Watermaker And Chartering?

[DavidJH]

We are about to charter a 42 foot Cat with a water maker. I have never sailed a boat with a water maker. It's a 2021, and the charter company recommended bringing water to drink. I was curious though if any of you ever brought along your own water filtering so you didn't have to continually buy more water for ice, drinking, and cooking? It seems like a good idea on the surface, but I know that it can also be demineralized from he water maker. If you have any tips on specific brands or products, please let me know.

Thanks!

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by DavidJH

We are about to charter a 42 foot Cat with a water maker. I have never sailed a boat with a water maker. It's a 2021, and the charter company recommended bringing water to drink. I was curious though if any of you ever brought along your own water filtering so you didn't have to continually buy more water for ice, drinking, and cooking? It seems like a good idea on the surface, but I know that it can also be demineralized from he water maker. If you have any tips on specific brands or products, please let me know.

Thanks!

First there are some basic questions about the watermaker

1- do you know how to use one?
2-when was it pickled?
3- if it hasn't been pickled you better check to see if the membrane has crapped out
4- sounds like the charter company doesn't want you to use the watermaker, probably because they have horrible experiences with people who don't know how to use them
5. buying water is fine although perhaps a bit expensive when you have a watermaker
6- don't worry about demineralization of the water - this is an old wives tale

[sailorboy1]

I would thing a 42' cat would hold enough water for a week charter.

But what good is having a watermaker if you still have to haul water????

[SailingHarmonie]

A charter cat with a watermaker is an odd beast. Not unheard of, but odd. As a former charter fleet service manager, I would expect the chances of a watermaker surviving very long with the average charter crew to be very small…

We use our watermaker water straight out of the tanks, untreated, for everything. Drinking, washing, everything. That kind of seems the point of having it. But there are certainly people who feel that water for drinking should only and always come from plastic bottles.

[bstreep]

Water makers on charter cats are the new rage. Both of our recent charters had water makers. One didn’t work. The unfortunate part of it is that the cat was spec’ed with minimal tankage because it had a water maker. Sucked.

They put “idiot proof “ water makers in. You just turn them on.

[jtsailjt]

I chartered a cat last winter that had a Watermaker and it was simple to operate and worked fine. Charter company briefed me and demonstrated how to use it prior to departure.

As for drinking it, I’m sure it’s fine as is but on my own boat I have a carbon filter in the cold water supply line to the galley sink only. So I brush teeth and shower, etc with plain Watermaker water but for drinking and making ice I use the additionally filtered water out of the galley cold water tap.

[carstenb]

We used straight watermaker water for drinking and everything else for over 7 years now. No issues

[ohdrinkboy]

Personally, I would not trust my vacation to drinking water out of a tank. You just don't know how good it is. Drink bottled. Long term cruising is a different beast.

You paid a lot for that vacation. Would suck to get the runs because you saved $100 on bottled water.

[Peeew]

The company that I work for as a captain does have some boats with watermakers. But all are disabled and only used when the owner takes the boat out. Apparently too many expensive repairs when guests used them. Also many charter boats sit empty in warm climates for months at a time. Doesn’t lead to good tasting water. In many places drinking water can be bought in large2.5 gallon jugs, I hate to see cases of small plastic bottles. I have also seen people bring large collapsible water jugs that they fill from good sources when available. Smart.
On my boat I fill my tanks with my Watermaker and occasionally treat the tanks with bleach. I also added a carbon filter at the galley cold water tap for cooking and drinking. So far I have never had a problem. And like someone above said, I use whatever comes out of the tanks for showers, toothbrush etc and have never had a problem.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

Personally, I would not trust my vacation to drinking water out of a tank. You just don't know how good it is. Drink bottled. Long term cruising is a different beast.

You paid a lot for that vacation. Would suck to get the runs because you saved $100 on bottled water.

I understand your concern about accidentally wrecking your vacation but if tank water comes from a good clean source such as a Watermaker and it tastes fine, I can’t see what’s the difference in that water vs water in a little bottle that was filled from a tank in a factory. I don’t have the link but I recently read a report that said most bottled water wasn’t any better than what comes out of the tap, and it’s a huge waste of plastic, so I avoid bottled water and have never had a problem.