Do you really need pressure water?

[Michigan_Eric]

The water heater tank on my Tartan 31 has a non-functional electric element and has other issues so I have decided to remove it. I have never had occasion to use hot water from the tap on my boat and I can use the storage space I would gain under the galley sink by removing the tank. I also need to repair a leak in the engine coolant loop, so the marginal cost of also bypassing the heat exchanger plumbing presents another opportunity to remove the water heater tank.

I am always looking for ways to simplify my boat and reduce the amount of gear I have on board. I have already rebuilt some of the old plumbing and while planning the hot water tank removal it occurred to me that I could also remove the entire pressure water system. The galley sink already has a separate foot-pump driven tap in addition to the hot-and-cold pressure water faucet, and I don't find it inconvenient to use the foot pump instead. Also, if I have occasion to drink water from the tank, it tastes better because it hasn't gone through the pressure pump and all the additional hoses, check valves, and other equipment required for pressure water.

Looking at the pressure water system, I see several other potential issues. In particular, I don't like the location of the accumulator tank and the inaccessibility of the plumbing between it, the pressure pump, and the rest of the system. This plumbing also runs along the engine exhaust pipe which presents other problems I likely don't need to explain here. There are certain places where the hoses take very sharp turns and are bent as a result, which increases the risk of leaks. The area under the quarter berth where I could relocate it is too small, so I've decided to leave that be for the moment.

It really is amazing how complicated pressure hot water makes the plumbing, even though my boat has only two water taps, one for the galley sink and one for the head sink. When I first opened the plumbing access under the quarter berth it reminded me of what Harry Tuttle, the traveling heating engineer in Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", faced when opening the access panel in Sam Lowry's apartment (see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw

).

This complicated plumbing is also a complete pain-in-the-neck (literally, as I have to bend myself into many uncomfortable and unnatural positions for extended periods of time) to winterize and then de-winterize it, as I have experienced over the past couple of days as I try to reconnect everything. For the supposed "convenience" of hot-and-cold pressure water, the pain of maintaining it just isn't worth it.

One of the things I love about sailing is the simplicity of it. Anything that introduces complexity, unless absolutely necessary, should be done away with.