Bob and Judy,

Off line I was asked how you handle going to the Dry Tortugas for a week
with only 125 gallons of water.  I was also asked to answer this on line.
So here goes....  I assume from the question that there will only be the
two of you aboard?  Bottom line this should not be a problem.  The last time
we went to the Dry Tortugas we had six adults on board.  We were there a
week.  We carry 300 gallons of fresh water.  That came down to 100 gallons
per couple and it was not a problem.  Of course we did not run our washing
machine that week.  (13 gallons per load).

Most couples have to learn a little water conservation when living aboard a
boat.  The two areas that come to mind are dish washing and showers.  On our
trawler we carried 300 gallons of water.  However, we didn't always have it
so good.  We used to live aboard a sailboat with 5 children.  We took our
sailboat to the Bahamas and with 7 people on board it was still not a
problem.

1st, when showering you should learn to wet your body and then turn off the
shower.  Lather up your hair and soap your body good.  Rinse off in the
shower and turn it off.  It is easy to take a shower with less than one
gallon of water.  (My wife loves to catch rainwater all the time and use it
to wash her hair.  She claims it wonderful to wash your hair in rain water.
We always seemed to have a gallon or two on board even when we were in areas
where fresh water was plentiful)

2nd, when doing dishes we use a two bowl sink.  Hot soapy water in one bowl
and fresh clear water in the other.  As the permanent dishwasher on our
boat, I can tell you it is easy to do the dishes with two gallons of water.

In both cases the secret is not leaving the spigot run while showering
and/or doing the dishes.

Finally, most cruisers come up with some easy way to catch rain water and
add to their store of water.  (Not that it is always necessary, but why not
when in remote locations like the Bahamas or Dry Tortugas)  I am in the
Bahamas as I write this and yesterday a couple came by our boat and made the
comment "That rain last night was nice, we topped off our water tanks!"  We
did not top off our water tanks because we are in a marina where water is
$25 per month.  However, when moving a lot and not staying in a marina while
in the Bahamas we always used to catch water and top off our water tanks.
Our latest water catching system includes the hard dinghy topside.  It sits
upright on the deck.  When it starts to rain, I wait a few minutes (rinse
out the dinghy), and then close the drain.  After the rain is over, I siphon
the water out of the dinghy into our water tanks.  Simple.  Many folks we
know (and this used to include us) carry a large canvas for shade on the
deck.  In a rain it can quickly be turned into a catch basin to collect
drinking water.

Whether your cruising plans take you to the Dry Tortugas or the Bahamas I
still do not see a need for a very expensive watermaker.  Most cruisers
learn a little about water conservation, carry a couple of large 5 gallon
jugs they can carry water in, and develop some system to catch rain water.
All in all this beats the heck out of a $5000 watermaker that you have to
maintain and cannot use in many of the harbors where you will be cruising.

Bob

Skipper Bob Publications
http://SkipperBob.home.att.net

Nicely written, Bob, and I personally couldn't agree more.  Still, here's an
alternative I saw at another list.  A homemade watermaker (it'll still cost
a coupla-thousand):

http://www.rutuonline.com/html/watermaker.html

-----Original Message-----
From: trawler-world-great-loop-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawler-world-great-loop-bounces@lists.samurai.com]On Behalf Of
Robert Reib

Most couples have to learn a little water conservation when living aboard a
boat.

Finally, most cruisers come up with some easy way to catch rain water and
add to their store of water.

Whether your cruising plans take you to the Dry Tortugas or the Bahamas I
still do not see a need for a very expensive watermaker.