Fresh Water in the Exumas

[jean1146]

We are heading to the Bahamas in April and May,not having a watermaker,I was wondering about supply of fresh water.Is this really a problem,we have 160 gallons on board,if we are carefull we can last a week or so.We will be in the Exumas mostly.
Thank you all for your input.
JC.

[speciald@ocens.]

Make sure the water you get is drink-quality. It is best to stock-up on drinking water in large containers to take with you. An alternative would be to use a Brita filter to remove contaminants from the water. In some locations the water tastes like the last time the tanker was used it carried something other than water

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by jean1146

We are heading to the Bahamas in April and May,not having a watermaker,I was wondering about supply of fresh water.Is this really a problem,we have 160 gallons on board,if we are carefull we can last a week or so.We will be in the Exumas mostly.
Thank you all for your input.
JC.

Depending on your intended route through the Islands and how remote you like to be, water is fairly easy to find at the marinas. I'm guessing this is your first time through so you won't go too far off the beaten track. You will be fine and be able to find water easy enough to keep up with your needs.

[cfarrar]

Plenty of water in the Exumas. You can always stretch out your water by re-supplying via dinghy, so you can go much more than a week without docking, if you wish.

[Mardav]

Plenty of water, most of the Marinas have big RO units and make good clean water. It's not cheap though, last time I was at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, it was $.40 a gallon (might be cheaper with fuel or dockage purchase, I don't recall) but still cheaper than a water maker for the ocassional cruiser.

[joey69]

gee whiz,how much water can 2 people drink? are you planning on taking a bath every day....

[Entlie]

We have a small watermaker (Pur 40); use it for drinking water only and store that in bottles.

Have 170 gallons in water tanks, which we don't use for drinking, and that's what we fill up whenever we have a chance. We can go one month on our water tanks, using water liberally.

Staniel Cay has good water (Watermakers company is based there), Emerald Bay has good water as well, usually cheaper than Staniel Cay but no anchorage - good to go in for one night, do free laundry, get water, and leave if you can get out the tight entrance. Check the weather first. Black Point has free water from a pump that you can haul away in cans (not sure if I'd drink it). George Town has free water at the George Town Dinghy Dock - again you have to haul it in cans, or like one enterprising friend, into a huge bladder in your dinghy which you siphon back into your tanks. You can also get water at Exuma Docks although their outlets are less reliable. And if you go to Long Island, the fuel dock there has water - don't recall the price, but reasonable. If you have a deep draft, you'll have to go in there on a high tide. There's a well at Shroud Cay (check the Pavlidis cruising guide) but you'd have to be desperate to use that water.

We rig up a catchment system on our boat, and in a heavy downpour can fill our tanks in (no joke) 20 minutes. I couldn't believe this, but it works. The catchment system is a beach towel half-circled around each of our two water intake fills (We are a catamaran with good deckfill access.. Good to think about if you get in that rare rainstorm at anchor.

Have fun in the Exumas!

Entlie
Sailing Catamaran Sunspot Baby

[jean1146]

Thank you all . Very usefull informations.
JC.

[S/V Antares]

If you go through 160 gal in a week you must be figuring wrong. Thats a lot of water. Plenty available in the exumas. 160 gal would last us a month or more. Anyone know if the water plant in Hatchet Bay is back up and running. Great bottoled water there!

[jean1146]

I have guests and you all know what happens....they think they are still home so you have to tell them to watch water. It is a constant battle! otherwise yes 170 gallons is a lot of water.
JC.

[Tellie]

170 gallons of water is relative. There are plenty of people who use that much water in a week. Not all cruisers feel the need to be so frugal. Many like two showers a day, clothes washers on board, fesh water flush heads, the list can get long. Not everyone sails small sailboats.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by joey69

gee whiz,how much water can 2 people drink? are you planning on taking a bath every day....

Exactly what I was thinking For 2 people we go through about 1.5-2 gallons a day of jug water for cooking/drinking and only need about 1.5-3 gallons for each shower (wife needs more due to thick hair, but I have the opposite problem). Dish washing is maybe about another 1-3 gallons because we pre-wash with the salt water pump.

[JanetGroene]

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

Make sure the water you get is drink-quality. It is best to stock-up on drinking water in large containers to take with you. An alternative would be to use a Brita filter to remove contaminants from the water. In some locations the water tastes like the last time the tanker was used it carried something other than water

So right! Taste the water because it may have a high sodium content and filters don't help that. By April the rains begin so if you can contrive any sort of catchment system, this is the time. Get a good washdown ( sea water, then the first rain) to remove salt, dirt and bird poop from the boat, then start collecting water. Filter that or, if you're not sure about purity, use a chlorinator-filter system.

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by jean1146

We are heading to the Bahamas in April and May,not having a watermaker,I was wondering about supply of fresh water.Is this really a problem,we have 160 gallons on board,if we are carefull we can last a week or so.We will be in the Exumas mostly.
Thank you all for your input.
JC.

Stop watering the Manatees!

[witchcraft]

Our water tank holds 35 gallons and we routinely go 2 weeks. No shower aboard but all cooking washing of us, boat and dishes. when travelling we carry two extra jerry cans of water. We also catch rain water when travelling for washing if we are likely to be not too close to a water source. Exuma's should be no problem. The water plan in Hatchet Bay was working fine last we were there.
Fair Winds