Coastal Cruising SE USA - Live without watermaker?

[flightlead404]

[QUOTE=Jim Cate;3506356]Plenty of good suggestions upthread, but I'm surprised that no one has pointed out that fresh water flushing for toilets is wasting a significant amount for you, and of course is not required./QUOTE]

yeah I know its a problem. I'm trying to avoid as many substantial changes to the boat as possible, as it'll probably be sold in 2-3 years for a "proper cruising boat" lol

Changing this head to sw flush would be a fairly big project. But keeping a bucket of sw in the head to flush with is easy

[Stewie12]

Definitely salt water for the toilet. We used to let the rain wash the decks clean and then direct the rain into the inlet for our water tank. Very simple as it was on deck and we made a little silicon wall behind it.

[Mike OReilly]

Since our head is already a composter, I don't have that draw. I do know that one of our larger water consumers is doing dishes. I know this because when we're at the dock, and not using salt water to wash dishes, our daily water usage nearly doubles. (goes to about 3.5 gallons/day vs 2).

So having raw water at the galley makes a big difference for us.

[rslifkin]

We've got raw water flush heads. With cooking, daily showers, dishes, etc. we typically average around 10 - 15 gallons / day for 2 of us and a dog (often closer to the 10 gallons end of the range). We could cut consumption down further, but we generally don't have a need to, and at that level of consumption, we're perfectly comfortable.

We only carry 65 gallons as well, but I'll hopefully be expanding that when I replace a leaking tank this winter. Another 20 - 30 gallons would generally get us to the point where we'd rarely have to carry water aboard, and getting water wouldn't be an inconvenience. If we're good for 7 days comfortably, we'd usually be coming to a dock for something, even if just a pumpout before water becomes a significant concern.

[Hudson Force]

We carried 200 gallons of water like Mike OReilly and pretty much followed his plan. Swimming was a common activity for us and this included bathing, followed by a careful rinse with 16 ounces of water (32 ounces for Nancie to get the salt out of her long hair). We were always careful to only use towels to dry of fresh water and to never take salty clothes or bodies below. Anything salty below will always be damp and clammy!

[MJH]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

We're into our 1st season of sailing, but have spent most of that time in marinas with only a few nights at anchor here and there due to doing work on the boat, work schedules, and having to split time between boat and land.

Before the end of Nov we're pushing off from Hilton Head to meander down to the Keys (hopefully) and winter in warmer climes.

I have 65 gallons of water onboard. So far, with restricting showers and limiting head flushing (fw electric head) we still can only stretch that a few days.

Given that I'm hoping to spend much more time on the hook/mooring balls over the next 6 months, what are the techniques, tips, tricks to deal with water requirements, or should I bite the bullet and figure out how to install a watermaker?

Your beginning to understand the need to recognize the realities of living on the water and the need to conserve. This can be very hard for some folks to adjust to; some just buy their way out of the issue. History teaches us that early pioneers did survive quit well without all of what is often considered necessary today.

You can start by switching to a sea water flush toilet. While hand pump faucets would be the most water economical just reducing the electrical pump size to one of minimal gallons/hour pressure would help and they will be cheaper to replace. 65 gallons is a fair amount of water that can be topped off enroute between anchoring stops if managed correctly. I cruised a roundtrip to Alaska solo on my previous San Juan 28' boat that had 2x9 gallon fresh water tanks which were topped-off between fuel stops. I also used an eight gallon sun-shower bag to warm water for cleaning the dishes but never used it for showering, that was done between major stops...and I survived. After a time dealing with ice for refrigeration I learned that it wasn't worth the effort and expense and did just fine without it, there are options. Canned drinks were kept cool stored against the hull skin. Perishable foods were purchased in small quantities and consumed quickly. Just change your thinking of what are desires and what are necessities.

My present boat has 2x100 gallons fresh water s.s. tanks; no watermaker. On my roundtrip to Hawaii my total crew of four used one tank going over in 22.5 days due to being becalmed three times; no showers were taken and we miraculously survived. These numbers fall in line with the standard of one gallon per day per person. On the 21.5 day return we used just over one tank for a crew of four.

Watermakers may be necessary for ocean passages if you don't have the tankage but not necessary for what you contemplate. Manage what you have better. They are also expensive, maintenance problematic and something else that must be managed.

Good Luck.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

…



There's NO WAY we could stretch 65 gal to a month. I just don't see how. That's 2 gal/person/day. In the heat I probably drink 1 gallon, then there's coffee, cooking, dishes, teeth cleaning....I don't see it.



I'll stay upwind of you

Nope, worse than you think; that’s about 1gal/person/day.

65gal/mo / 2 people / 30d/mo = 1.08 gal/person/day.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Flight, we also average 2 gallons/person/day when off the dock. I know this is true because we use a flow meter so know with great accuracy how much we use. We carry nearly 200 gallons of water, so can be off the dock for three months.

….

You would need 360gal to go 90d at that rate for 2 people.

[Adelie]

Watermaker have secondary costs: power supply and storage.

I did the math for Pur and they were about 1.2Ahr/gal. Where I could get info the others were using 2Ahr/gal or so since PUR has the patent on the pressure recovery pump that saves power.

If you are using 10gal/d that means you need 20/Ahr/d power. For that I would want an extra 50Ahr of LA battery capacity and about 75W extra solar panels.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Watermaker have secondary costs: power supply and storage.

I did the math for Pur and they were about 1.2Ahr/gal. Where I could get info the others were using 2Ahr/gal or so since PUR has the patent on the pressure recovery pump that saves power.

If you are using 10gal/d that means you need 20/Ahr/d power. For that I would want an extra 50Ahr of LA battery capacity and about 75W extra solar panels.

How easily you can power a watermaker depends a lot on the existing systems configuration on the boat. On my boat, it would be easy. I'd just go for an AC powered water maker and plan to run it while making dinner (as the generator is already running for an hour or so to power the stove and warm up the water heater for showers). Provided the batteries aren't low from a cloudy day and I'm not using all 3 stove burners for dinner, there's generally a decent bit of surplus generator capacity at that time, so other than a tiny bit of extra fuel, running an extra appliance would be pretty much a freebie.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Adelie

You would need 360gal to go 90d at that rate for 2 people.

Math... my old nemesis As I said, we also use rainwater. That gives us the added volume. We HAVE been off for up to three months, although two is more common.

But I see I was unclear. We are two. So 2 gallons/day for two people, or:
1 gallon/person/day.

60 gallons/month (30 days)
180 gallons/3 months.

For completeness, I also cruise in coolish climates, so probably don't sweat as much. But again, it's not hard. You do have to be conscious of your usage, and not waste it. I don't see this any different from almost all the other resources on a cruising boat.

Most of us monitor and using electricity or fuel wisely. Same with food and booze. Just adopt the same approach to water. You'll be amazed how far you can go, with no real additional effort.

[Mike OReilly]

All this said, I would love to have a watermaker. It's not that I need it (so far), but it would add to my sense of independence. I would opt for a low-volume DC system since I tend to have excess solar most days.

The problem is cost. Since I don't really need it, it will have to stay on the 'want' pile for now ... unless someone has an extra Katadyn Power Survivor 40 E that they want to get rid of for cheap???

[flightlead404]

I keep seeing comments like this:

I also used an eight gallon sun-shower bag to warm water for ...

But this is immaterial. The bag still has to be filled with fresh water if its a fresh water use. I don't see how using a shower bag saves fresh water, it only saves power for heating the water.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

I keep seeing comments like this:

I also used an eight gallon sun-shower bag to warm water for ...

But this is immaterial. The bag still has to be filled with fresh water if its a fresh water use. I don't see how using a shower bag saves fresh water, it only saves power for heating the water.

It saves water in the sense that if you leave the dock with it full, the water in that bag is effectively "free", as it's additional to your tank capacity.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

I keep seeing comments like this:

I also used an eight gallon sun-shower bag to warm water for ...

But this is immaterial. The bag still has to be filled with fresh water if its a fresh water use. I don't see how using a shower bag saves fresh water, it only saves power for heating the water.

We try to use rainwater for this, although not always (depending on how needed the shower is ).

Using a shower bag, or in my case a converted hard-shell sprayer like this:



Using this kind of thing makes it easier to use the water wisely. It's easier to tell how much you're using... but I'm sure it's not necessary.