Ann's Blog
Chaguaramas, Trinidad:
Sept. 8, 2010
Receta's Splashy Upgrade
A new piece of gear will be awaiting installation on Receta when we return to the boat in another month or so: our first watermaker. Until now, every drop of water that we used onboard – for drinking, cooking, bathing, dishwashing, and cleaning – had to either be caught when it rained or jerry-jugged from shore. The catching rainwater part is fun – watching the water tanks fill gives an upside to even the bleakest rainy day. (We have a big piece of canvas that hangs funnel-like over our foredeck, attached to the shrouds and lifelines. A hose fitted into its center channels the rain into the deckfill of one or the other of our two water tanks.)
Unfortunately, during the dry season, there are stretches when it just doesn’t rain. And jerry-jugging water is decidedly not fun. Schlepping full water jugs from shore in the dinghy, hefting them onto the deck (that part is always Steve’s job), and then pouring them into the tank (a shared responsibility) is hard on aging bodies. Steve won’t admit the aging part, but he does keep reminding me that water weighs 8.345 pounds per gallon, which translates into about 50 pounds per jug, or 150 pounds of schlepping and lifting on each water run.
a new stove aboard, but it shows off our old water-acquisition systems well:
our canvas raincatcher on the foredeck, our (back-busting) water jugs on the sidedeck. [Photo: Barb Shipley]
I wouldn’t say we are stingy with our water; I prefer to think of us as careful conservationists. Let the water run while we’re brushing our teeth? Not a chance. Keep the nozzle on the solar shower open while we’re soaping up? You’ve got to be kidding. Between us, we use a mere 5–6 gallons a day.
Our new watermaker promises to deliver 12½ gallons an hour. (It’s a Spectra, the compact version of the Catalina 300 MkII model, which uses two 20-inch membranes instead of one 40-inch one, allowing it to fit in Receta’s very limited space.) But I don’t plan to become less careful about our water usage. And we certainly won’t retire our rain-catcher. The big difference is that having a watermaker will make us more independent, allowing us to cruise in areas where there isn’t ready access to freshwater. And save our backs.
We anthropomorphize all our major pieces of boat gear: There’s Floyd, our wind generator; Otto, our autopilot; and Frank, our primary gps (because he always tells the truth about where we’re going). So the watermaker will have to be given a name. But I’ll need to see it in action first, get a sense of its personality, figure out its gender.
Steve, however, is already lobbying for “Jorma,” after Jorma Kaukonen of the blues-rock band, Hot Tuna. The connection? “A Hot Tuna album I liked a lot, called ‘Burgers,’ had a great guitar song by Jorma Kaukonen called ‘The Water Song.’”
Guess I’d better take a taste of Hot Tuna.
Back to topSign up to be notified by email when I post a new blog