sailing caribbean fresh water

[svsiren]

Anyone got some beta on how hard it is to get water when sailing the Caribbean? I plan on island hopping from Bahamas on windward side all the way to the Grenadines. I am reading fresh water is hard to come by. My boat is small 30 footer with more than 80 gals water storage I plan to add another 40 - 80 gals. Can you get water at the marinas? Does it cost money. Any input on this would be a great help. Thanks

[FSMike]

Water should be available at most marinas, .50 a gallon +/-.

[MarkJ]

Yes, of course you can get water in every marina and every fuel dock.
Cost normally about 22 cents US per gallon.

Its not the Wild West, the Caribbean is an extremely advanced marine industry destination.

I read what FSMike says at .50 cents per gallon but I have never paid that to my recolection. Maybe that's some of the out islands of the Bahamas without RO water.

[MarkJ]

Just did a quick check, Antigua marina, English Harbour .45 cents per Imp gallon, 4,45 litres (us gal is 3.74 l)

Jolly harbour, Antigua 10 cents per gal... prob Imp gal.

Grenada 12 cents per us gallon.

So it does vary more than I thought.

St Martin is 22 cents.

[tomfl]

Some folks suggest checking water bought in the Bahamas before putting it in the main water tank.

[Panacea2183]

Last year in the Bahamas twice we were in areas where the marina did not have water(out of service)
It can be rather inconvenient, every morning on the VHF boats checking do you have water yet?
Depends on your needs with planning not a problem just have some reserves.
We like a lot of showers washing the boat and the dog etc.
We use at least 25-30 gal/day and would not consider making the trip without a watermaker, however many people do and do just fine just depends on your comfort level.

[Compactorguy]

On this site I saw a nice portable water maker for $4000. Buy that and a good ice maker and sell the ice to other cruisers to fiancé your trip 🤑

[CREX]

If you don't already have it I would install a salt water faucet. I did that in my galley and sailed with only 30 gallons of fresh water on my 30. My water lasted pretty equal to my buddies 90 gallons fresh. He wished he did what I did. We also used the sailors definition of joy. Joy , the only soap that works equally as well in both salt and fresh water, for bathing. Jump in, lather up, jump back in then use some fresh to rinse off salt. Of course we went to places, islands, often that had literally nothing. Good luck brother keep on keeping on.... Also carried extra water cans.

[Panacea2183]

Ditto on the water maker and ice maker!
Cruise RO water maker is the bomb simple and off the shelf parts and yes Rich does answer his phone 24/7/365! (Just be mindful of time zone, every one needs some down time)
Sell yor ice to other cruisers? We gave it away (ice and water) to friends and made new friends,
No one ever abused our courtesy! Met some fantastic people along the way.
I know I'm new to this forum and new to cruising full time, but been boating since I was a kid, Back in the day we were all self sufficient , had to be in remote areas, and courtesy and helping fellow boaters was normal.

I read a lot of comments on this forum and a lot of opinions all good info, But
Also a lot of anger and one sided thoughts.
Weather you are liberal, conservative, sail boater, trawler, cruiser who cares?

To me the cruising life is all about meeting like minded people, helping each other, and enjoying the lifestyle!

If you meet someone and don't get along with them don't go back for more!

That being said there is no room for inconsiderate a**ls
To many this is the last bastion of of sanity in an otherwise screwed up world.
Let's keep it that way.
Sorry for the rant.
Hope to see you on the water!

[Panacea2183]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Some folks suggest checking water bought in the Bahamas before putting it in the main water tank.

One more advantage of a water maker!
I Always check the tds with a meter before filling up
You'd be surprised what you find in Bahamas some good some bad.
Stayed at Marsh Harbor TDS over 900!
Fellow cruiser. Got sick from excess salinity!
Many options
Don't know about the rest of the Carib but I sleep well at nite.
In any case make sure you drinking water is sterile, simple to do do a Google search.

As always good luck and hope to see you on the water!

[mikefp60]

Definitely carry a TDS water meter. Very inexpensive (around $20) and very useful to keep your water supply safe. And to monitor your water maker output if you have one.

Its been a couple of years now but Dominica would give you all the fresh water you want for 6 bucks. They have all the fresh water they can use and then some. They actually export it via tanker to some of the more arid islands in the Caribbean.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by svsiren

Anyone got some beta on how hard it is to get water when sailing the Caribbean? I plan on island hopping from Bahamas on windward side all the way to the Grenadines. I am reading fresh water is hard to come by. My boat is small 30 footer with more than 80 gals water storage I plan to add another 40 - 80 gals. Can you get water at the marinas? Does it cost money. Any input on this would be a great help. Thanks

We cruised from the Virgin Islands to Grenada and back for two years, and would need to fill our tank every 10 days or so. Never had a problem finding a source. We had a Seagull IV under-counter water filter for our drinking water, so we didn't worry about catching anything. If I recall correctly, we paid in the neighborhood of 20-25 cents US per gallon on average; sometimes as little as 10 cents. A watermaker would have been nice, but I didn't want the complexity, maintenance and expense.