Cool Clear Water

All day I face the barren waste without the taste of water, cool clear water --  Marty Robbins

In hindsight, from a convenience standpoint we probably should have put in a water maker from Day One.  Interestingly enough, throughout the past 3 1/2 years of cruising the Eastern Seaboard, Bahama’s, Caribbean, Columbia to Panama we have managed relatively well in gathering our water from various sources in anchorages, marina’s, and with water catchment. It's interesting to note that in most ports they actually charge for water, anywhere from $.50/gal. to .80 /gal. In the Caribbean rum was cheaper in some places!

Somehow getting a water maker just remained a lower priority each year as we decided where our boat improvement money would go. We also figured it would take away a lot of our limited storage space on board, which we didn’t want to give up, plus water makers are very expensive and can be very problematic.

Instead we designed and created all kinds of apparatus to help keep our tanks full, including  large water catchment system for the bow, a smaller one for the aft area over our hatch, and a way to catch water in our main sail stack pack while underway.  These systems were available but we didn’t always get them “up and ready on time” for downpours and once we did it never rained again…you get the picture.

Water is collected in the tarp and then goes through a water filter and straight into our tanks.

Our original system consisted of two 5 gal. blue plastic jerry cans that we would lug onto shore to the water supply. The problem was they were difficult to store, so we transitioned to six flexible 5-gal. cubes. Again the problem was hauling them from the water source to the dingy, then up onto the deck level. At around 30 pounds apiece that got old really quick.  And then individually pouring them into the tanks which was often time consuming.

We finally settled on a system with a flexible 30-gallon water bladder in the bottom of the dingy. We'd tie up to a dock and run our hose to a potable water faucet. Once back at the boat we had a powerful 12V water pump to pump the water up to the deck level and into the fill tube. This system worked incredibly well over the years and streamlined our water loading process considerably.

Walter smiling because he doesn't have to lift all the Jerry cans onto the boat

Getting water always involved a considerable amount of time and effort and in our planning it did limit how long we could stay out off the grid in remote areas. Most of the boats we sailed with had water makers and occasionally would give advice on which brand to buy and how much water it made per hour.  We also were tempted by the lure of longer showers, cleaning off the decks with fresh water after passages, and other non-conservation uses. But we weren’t totally convinced we had to have one yet!

Just off of La Ensenada Village after topping off our water tanks.

What finally was the deciding moment was after we transited the Panama Canal and were in the Pacific cruising the Las Perles Islands.  Before heading down to the Galapagos we needed to get more water and the only place with water mentioned in the guide books was a small fishing village, La Ensenada on Isle de Rey.  We took a special trip and anchored just off the beach at the village.  Mind you this was a very remote and isolated area that very seldom saw cruisers but fortunately a villager saw us and understood our quest for water.  We landed the dingy through the surf and followed him with our empty containers quite a ways along the beach and up into his village.  He eventually led us up a small hill to his home and brought out a large 5 gallon drum (like Home Depot buckets) and proceeded to ladle the water one dip at a time into our cubes. That was a tedious process as we sat and watched with the women and children nearby. When that supply was gone he lead us down to the village water spigot where we waited for our turn to finish filling our cubes. A few women were doing some laundry on the side and others filling up 5-gallon buckets and carrying them off on their heads (African style) to their homes. This was the primary water source for the whole village and we felt humbled and grateful that they were sharing their limited water resources with us.  So here we were westerners who have access to technology to do just about anything including making their own water and we are relying on a Third World fishing village for our water life source and not being self sufficient. 

We again found ourselves in a difficult situation when we took on a third person for our long crossing to French Polynesia from the Galapagos Islands.  We carry 140 gallons in our tanks and loaded up with 60 extra gallons of water not knowing how long the crossing might take and how much more water we might need with a third person. On the first day out our extra 30 gal. water bladder we had sort of tied to the fore-deck came loose and threatened to go overboard. Walter and Tryg spent about 30 minutes trying to corral this amorphous jellylike bladder back into place to transfer the water into our old cubes that were not being used at the time. Very lucky we didn't lose the 30 gallons overboard.  We were extremely conservative with dish-washing and bathing every other day.  Fortunately we had a quick 18-day passage and arrived with ample water but were concerned most of the passage that we might run out of water.

Following these two epiphanies we realized it was time to join the ranks and finally get a water maker.  Walter did some more research and determined that simple is better and went with a Spectra Ventura 200T that we could operate on 24 volts with our solar panels.  We purchased it through Marine Warehouse and they shipped it to Seattle (free shipping) for us to bring back to the boat after our next summer visit.  Bringing it back to Tahiti was a funny story in itself as we decided to pack it in a large roll-aboard as checked luggage.  Problem was it looked just like a bomb! Walter was sure it would be refused by the TSA and we would be stuck at the last minute trying to figure out how to get it to Tahiti.  As it turned out it wasn’t a problem, we packed it with the instruction manual fully visible “Water Maker” and it arrived safe and sound with us back at the boat in Tahiti. Apparently the US $5,600 water maker would have cost over $10,000 if we bought it in Tahiti.

The pump and chlorine filter for the water maker.

Luckily the Spectra 200T fit perfectly into the space where the previous owner had installed a water maker. Even the bolt holes lined up.

We soon found out that the Spectra water maker we ordered was the exact same model that the boat had originally, therefore installation was easier for Walter.  All the screw holes were precisely where they were needed, the tubing was still intact and all the electrical basically ready to go.  What a gift and it didn’t take up as much storage space as we thought it would.

A friend had mentioned how it would change our lives just as our putting in more solar power did. We marveled at how efficient and relatively easy it was to operate.  As water maker virgins we soon discovered the routine of frequently making water every 5-7 days with a flip of a switch.  So far it has been a honeymoon with our Spectra and we are ever so thankful to finally have one.  It draws only 5 amps (on a 24v system) an hour which is well within the output of our solar panels, so free water from free solar! We take a little longer shower now and then and don’t feel guilty.  We also have a little more freed up time to spend on other boat projects and maybe get in a little more reading.  Life is good!