Water fresh

[poter]

I am in a bit of a dilemma, going to now leave the womb of the marina and hopefully spend most of my cruising time on the hook, I will then have the problem of fresh water, yes i have storage of around 250 lts. but with most of the time on the hook fresh water will become a problem. Do I get a plastic jerry cans and fill up where i can, or get a water maker?

 

[Richard10002]

You shouldnt have any problem nipping into a marina for water every now and then. You might have to pay a nominal amount, or buy some fuel, or spend a night, or any combination. A watermaker is the ideal, but not particularly straightforward - IMHO

 

[Carmel2]

A water maker is a convenience that I personally would not be without.

 

[poter]

ok, so which one?
most seem to be thousands of pounds.
help

 

[Carmel2]

ok, so which one?
most seem to be thousands of pounds.
help

Ours is an Echotec. I have no experience of others. What drew us to this make is they are used on charter boats in the Caribbean, so if you trust a punter not to bugger it up then the chances of me doing so are less. We make around 70l an hour, maintenance is not difficult or time-consuming.

 

[Yngmar]

You shouldnt have any problem nipping into a marina for water every now and then. You might have to pay a nominal amount, or buy some fuel, or spend a night, or any combination. A watermaker is the ideal, but not particularly straightforward - IMHO

+1 This has served us well so far. We mostly use only our 230 litre tank and that lasts us two weeks without being too careful with it (much longer if we really try). This includes fresh water showers after salt water swims, and the myth about needing special soap for salter water is just that. On the way down to the Algarve, we stopped in marinas plenty often, either because there were no alternatives or because we wanted to see the sights on land, and then would provision the boat with food, fuel and water. Never had to haul water in jerrycans (although fuel we did once).

So far, a watermaker would've been a waste of money and just sit there rotting away, although I suspect in the Caribbean it's a different story altogether and we may well fit one if/when we get there. I like the Echotec DC models due to good power efficiency and being very simple and maintenance friendly, with belt drive (so separate pump and motor) and no electronics. Still a hefty chunk of money though. Self-building is also under consideration, although by the time you have all the parts it's not that much cheaper.

 

[macd]

Poter: please don't get the impression that most on-the-hook liveaboards in the Med exist on watermakers. They don't. And, as Yngmar reports, many that have a watermaker don't actually use it. Potable water is usually available without going much out of your way, although you'll need to get in the habit of taking a couple of 10 or 20 litres plastic containers with you when tendering ashore. I managed (single-handing) for years with the same tankage as you. It wasn't especially onerous.

Were you heading for the Antilles, the advice might be different - although, even there, you can manage, but perhaps less easily.

 

[duncan99210]

We've got 275 litres of tankage, which lasts us about 10-14 days. We refill either by taking a berth for a night or two or using containers in the dinghy. When we know there's a tap close to the shore, we've got a three old flubber seats which we use as water carriers: along with a pump and some hose we can use them to refill the tanks without shifting 50-60 litres of water about the place.
The other part of the water preservation regime is a sea water tap at the galley sink. We get an extra 3-4 days out of the tanks since we fitted it.
Water maker would be nice (essential in the Caribbean) but not worth the dosh just now.

 

[shan]

How on earth are people getting their water to last that long? 275 litres would last Mr Shan and I roughly speaking 2 days.

 

[Carmel2]

Poter: please don't get the impression that most on-the-hook liveaboards in the Med exist on watermakers. They don't. And, as Yngmar reports, many that have a watermaker don't actually use it. Potable water is usually available without going much out of your way, although you'll need to get in the habit of taking a couple of 10 or 20 litres plastic containers with you when tendering ashore. I managed (single-handing) for years with the same tankage as you. It wasn't especially onerous.

Were you heading for the Antilles, the advice might be different - although, even there, you can manage, but perhaps less easily.

We use ours every 3 days or so and have never come across anyone who has one who let's theirs rot and is never used.

This question is asked most years prior to the sailing season and every year it's the same: those with say it's a nice addition, those without say they are a waste of time.

 

[Carmel2]

How on earth are people getting their water to last that long? 275 litres would last Mr Shan and I roughly speaking 2 days.

They smell

 

[capnsensible]

Would have one if I had a bit more space. But can live without and in two extended cruises around the Windies I would hardly call it essential.......

 

[macd]

We..have never come across anyone who has one who let's theirs rot and is never used.

Neither have I, which is why I wrote no such thing.

 

[AndersG]

I am in a bit of a dilemma, going to now leave the womb of the marina and hopefully spend most of my cruising time on the hook, I will then have the problem of fresh water, yes i have storage of around 250 lts. but with most of the time on the hook fresh water will become a problem. Do I get a plastic jerry cans and fill up where i can, or get a water maker?

Where are you going and for how long?
If I went back to full time liveaboard I would get a Spectra watermaker, for shorter time maybe a cheap homemade watermaker.
We have around 500 litre in total and do without watermaker in the Ionian but having one would be nice!

 

[Carmel2]

Neither have I, which is why I wrote no such thing.

"And, as Yngmar reports, many that have a watermaker don't actually use it."

 

[jordanbasset]

When we bought our boat it already had a ECOTEC watermaker, it did seem a little OTT on a 33 foot yacht and I wondered if we would ever use it, having managed without one before in the med without any big issues. Yes it meant runs ashore to fill up water cans on occasions, but not a big issue.
But since we have started using it we love it. Just one example we can have as many showers as we want, when we want them and for as long as we want them without worrying about being in a place where we can fill up
Agree with others, they are not essential but they are nice to have

 

[Richard10002]

I didn’t have one, but would have liked one.... nice to have, but not essential.

 

[macd]

"And, as Yngmar reports, many that have a watermaker don't actually use it."

Carmel, I've no idea where you're coming from. There's a big difference between "not actually using" and leaving to "rot". Yngmar may have mentioned "rotting away" (in a casually rhetorical way, I suspect) but I did not. If you have an issue with that, kindly take it up with him.

 

[Carmel2]

Carmel, I've no idea where you're coming from. There's a big difference between "not actually using" and leaving to "rot". Yngmar may have mentioned "rotting away" (in a casually rhetorical way, I suspect) but I did not. If you have an issue with that, kindly take it up with him.

I apologize.

 

[macd]

I apologize.

Gracious. Thank you.