Water catcher tarp design needed

[Marionwyatt49]

Heading bahamas and have a small tarp for water catching does anyone have a good design

[janice142]

In my opinion, some water gathering contraptions are, well, way too complicated. For us, we have a hard dink and keep her cleaned out. When it rains, I bail the dinghy into the water fill tank. I've considered adding a bilge pump to the set-up, piping the drains from the pilothouse into the tank and more -- but they just seemed to be more "stuff" and the dinghy system is so easy....

HOWEVER there are times when I wish I had a large funnel to put into the water fill hole -- it would make bailing less precise but the system in place works. Good luck.

[Randyonr3]

We have two sheets, one runs from the standing rigging under the boom to the dodger, ane another forward of the rigging, lash it on takes less than a couple minutes... Also works as a sun shade

[delmarrey]

I bought one of these and made a square frame to support it. Then hang it from a halyard forward of the mast while at anchor. Under way in light winds I brace it between a couple stanchions and amidships. Both with the hose running into a tank.

http://www.dripnet.com/

[roverhi]

We had an awning that covered the boat from the mast to the backstay. The awning tied to the lower shrouds forward and had a spreader amidships and at the backstay. Just cut holes and inserted plastic through hulls on each side of the boom. Tied line to the through hulls to pull them down when we wanted to collect water. Ran the water through vinyl hose to the tanks.

The awning was great air conditioning getting us comfortably through a summer near the equator and giving us shelter from rainshowers as well as catching water. We didn't have to shlep water to the boat in 1 1/2 years sailing in the tropics.

[holmek]

Keep your side decks clean and fit a thru hull at the lowest point on the side deck, - usually around the cockpit area. Carve a wood block to fit athwartships between the cockpit coaming and the toerail to stop rain water from flowing by and to create a dam. Below deck, - fit a valve to the thru-hull and have a hose to direct the water to the tank. Each time it rains and you wish to collect water, take a fresh water shower while you give the side decks a quick scrub to remove any salt or dirt on the deck and the decks will collect all the water you need.

[gjordan]

I sewed a full awning from the mast to the backstay, but instead of putting hard plastic thru hull fittings, I sewed 6 inch long sleeves out of Sunbrella that I would put a hose into and snug it with a piece of small line that was sewn to the sleeve. If I didnt want water, I just pushed the sleeve up thru the awning. It worked great and did not have something hard to hit you in the eye if you were trying to take the awning down in a blow. I think I got the idea from a sailright book._____Grant.

[Mike OReilly]

Any pics of the collectors that you've built roverhi & gjordan?

[gjordan]

What I did was primarily a real good sun awning that could be used for rain catching as an added benefit. I dont think I have any photos left of it, but it was simple. The sleeve was made by taking sunbrella and putting it around the size hose you expect to use, and sewing right up next to the hose(as snug as you can). Turn the sleeve outside in(the seam you just sewed goes on the inside), cut a hole in the awning and sew the sleeve in. I think the sleeve was made with the selvage edge at the end that hung down, so that it didnt unravel in the wind. Sew a piece of small (1/8) nylon about 6 or 8 inches long so that you can snug up the sleeve when you put the hose in. The placement of the sleeve is important, in that you dont want it right at your dodger or some place that makes it awkward. If I remember correctly I put it about 1/3 of the way from the edge to the awning peak. I also put a loop of small rope near it , so I could tie that area down to form a low point, and , so that the wind didnt just shake the water off of the awning. Making the awning was time consuming since I hand sewed a bolt rope around the whole thing, and up the center, but I would not have enjoyed the tropics at all without it. I hope my verbal explanation makes sense to you.____Grant.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Marionwyatt49

Heading bahamas and have a small tarp for water catching does anyone have a good design

You can buy my Bimini. Its catches all the water and then it slowly leaks through....

[gjordan]

Since this stirred the old brain cells, I just remembered that I made the awning reefable. I could roll it back to just in front of the dodger and and still use the center point that the main halyard attached to, and the grommets at the outer edge to tie to the life lines. That negated the rain catching, but was useful when the trades were heavy. Another 2 cents worth.____Grant.

[captain58sailin]

When underway, I hang a 5 gallon bucket where the main mast and boom come together, with a garden hose fitting in the bottom and run it directly to my tanks. It is amazing how much water runs off the main sail.