Drinkingwater while cruising?

[JPA Cate]

Jim just brought it to my attention that we had two 25 gal. tanks on I-1, our first Insatiable, not just 25.

My apologies for the misstatement/ error.

Ann

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by RedHerring

You can catch more water than you'll know what to do with from your mainsail. Just need to figure out how to collect that at either end of the boom. Some people also use modelling clay to build dams around a water tank fill, to collect rain water from the deck.

The only purification it will really need is let it run for a while before you start collecting. This is to wash off salt etc.

The best way with the main is to haul the boom up about 10 degrees with the topping lift so the sail bellies abit and you've a slope down the boom to the gooseneck... hang a bucket there and you'd be surprised how fast it fills
If your water fillers reasonably protected consider fitting an outlet at the bottom of the bucket and running a hose from there to the filler.. saves a lot of running back and forth.. from Nuku Hiva to Samoa we were getting about 20+ buckets a day with the rain squalls

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

What this was not, was the 2 showers per day, use the 20 gal/hr watermaker for laundry king of cruising.

Hey....I resemble that remark...ha ha ha

If we would have tried to get by just catching rain water in our 4yrs in Mexico we would have been dead, there just wasn't enough rain, but I'm sure it works good in other areas to fill the tanks and do deck leak checks.

It all comes down to personal comfort at the end of the day.
Our family of 4 used 20-25gals/day but we would also rinse down the boat at anchor without much thought when it needed it and I was known to take more than one shower per day when it was hot. To me that was being comfortable, to others that was being a ridiculous wasteful American. Pick what is right for you...and your lifestyle.

[thebigblueroad]

Wow! Great responses.

It sounds like I am going to have to rethink abit about the watermaker. I could add more tanks. But I am starting to understand the advantages of the watermaker.

What do people say about buying a used one? Is it possible to service it and be satisfied with the result? Or do we have to buy a new one?

I definately will be adding a rain water system though, I hadn't even thought of the idea before.

/Peter

[hellosailor]

"What do people say about buying a used one? Is it possible to service it and be satisfied with the result?" Yes, although you may want to make a phone call and make haste slowly. I had an offer on some "new old stock" that had never been used, but would just need a routine set of seals and things and of course a new membrane. So I called the maker and asked what all that kit would cost, and found out the "bargain" would save me less than a hundred bucks, and of course have no warranty. Hmmm....


If you see an interesting ad, and if the boat it is coming off seems to indicate the PO wasn't a complete toxic avenger, and IF the price of the used watermaker plus a rebuild kit and new membrane is reasonable, and the high pressure pump is in good working order....


Depends on what kind of luck you have with these things.

[newhaul]

About the same data and input you got on sailnet isn't it Drinkingwater while cruising? - SailNet Community
Call rich and spend the money you will be happy you did

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by thebigblueroad

Hello everybody!

1) Me and my girlfriend are planning to circumnavigate the globe,

2) thinking that 2x70L and a 200L watersack as a backup,

3) Is it enough?

4) We will be crossing two big oceans,

5) I am also thinking about a watermaker as an additional backup. But I am also thinking that this will be used a bit of a last resort, not to generally filling the tanks, so the output can be minimal.

6) Do people have any recomendations of watermakers or drinkingwater solutions that they may have? What about a solar still?

1) fine, multiply your water needs per head by factor 2.5 (esp. so if the other head is a long blonde hair head), alternative: military cut,

2) avoid big watersacks, if your 200 ltr sack goes (as they do) then you are left with 140 ltrs only (or nothing, if you used the hard tank up first ...)

3) 340 ltrs / 3.4 ltr per day per couple = 100 days at sea, no showers, no laundry, doing dishes in salt water,

4) what about the third one? and how do you get from RSA to Europe?, add 2 more oceans (AS, and doubling AN, on way back home)

5) get one, use it as your daily water source, keep water in the tanks as your back up, plan energy sources accordingly,

6) people catch rainwater when there is any rain, if they are forced to catch it, it tastes like (censored) and it turns your clothes mouldy, but it will not kill you.

If you are going to use your present boat for this adventure then our experience may give or take match. We sailed in a 26' boat. Similar size, similar challenges. Maybe.

PS If I could afford, I would have had a watermaker. I think I may end up using the small Spectra, e.g. (150/200). Or something alike.

Have fun planning and dreaming. Then sailing.

Cheers,
b.

[MarkJ]

340 litres is fine.

My tanks are 440 litres and I never carry water gerrys. In no passage have I used the second tank.

Rain catching doesnt work so wipe that romantic idea right out. Certainly not at sea.

Keep your water pump OFF
Have spray bottles at every forcett and wash hands with spray.
Use salt water for dishes and spray rinse.
Shower with a bucket of salt water use your spary bottle to rinse.

Those tricks will save you stacks of water.

Best if you can plumb a line for salt water into your kitchen sink

[Weyalan]

We have a salt tap at the galley sinks, so we can do a "pre-wash" of the washing up with salt water. If the dishes are pretty much clean after a salt water wash, you use very little fresh water to give them their proper clean.

[barnakiel]

While it is as Mark said not the easiest thing (while underway), it can be done as an emergency measure. We collected rain off our main which seems to be the biggest cleanest catcher we can fix here. We could collect about two gallons on each rainy squall in the Atlantic (route from The West Indies to the Azores).

One very neat trick while anchored is to leave the dinghy loaded but very clean in the evening ... some squalls in the Caribbean gave us up to 200 liters of decent water overnight. We did not have to go and water up at the dock for an extra week or so!

So while catching rain cannot be depended upon, when an opportunity hits, it may at times make sense to be ready for water harvest.

Cheers,
b.