the dinghy, and let it float some distance away from the boat.

That safety feature works! If you ever start the gen and it dies after about five minutes and won't restart no matter how many times you pull the string ,check that on - off switch on the cap. I now have those little letters
painted in red and green..........
Our raft-up are usually 60-100 feet wide so we anchor at all four
corners.Since we are not spinning with the wind,exhaust from ANY generator could be a problem. That is the reason we don't use them at night......... Tommy