Water storage.

Daydream believer said:
Does the OP need a tank that big? 100 KG is more than the weight of an additional crew Whilst 2 L water per day is recommended ;so 30 * 2 * 2 crew = 120 litre; it is going to be a lot to carry. The Op has 40L tank so surely it would be better to balance that the other side of the boat (40 L tank, not 100 L ) Giving 80L storage . Then make the rest up with small bottles-- if he wants to put a lot of his water in a couple of tanks.
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2l a day won't cut it if the OP is sailing somewhere hot. In the western med I need 3 to 4 a day single handing. Like the OP my yacht has limited shade above deck, where one has to spend most of ones time when alone.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
2l a day won't cut it if the OP is sailing somewhere hot. In the western med I need 3 to 4 a day single handing. Like the OP my yacht has limited shade above deck, where one has to spend most of ones time when alone.
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Read the thread, and you'll see that he's not "sailing somewhere hot".
 
Buck Turgidson said:
2l a day won't cut it if the OP is sailing somewhere hot. In the western med I need 3 to 4 a day single handing. Like the OP my yacht has limited shade above deck, where one has to spend most of ones time when alone.
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If the Faroes are now 'hot', global warming has run riot.

Although the beaches at Barra are very nice.
 
You say that you are going "from the Black Isles up to the Faeroes....". Having done this sort of trip a couple of times, I think you are over worrying.

In my experience, you don't have to go to a 'marina' to get water. Most piers seem to have a water tap somewhere, so get a couple of 10l plastic jerry cans. The Faeroes doesn't really have marinas, just Moor to a fisherman's pier, which more often than not is free, or a token charge. I have anchored for only one night up there.

Also, look carefully at your water usage. Washing up seems to use a disprorponitate amount- use seawater, also for cooking. Personal hygiene- a small bowl of hot water can go a surprising long way. Remember, 2 small rinses is more efficient than 1 big one. Never waste fresh water rinsing sinks.

When younger I had a Folkboat sized boat, and the only time I seem to remember we had difficulties was in the Channel Islands in the long hot summers of 1976/77.
 
I also use the 5 litre bottles, bought from a supermarket by other people and retrieved by me from the marina recycling skip for recycling as containers for my reserve of water. I think that the OP is on the right lines with a mix of 2 litre ones and some of these. If recycling remember to carry out simple tests to be sure that they are safe to use.
 
I dont have a water tank.

Each spring I buy a bulk load of supermarket bottled water for drinking.

I carry a 25ltr can for washing up which I fill from a tap, I also use this to fill the porta loo.

I have noticed if you leave a sealed supermarket bottle of water out in the sunlight its fine. But if I leave the jerry can out it goes green, the jerry can has to stay in the dark.
 
KevinV said:
I wonder if those collapsible cans, with a tap on would be an idea?
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I bought three of those for £12 this summer, to store fresh water in the car boot for washing sand and salt off the Avon after a day at the beach. They're tough and versatile, recommended for their space-saving once empty.

MartynG said:
I use 5 Litre bottles of supermarket spring water, refilled from a mains water tap when the opportunity arises.

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I bought a couple of those, to use empty as masthead floats for the dinghy. Today, having been warned of possible sudden unavailability of tapwater around Southampton over Christmas, I refilled my collapsible and ex-springwater bottles.

In the Achilles (24ft) it never struck me that it might be better to fill the fitted water tank (of unknown cleanliness), than to stow as many separate 2-litre (and larger) bottles as our needs required. Whether bought new or refilled at home, I knew the water was perfectly safe to drink for any likely length of trip.

I'm surprised when relaxed cruising folk (to whom performance isn't important enough to justify shedding the huge weight of little-used kit they store on board) are nevertheless inclined to calculate the bare minimum fresh water they might need, and carry no more.

I kept enough on board to flush the outboard engine leg, within a repurposed buoyancy bag, because just like washing ourselves, there seemed to be no reason not to. We sail for pleasure, we're not clinging to life on a raft, eeking out our last half pint under the parching sun.
 
jamie N said:
As the title, what opinions are there for water storage onboard for a nominal 'month' of cruising, away from a certainty of marina's?
The caveat is of a small boat, in my case a Folkboat which already has an approx 40 litre aluminum tank, and sailing solo, no shower onboard.
The discussion with a mate is would it be better to put in a ''Plastimo' type flexi water tank", or to "have 50X2l water bottles"?
My view is the simple that I'll buy the bottles, which are refillable (to a point), less liable to contamination which could be catastrophic using the other method, don't require a working pump and are convenient. They'd be my 'consumption' supply of water, with the fitted tank being the washing/hygiene source for dhobi and body.
We're not talking RKJ stuff here, but a couple of old fart, preparing for a jaunt away on our own boat's from the Black Isle, up to and about the Faeroe Islands, without needing any water worries.
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To answer the original question: multiple small bottles are better than a few big ones, because you can shift them about as ballast and if one breaks you still have others. However, I'd be amazed if you spend a month without visiting a water source. Also, in that part of the world the sky leaks all the time!

Showering in salt water is totally do-able with normal soap. You only need a cupful of fresh and a flannel to rinse off the salt at the end.
 
Bodach na mara said:
I also use the 5 litre bottles, bought from a supermarket by other people and retrieved by me from the marina recycling skip for recycling as containers for my reserve of water.
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Lets hope the skip bottles have not been used for something other than water . For example I used a couple of bottles for changing the engine antifreeze a few weeks ago. Obviously they will be going to the skip.
 
Across many boats, I have always aimed for just barely enough water in bottles to see me safely through. A tank can always leak or a tap left running. I then have 100-200L in a tank that I actually use for drinking, cooking , and washing. The bottles typically last 1-2 years, by the time someone gets around to using them or I just decide "it's time."

I do not under stand the phobia about drinking tank water. Maintain your system , install filters as needed, and clean annually. Wasting all that plastic, in this age, is pretty much unconscionable. The bottles should be only for safety. I'd be embarrassed to admit my boat maintenance was so poor (ducking now to avoid rocks) that my tanks was not fresh, and embarassed to explain the plastic waste to my kids. Just sayin'. And wouldn't I want drinking water quality for washing up and showering? Why not, it's not that hard.

simple drinking water
 
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