on board washer-drier

[cat480]

I am trying to decide whether or not to install a washer-drier on our new catamaran. If you have done it, would you do it again? If so, can you recommend a brand? Thanks

[Alan Wheeler]

You have to weigh up the benifits to you against the issues it creates. First of all is space and weight. Have you got the available space? and can you afford the extra weight? Next is power, no actually next should be water consumption. It tends to be easier to find the power these days, but water will always be the limited source. So can you afford the water use. Then power use. Even in the made for marine use versions, I don't know of any 12/24V units. If there are, I am not sure how good they will be. So you are looking at 110/230V units. So you need to be able to provide the power consumption. Now in saying that, if you can in fact provide the power requirements, you also have domestic units available as well. They are often cheaper and for instance, one unit we had did not use heat for the dryer. It used a dehumidifier and this made it much more power friendly. It collected the water it drew out of the clothes and if you had a specific water tank for general water use other than drinking, there is no reason that water could not be returned to the tank for further use. Actually the water would most likely be quite safe to return to a drinking tank, but some purists may say otherwise.
So now you weigh all that up against, is it easier to wash in a bucket and hang on the rails to dry.

[Cowboy Sailer]

And Mrs. Wheels agrees with "So now you weigh all that up against, is it easier to wash in a bucket and hang on the rails to dry." Wow!

[imagine2frolic]

You meet some fellow cruisers while doing laundry. Not to mention the locals, and getting great information on the hole in the wall restaraunts. It's not all bad being without every convenience we had in the house.

[JB]

We've had a washer dryer combo on board our Caliber 47LRC (Dulcinea - Caliber 47 LRC for Sale) since we commissioned her and can't live without it! Of course we have a 33GPH watermaker and generator for 120VAC power. It is made by Splendide, and has and continues to perform flawlessly. We rarely use the dryer as the Caribbean breezes dry things really quickly after the final super fast spin cycle.
While it is a luxury, no doubt, it has added considerably to our cruising experience.

[Alan Wheeler]

And Mrs. Wheels agrees with

No, she nags me about getting them. But I wear the pants around here, because she said I can.

[David M]

Whats the size of your boat? The larger the more likely it is feasible.

[Alan Wheeler]

I assume having a handle of Cat460, he is a 46ft Cat.

[Intentional Drifter]

We have a Splendide 2000S. Nice unit, works well. They do use more water than you might think, despite their claims. So, we tend to use it when either at a marina or running the genset to take care of multiple needs (charging, water, etc.).

Don't fool yourself about the capabilities of these small units. They do t-shirts, underwear, shorts, small towels fine, but linens and large towels quickly fill them up. The size of the load is too small to make these feasible. We also tend not to use the dry cycle, but just hang the clothes.

While hanging out at the laundromat has certain benefits, even with the price of diesel, it is cheaper to do it on the boat and air dry.

ID

[over40pirate]

A number of years ago (all my posts seem to start this way, as the boat has been hi and dry in my back yard for 5 years now!) I saw a 40' boat a fellow had built from a bare hull. He even built the deck/cabin house.
He had a lot of one of a kind things that were cool.
One thin he had was a washer and dryer. The dryer got it's heat from the heat coming off the refrigeratino condenser, which was mounted below it. I don't know if it was all home built, but it also had a stainless drum. I believe he had it switched to come on when the frig. cycled on. Very cool, or warm!
Another inovation he had were "boards" that slid down slots in the cockpit sole. They were at least 6-7 feet long, and about 14" wide. They filled in the prop aperature in the back of the keel, when sailing (2 blade prop)
He told me that Hereshoff (sp?) did tests and determined that removing the prop gave a certain increase in speed, but filling in the aperature, gave a larger increase.
This guys boat was very interesting. I sure hope he finished it and is enjoying the good life.

[David M]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

I assume having a handle of Cat460, he is a 46ft Cat.

Slapping myself on the forehead.

[gosstyla]

Also had the Spendide type, a few brands use the same machine, loved it. However, had the non-vented model, from what I've read the vented model dries better.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by over40pirate

A number of years ago (all my posts seem to start this way, as the boat has been hi and dry in my back yard for 5 years now!)

Experiance takes a while to accumulate - downside is not all happened last week

Keep 'em coming - enjoying the stories / input.

[pilot]

Sure, the machine is a lot of weight, especially for a catamaran.
But our Combo Splendid is used in combination with the generator running anyway (watermaker, battery charge).
On our MORGAN 41 we did not have the space and washed the "old way" (wonderwash)
Besides my wife I prefer the washing machine- I do not have to carry the dirty cloth to any coin washing machines in the vicinity.

[Nauticatarcher]

Dont think my wife would stay on boat if i took away her washing machine, also saves us a small fortune at laundromats that I can then spend at the bar and while I agree that laundrys can be quite social I have usually found the bar to be more so