Fuel and Water requirements for passage

Talbot

Talbot

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What would people recomendation be for fuel and water for an Atlantic crossing on a sailing boat (water for 3 people and fuel in terms of hrs of engine use at 75% throttle). Assuming tanks not quite large enough for these recommendations, how much should be carried in 5 gal cans?

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in the days of the eric hiscock et al, the daily allowance for fresh water was 1/2 gallon per person per day. most people these days go for double that. you will need to allow for the trip taking 50% longer than expected. you don't say what size of boat or route taken but let's say it's a 38 footer crossing from the canaries to the west indies. the expected passage time would be 18-21 days so allow 30, 3 crew at 1 gal per day is 90 gals or 400 litres.

the 1/2 gal allowance is enough only for drinking and cooking (boil veg in 50% sea water). everything else is done with salt. 1 gal allows the occasional sponge bath and washing up with fresh.

i would take a couple of plastic jerrycans in addition in case of contamination or abandoning. don't fill completely and lash to the rail near the raft. once you get across, use the water and re-fill as it will go green in about a month. most people also have a fair amount of drink in cans which will keep you going for a few days in extremis.

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Snowleopard's estimate of 1 gall per person per day is quite practicable but a little on the mean side, allow nearer 2 if possible to permit occasional showers and clothes wash. Alternatively, rain water can be collected for showering and washing clothes, it will be slightly salty off the sails, but still drinkable.

You won't need any fuel! Well, not quite true, you need some for the harbour at either end. However, you may be relying on your engine to keep the batteries topped up. Then it's a matter of working out your likely daily consumption. With a fridge, full instruments and lights, 75Ah per day is not unreasonable and that could be equivalent to running your engine for 2 hours daily if you have no other form of generator. Turn off the fridge and it's much less, but the crew will mutiny.

Going west -> east you could run into the Azores high with absolute calm for several days - then you need either more water to stay in it or more fuel to get out of it. I would provision for 28 days plus a bit extra just in case.
 
planning on three people. I have Fuel for 50 hours running (@ 75% throttle = 6 knots)
However I am hoping to be power independant unless becalmed (abt 80 amp/hr/day solar, but I also will have a freezer)
My biggest concern is water. At the moment I only have 50 gallons storage which I will obviously have to increase. I plan to have a watermaker, but am also thinking about failure of this. According to your numbers I would need at least another 100 gallons (an extra 1000 lbs)

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You are right, 50 galls of water would mean strict economies. 100 galls is far more comfortable, but still not extravagant. The first time I crossed, with two people aboard, we used 45 galls from the tanks but we also collected and used about 10 extra from rain (far more available!). Economies included washing up in salt water with a quick rinse in fresh, washing clothes in salt water with a final rinse in fresh, using rain water for showers (except towards the end).

Never used solar panels but a reliable 80Ah per day sounds like a lot of panels. My Rutland wind-generator was normally good for about 25Ah daily in the trade winds, but we did turn it off at times because of the noise.
 
Big panel is right - 180w (1610x820x35mm) It will fit above the davits nicely. - my energy budget works out at abt 190 amphrs/day (separate fridge and freezer and the autopilot are the major energy consumers) . I intend also to have a duogen which in water mode should give me an additional boost of abt 150 amphrs/day so there will be a bit of slack for additional requirements.

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It all depends on your required level of comfort. People sail across in all sorts of tiny boats with no engine and hardly any water.

Also, depends on your boat - assuming you run engine for electircal generation, you can cut back fuel consumption to very little if you have solar panels and wind generator.

But I sailed across and back in my 32 footer a couple of years ago and iirc I used 60 litres of diesel (almost my entire supply) and 250 litres of water (and I wasn't rationing - it was oodles)

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Sounds like I have abt the correct amount of diesel, but need more water. How many crew did you have for your trip?

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There was just me and my cat. 250 litres was oodles, I was not rationing drinking water, my only economies were using seawater for washing up and clothes washing, then rinsed off sparingly with fresh. But mind you, cats don't mind if their servant is a bit smelly and has dirty hair, as long as they get fed. If you went across with a woman you might need a few more litres.

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Which confirmed an earlier post about 50 gallons/person - but I am planning on at least 2 possibly 3, so this confirms that I have a problem that needs to be solved.

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when we crossed (We have an oceanic it took us eighteen days to barbados from the cape verde islands), the bottom of the boat was thick with weed and when we gave it a haircut in barbados we picked up a knot and a half, but we carried seventy galls for two people in the tanks and another twenty in jerry cans, we arrived in barbados having not broken into the jerry cans at all, we carried all that extra weight for nothing, in my opinion fit a water maker carry whats in the tanks save the weight, make speed in stead..........keith

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watermakers

i would strongly advise agains a watermaker if you are staying in the north atlantic (inc caribbean etc.). they take a lot of space, are unreliable and extremely expensive. in the caribbean the most we paid for water was 6 us cents/ gal. to balance the cost of a watermaker i calculate you could buy all your water for the next 68 years for a crew of 3!!

peyond panama it's probably a different story but for the grief i've had with mine i dearly wish i hadn't bothered.

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No ! I guess a watermaker is the only option. Perhaps with 50% being the maximum to carry. Weight is a big problem, maybe I should reduce crew size to 2, but 3 is a much more sociable crew size, and allows a much better sleep pattern. Back to the drawing board I guess.


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What happened with us on the oceanic, we went a similar route to what you are taking now, with what to carry and we were grossly overweight, to the point where we cracked the bridge deck going north from grenada, after that we unloaded virtually everything we dragged across the atlantic and sent it home again with visiting relatives,i'm sure you are aware that te catalac and the oceanic are related designs but the catalac is narrower in the hulls than the oceanic which makes your boat overall faster than mine but it can't carry as much, 99% of the islands are now serviced by DHL/fedex so getting spares isn't the problem it used to be, and internet cafes are springing up all over the place........any queries PM me and if you come to the bahamas look me up, we came, we saw, we stayed.........keith

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surprised that you have a problem with the taste of your water from your tanks. I make sure that I have given them a good clean at the start of each season with one of the products from the swindlery, then use a aquafresh filter on my drinking water tap. result is water so clean and fresh that it is suitable for addition to scotlands finest.

as my journey will also encompass the pacific, I will need a watermaker. However, my water is in two separate 25 gallon tanks, and I plan to carry a number of 5 gallon (2 or 4 - yet to decide) containers of water.

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If you are seriously considering a watermaker, don't forget you need a HP pump to feed it (if its the RO type). This will need a drive, which probably will mean running the engine with a belt driven pump, which means fuel to be stored.
Also, it is best, to have a dedicated tank for watermaker to prevent any contamination from salt/bio.
Have a look on Sailnet.com, they have many articles on watermakers etc.

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