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View Poll Results: do you have, or are planning to have, a watermaker
Yes 73 84.88%
No 13 15.12%
Voters: 86. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 07-03-2014, 16:51   #16
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

we had and will have again a WM. That one linked for $2000 seems suspicious. No data available till after you buy it? No installation or technical details? Strange. I would look into it thoroughly before blowing cash on it
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Old 07-03-2014, 19:54   #17
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

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Originally Posted by sailorboy1 View Post
I only posted the question as on another site it was suggested that the majority of people didn't install watermakers. But I have the feeling that they are more installed than some expect.

There are a lot more installed than some would have you think. It has a lot to do with who you are talking to and what class, type of boat, finances, and cruising they are doing. If you talk to sailors who are mainly in the 28' to 38' boat range I'd be willing to wager most probably do not. But once you start going up in length from that point the percentages who have them begin to rise. New boats in the 40'+ range are most certainly going to be more have than do not have range. Sailboats, especially Cats, are starting to get bigger every year and watermakers are starting to be considered standard equipment for most. So again it depends on who you talk to and what class and style of cruiser they are. There's a big difference in cruisers wants and desires who are in a 50K sail boat and those in 500k+ boats. One group will extoll the virtues of sun baths while the other group would not consider leaving the dock without watermaking capabilities.
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Old 07-03-2014, 20:24   #18
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

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Originally Posted by sailorboy1 View Post
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Originally Posted by monte View Post
we had and will have again a WM. That one linked for $2000 seems suspicious. No data available till after you buy it? No installation or technical details? Strange. I would look into it thoroughly before blowing cash on it

Ya...$2000 but then you have to generate the AC power. Can you say AC generator?...Which means an expensive diesel ACV generator or a gasoline one and now you have at least 10 gallons onboard, sloshing around for a typical crossing
I'm sorry for sounding like Debbie downer. I was going to build my own, being a Machinist/Engineer off the front of my engine, HP pump, belt driven. I could have made 20-40 gph unit but to design and get it right the first time here in Mexico where I do not have easy access to a Machine shop posed a problem.
With the suggestion from one of our Water Maker Members (you know who you are) I found a Spectra unit that needs a rebuild. By the time I'm done, I will have a unit that can produce 7-14 gph. and be less than $1700 into it, after the rebuild. More than sufficient for what I need. To be honest, with the amount of water my vessel carries (115 gallons) I can go from Mexico mainland to the Marquesas easily, with a Katadyne 40. But used, those are getting $1200-$2000, used and they use way more power per gallon. At 1.7 gph., you have to run them at least 3 hours a day since it's best to flush them with RO water.
For me, it means that if the wind dies I don't have to start mind #$@%ing myself about water consumption. Based on the spectra output, I will be taking long showers and eating off the Corningware.
If you are coastal cruising, you can put RO units lower on the wish list. But ocean crossing? I disagree with Tellie on size being a factor. The smaller vessel is not only slower, based on waterline, but usually carries less water too, making an urgency to produce your own water.
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Old 07-03-2014, 20:45   #19
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

On our new to us ketch, there is a Spectra water maker that sure keeps our main water tank filled up !!Im not really sure how much it makes per hour, but it's sure nice to have GOOD Drinkable water!! Over the last 30 yrs of cruiseing we have sure got a lot of water that was ok to wash in but not even good enough to cook with !!! I know it's gotten easier to get decent water these days, but just this last fall we got a load of nasty water in a marina in mexico that advetised there good water LOL so being able to drain that water and replace it with water maker water was a real pleasure !!I know that we will never have a boat without a water maker again !! Just my 2 cents
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Old 07-03-2014, 20:52   #20
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

yes we have one -- katadyn 3.5gph and we use our solar panels as it's energy source - we put it on just before we headed to the mexico and the western caribbean - water is a bit scarce in the san blas -- we run it about every day for an hour or two -- when we crossed over the to eastern caribbean we continued to use it instead of jerry canning out water - made life a lot simplier -- crossing the atlantic we ran it a few times - in the med last year we used it a few times as we mostly anchored out when ever possible
if i had to do it over again i would have gotten the katadyn 6gph(i think it is 6) - but the admiral thinks it is just fine as long as we run it daily or so
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Old 07-03-2014, 20:54   #21
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

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"Cockpit Potatoes" like us are never to far from fresh water. We'll pass on the watermaker because we are going to the town dock for beer, groceries, laundry, and snacks anyway.

Oh, and a special thanks to Tomfl for the Dan Quayle potato plural spelling tutorial!
What can I say, I use to be a lawyer before I saw the light and started cruising.

With the weather like it is I have been catching water in a tarp above my cockpit. Way too much of a cockpit potato to get up and get in the dingy and fill up the water jugs.
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Old 07-03-2014, 20:59   #22
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

82% seems the argument is all over.

From reading threads on watermakers the clear advise is go large rather than small.
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Old 07-03-2014, 21:25   #23
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

Mine is the modular Village Marine 12 volt, 200 gpd. Major components are mounted but not yet hooked up. This supplies a pair of 42-gallon Ronco plastic tanks, under the settee berths, amidships.
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Old 08-03-2014, 01:30   #24
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

Desalator 100liter, self cleaning, we are cruising long term
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Old 08-03-2014, 03:08   #25
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

We plan to go without initially and see how it works out from there. We're pretty good on the conservation side and we can carry 150 gallons. We don't want to install one simply out of fear and make a poor choice in doing so. There's also the old argument that you can buy a huge amount of water before breaking even. I figure even at a steep 50 cents per gallon it would take us 4 to 6 years worth of supply, and that doesn't even account for a watermaker's ongoing maintenance costs. The cost/benefit just doesn't seem to be there.
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Old 08-03-2014, 04:01   #26
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

Katakana 80e. Run on average 2 hrs every other day when anchored using solar. If I could I would swap it for 160e.

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Old 08-03-2014, 04:03   #27
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

When we do get our new to us vessel...and that's another saga all on it's own, (we've been on the hunt since last summer) we will have a water maker.

What kind? Don't know yet. What size? Don't know yet. Have to do some more research here on the forum to make those decisions.

The admiral wants to be comfy...and if we have a "water restriction" onboard due to availability...well, she isn't going to be comfy. We plan on anchoring out most of the time, so....we will have one. As a friend once told us, if you want her to go sailing and live aboard full time, make sure you have one.

One quick question...is it better to run a water maker for a few hours every day or so...or is it better to run the water maker less frequently...I realize it depends on usage..but what is better for the watermaker.

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Old 08-03-2014, 04:15   #28
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

Like so many things, depends on how and where you cruise.

If you have easy access to water, it's not worth the expense, maintenance and lost space. We pulled the one that came with the boat out (it needed a new membrane).
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Old 08-03-2014, 04:29   #29
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

I built my own 48 foot steel cutter twenty years ago, and I went another way. She has a pair of welded-in 360 gallon integral fresh water tanks port and starboard amidships. At rest in calm water, with one full and one empty, she heels 10*. (She has a 13'7" beam) I let the water run downhill before tacking on the ocean. Depending on where I'm going and for how long, I generally leave the dock with both tanks about 2/3 full.

It took 60 days from Guam to California with four crew aboard, and we took showers at will the entire way and still had plenty of water left over. (My boat has an integral sitting bathtub with a hand-held shower head. the bottom of the tub is above the waterline like a sink. The tub is also where we hang wet foul Wx gear etc.) I've never regretted having the ability to carry 700 gallons when needed. I don't fill up until I find a really nice water source, and then I'm good for a very long time.

Just something to consider for a new build. The water tanks are down low at the turn of the bilge below the pilothouse deck, roughly outboard of the two aft pilothouse windows in the photo.

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Old 08-03-2014, 04:54   #30
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Re: Watermaker - Are you Planning to Have One?

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Ya...$2000 but then you have to generate the AC power. Can you say AC generator?...Which means an expensive diesel ACV generator or a gasoline one and now you have at least 10 gallons onboard, sloshing around for a typical crossing
So what, lots of people are going to have a Honda generator etc for other things anyway. And nothing says you can not run an AC watermaker off solar if you have the battery capacity.

But I wasn't really interested in anything other than whether people do/planned to have a watermaker.
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