Cruising a Trailer Sailer

[Neeves]

For murky water introducing a second or third 5 micron filter would be a good move - but buy one for under 'domestic' sink applications. To be really 'efficient' you would want tp pipe so as you can simply move from one to another clean the first and move back - but we did not add another filter - it was a 'nice' thing to do but we never got round to it.

Our water tanks were only 200l each, one under the cabin sole in each hull. Each tank could be isolated from the other and switch drawing from one to the other was simply 2 taps. We measured usage with a dip stick through an inspection hatch in the top of each tank. The only easy way to empty the tanks for cleaning was to pump the water out. The only time cleaning was necessary was after a summer in Tasmania where the tannins stained the tanks (and the water line of the hull).

Wet always kept one tank full and emptied the other to use the water. We then used the second tank and re-filled the first from the de sal unit. Theoretically we were always using new water.

We tried to run the de sal unit only when we were motoring or before we were going to motor as the amount of water we made was a real drain on batteries. I'm not sure which was most precious amps or litres. but we were strict with both. (Electric cooking is a whole new ball game, needing that Lithium input).


Sailing was meant to be a simple pleasure, you, a like minded companion, some breeze and good weather + decent forecasts, a knowledge of basic navigation - its growing into a highly complex technical 'machine' demanding a high level of management. And I have not even included anchoring. . It certainly keeps the brain active.

No complaints - simply an observation.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

For murky water introducing a second or third 5 micron filter would be a good move - but buy one for under 'domestic' sink applications. To be really 'efficient' you would want tp pipe so as you can simply move from one to another clean the first and move back - but we did not add another filter - it was a 'nice' thing to do but we never got round to it.

Our water tanks were only 200l each, one under the cabin sole in each hull. Each tank could be isolated from the other and switch drawing from one to the other was simply 2 taps. We measured usage with a dip stick through an inspection hatch in the top of each tank. The only easy way to empty the tanks for cleaning was to pump the water out. The only time cleaning was necessary was after a summer in Tasmania where the tannins stained the tanks (and the water line of the hull).

Wet always kept one tank full and emptied the other to use the water. We then used the second tank and re-filled the first from the de sal unit. Theoretically we were always using new water.

We tried to run the de sal unit only when we were motoring or before we were going to motor as the amount of water we made was a real drain on batteries. I'm not sure which was most precious amps or litres. but we were strict with both. (Electric cooking is a whole new ball game, needing that Lithium input).


Sailing was meant to be a simple pleasure, you, a like minded companion, some breeze and good weather + decent forecasts, a knowledge of basic navigation - its growing into a highly complex technical 'machine' demanding a high level of management. And I have not even included anchoring. . It certainly keeps the brain active.

No complaints - simply an observation.

Jonathan

Despite now having an RO watermaker I don’t see us needing to use it all that often. ( May be using it just to keep it fresh more than needing it all the time to make more fresh water )
Not having had one previously I can imagine you just get a bit less careful with water use choices when you have that luxury. We will likely only make water with excess solar availablity much like we currently do with our 240v hotwater system.
As for silted water use whilst now having a provision to provide water under pressure to and via a secondary 5micron prefilter for rare occasions I expect most times we will be able to make fresh water in clear sea water.
My 730l water ballast tank can even carry clear seawater into murky rivers and high silt tidal costal anchorages still feeding the watermaker clear seawater.
My solution of twin portable EcoFlow Lithium Delta Max 2000 power packs plugged into our shore power system along with solar panel recharging worked very well for our recent over eight week cruise. So well in fact that we never fired up our Honda eu10 generator and may even leave this behind for our big planned 3/4 month without resupply Kimberley’s cruise.
Yes the simple pleasure of just sailing with my partner to superb and unique destinations is the primary goal but the longer you wish to stay out without resupply the more backup stuff and extras you are likely to need.
Whilst the wine and olives in the photo were on land purchases much of the rest of this dinner was hunter and gathered from the sea, shore and surrounds.

 

[Neeves]

Despite now having an RO watermaker I don’t see us needing to use it all that often. ( May be using it just to keep it fresh more than needing it all the time to make more fresh water )
Not having had one previously I can imagine you just get a bit less careful with water use choices when you have that luxury. We will likely only make water with excess solar availablity much like we currently do with our 240v hotwater system.
As for silted water use whilst now having a provision to provide water under pressure to and via a secondary 5micron prefilter for rare occasions I expect most times we will be able to make fresh water in clear sea water.
My 730l water ballast tank can even carry clear seawater into murky rivers and high silt tidal costal anchorages still feeding the watermaker clear seawater.
My solution of twin portable EcoFlow Lithium Delta Max 2000 power packs plugged into our shore power system along with solar panel recharging worked very well for our recent over eight week cruise. So well in fact that we never fired up our Honda eu10 generator and may even leave this behind for our big planned 3/4 month without resupply Kimberley’s cruise.
Yes the simple pleasure of just sailing with my partner to superb and unique destinations is the primary goal but the longer you wish to stay out without resupply the more backup stuff and extras you are likely to need.
Whilst the wine and olives in the photo were on land purchases much of the rest of this dinner was hunter and gathered from the sea, shore and surrounds. View attachment 170181

The big issues with being 'off grid' for long periods of time are fresh greens - and your having an Asian wife possibly makes that loss more acute.

Asian cuisine actually caters for the loss of veg, wombok cabbage, grow bean sprouts, those big round 'tight' cabbage we have in Oz and then 'preserved vegetables' (and drifting a bit - make yoghurt from an Easi Yo kit). Broccoli then becomes so enticing when you see some! Fresh protein is so much easier viz fish and crustaceans Or if the fish are not biting, dried shrimps or closer to YBW members - salted cod.. I know you will have a local store from which you can stock up on dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots etc - the skills needed to offer a varied menu are genetic in Asian partners . Another drift - the people who sell the Easi Yo packs (available in the UK) also sell some 'instant' desserts, Panna Cota, Creme Brûlée etc. You can usually source 3 Feathers NZ butter in tins from Oz Asian supermarkets. (They used to tin cheese, in Oz,, Bega I recall, but they appear to have stopped that - but cheese keeps quite well anyway.)

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

The big issues with being 'off grid' for long periods of time are fresh greens - and your having an Asian wife possibly makes that loss more acute.

Asian cuisine actually caters for the loss of veg, wombok cabbage, grow bean sprouts, those big round 'tight' cabbage we have in Oz and then 'preserved vegetables' (and drifting a bit - make yoghurt from an Easi Yo kit). Broccoli then becomes so enticing when you see some! Fresh protein is so much easier viz fish and crustaceans Or if the fish are not biting, dried shrimps or closer to YBW members - salted cod.. I know you will have a local store from which you can stock up on dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots etc - the skills needed to offer a varied menu are genetic in Asian partners . Another drift - the people who sell the Easi Yo packs (available in the UK) also sell some 'instant' desserts, Panna Cota, Creme Brûlée etc. You can usually source 3 Feathers NZ butter in tins from Oz Asian supermarkets. (They used to tin cheese, in Oz,, Bega I recall, but they appear to have stopped that - but cheese keeps quite well anyway.)

Jonathan

Yes The greens issue is a significant one for my partner with super long expeditions away from resupply. It is amazing however what Clare grows and dries and also what is available in Asian grocery stores.
As you say both Asian and European tight cabbages last an awfully long time with some care and attention if kept cool and dry as do a variety of other non green vegetables.
We are also fairly adept at finding and using local ingredients when onshore. I have done the bean and other sprouts thing previously and we will be doing this again.
We are off to Tassie for 10 weeks in a week and a half’s time but this time will be walking, backpacking, cycling and canoeing using our slide on truck camper as a base as it was prohibitive to take the Imexus over on the Spirit of Tasmania.
( $199 versus well over $1,000 each way).
One of our EcoFlow Delta Max lithium power packs will be along for the trip which recharges whilst driving and also by solar panels on the roof. Again it is able to be plugged into our external plug in power system and changed over from that via a switch on the internal fuse box.
No need to take both ecoflows as we do in the yacht as with moving on regularly the trucks alternator will mainly recharge it supplemented at rest by the solar panels.
I am not sure I would be wanting to tow our yacht around some of the wilderness backroads we hope to explore anyway, I think our height will already mean some careful driving!
Due to having no ability to carry a hard canoe (without again paying huge fees for a trailer) we are carrying a modern inflatable drop stitched double kayak as well a mountain bikes on the rear which will go inside for the ferry crossing to cut the length charges.

 

[Neeves]

Yes The greens issue is a significant one for my partner with super long expeditions away from resupply. It is amazing however what Clare grows and dries and also what is available in Asian grocery stores.
As you say both Asian and European tight cabbages last an awfully long time with some care and attention if kept cool and dry as do a variety of other non green vegetables.
We are also fairly adept at finding and using local ingredients when onshore. I have done the bean and other sprouts thing previously and we will be doing this again.
We are off to Tassie for 10 weeks in a week and a half’s time but this time will be walking, backpacking, cycling and canoeing using our slide on truck camper as a base as it was prohibitive to take the Imexus over on the Spirit of Tasmania.
( $199 versus well over $1,000 each way).
One of our EcoFlow Delta Max lithium power packs will be along for the trip which recharges whilst driving and also by solar panels on the roof. Again it is able to be plugged into our external plug in power system and changed over from that via a switch on the internal fuse box.
No need to take both ecoflows as we do in the yacht as with moving on regularly the trucks alternator will mainly recharge it supplemented at rest by the solar panels.
I am not sure I would be wanting to tow our yacht around some of the wilderness backroads we hope to explore anyway, I think our height will already mean some careful driving!
Due to having no ability to carry a hard canoe (without again paying huge fees for a trailer) we are carrying a modern inflatable drop stitched double kayak as well a mountain bikes on the rear which will go inside for the ferry crossing to cut the length charges.
View attachment 170187
View attachment 170188

Tasmania - go for it. You'll love it. They really don't encourage people to take caravans and the like (yachts). The island must lose, or not gain, a decent tranche of income.


I'd like to say we we will see you there - but we are in Asia, currently Philippines, having spent Xmas and New Year in SE Asia.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

Tasmania - go for it. You'll love it. They really don't encourage people to take caravans and the like (yachts). The island must lose, or not gain, a decent tranche of income.


I'd like to say we we will see you there - but we are in Asia, currently Philippines, having spent Xmas and New Year in SE Asia.

Jonathan

Travelling by yacht or by air?
Both of us have been to Tassie separately quite a number of times previously and it’s very beautiful . We didn’t choose it to retire there due to the higher costs of getting off Tassie to travel (especially with a heavily trailer sailing based cruising plan) combined with less than perfect weather for much of the year in many parts. We like to tow to sunnier northern climes to cruise to escape the winter chill! We may however sail over to Tassie one summer in a perfect weather window at some future time despite our diminutive 28 foot craft of choice.
Even spring here in South Australia can throw up some cold weather at times.
Huddled behind the dodger with full offshore jacket just cruising the local Coorong in early October in bitterly cold winds. It was a huge contrast from cruising in northern Queensland in winter!

 

[Neeves]

Travelling by yacht or by air?
Both of us have been to Tassie separately quite a number of times previously and it’s very beautiful . We didn’t choose it to retire there due to the higher costs of getting off Tassie to travel (especially with a heavily trailer sailing based cruising plan) combined with less than perfect weather for much of the year in many parts. We like to tow to sunnier northern climes to cruise to escape the winter chill! We may however sail over to Tassie one summer in a perfect weather window at some future time despite our diminutive 28 foot craft of choice.
Even spring here in South Australia can throw up some cold weather at times. View attachment 170222
Huddled behind the dodger with full offshore jacket just cruising the local Coorong in early October in bitterly cold winds. It was a huge contrast from cruising in northern Queensland in winter!

We did Vietnam and Thailand in and out of Singapore by sea and on the return to Singapore we are in Manilla courtesy of air, the then air back to Oz.

There is a regular treck of the Grey Nomads, primarily from Vic and SA at the end of Autumn and then another migration south in Spring to Old - same reasons - to escape the cold. I'm not sure how many of them will be insured for the trip or, in fact, how many even have 3rd party cover. If you stay too long in QED you may find your insurance does not cover you for summer in QED as premiums increase to cover cyclones (in the summer). The theory is you need insurance, at least 3rd party, to even enter a Marina. When we were up there, even Southport, only 50% of marinas asked and no-one ever asked to see sight of a policy. This is meant to include marina fuel wharfs - but income is more important than the risk.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

So I assume from that you have your yacht parked up in Singapore somewhere and are leaving it there?
I contemplated buying a second Imexus in Greece (there have been a few for sale at good prices there on occasion) to do Europe and its various and extensive waterways at times and would love to also sail the Polish Lakes my yacht was built for.
I think we might just have to do the buy and sell the motor home thing I did back in 2002 with my daughters mother however and perhaps some shorter yacht and canal boat charters whilst over there.
Buying, selling, storing, insuring are hard enough with a motor home but could prove really difficult for an Australian post Brexit with the loss of some of my previous distant British heritage privileges. ( One Grandmother who came to Australia at 2yo) My daughter was really upset that her European living plans were also messed up as she had much greater rights with her mother originally being English and Welsh.
Wild camping in The Spanish Pyrenees. Motor homes and large trailer sailers equipped for cruising do have some extended living similarities.

 

[Grith]

We did love Tasmania in our 10 weeks touring there with just our truck and slide on camper but seeing all the beautiful bays, rivers, lakes and dams might just get us to contemplate sailing over via Bass Straight in an appropriate weather window for a summer of sailing there.
It might even be worth paying the extra about A$1,800 return to carry the yacht and trailer over on the Spirit of Tasmania as this would allow us to access some of the beautiful Dams and West coast rivers still out of reach even if we sailed over.


Wineglass Bay

Fortescue Bay

Cockle Creek

Bruney Island

Tasman Island from Cape Pillar