Increased water tankage (H376-H380-H38)

[marcham]

Bit of a strange request... our H380 came from the factory with a 280L fresh water tank in the bow. That's about enough for 3 of us for 7-8 days with very short showers and being careful with dishes. Thankfully, the stock level gauge, hoooked up the CerboGX has been very accurate once we calibrated the sensor signal to the tank shape.

Even our 31' Beneteau had 2x 200L of water ...

Has anyone increased the onboard water storage? I'm eyeing the stern starboard comparment that was originally designed for a generator (the seat/cover is removable). But that would involve moving the Vacuflush pump to the starboard side and having to build out a shelf...

Alternatively, has anyone found a good spot for a compact water maker? Our starboard settee seats are full (hot water tank, water pump, fridge compressor, 628 Ah of lithium where the AC would normally sit). The port side bench has (stern to bow), start battery, inverter/charger .... the forward most comparment is where we tend to store our food. I suppose a compact watermaker (with 20 in membranes) could fit here, but then where would we put a month's provisions???

The other challenge with a watermaker is you immediately loose 30-60L of what you just made to flush out the membrane (3-5 mins @ 10L/min) .... so If I fill up to 280 L, i'm left with about 230L remaining.

We currently don't have a salt water pump in the galley, but i'm considering it (wash with salt, rinse with fresh). Our vacuflush also uses fresh water, I'm estimating about 2 L / per day (it's nice not to have any smells and the holding tank is good for almost 2 weeks).

Has anyone travelled for 3-4 weeks on these boats without taking on additional water? How did you do it? (I know, people used to cross oceans with 120L fresh water tanks, using salt water for almost everything)...

 

[Davidasailor26]

If you’re going 8 days on 280L but what to cruise for 3-4 weeks, you’re going to need a pretty substantial increase - probably adding at least 560L more. That’s going to add over 1,000 pounds to the loaded weight of the boat, and finding a place to store 560L is not going to be easy. I know our 37’ Beneteau has about 220L in the V berth and 160 more under the aft cabin. It has another 136L of diesel under the aft cabin and lazarette also. You’d need all that tankage for water, plus 324L more, plus fuel. Based on that math I think the only way you can get to the type of range you want is a water maker.

 

[marcham]

Yeah.... thus why I'm seeking out where others managed to fit a watermaker. The water tank is in the bow, but there isn't much room up there for it....

 

[jssailem]

Water is becoming a real issue in the BC Waters. There is so much available pouring off the hills, and yet finding it from the marinas in the Gulf Islands is proving to be an issue. When at anchor (Port Browning), the marina office had a sign about water being only available for drinking, no boat washing for visiting vessels staying at the marina.

As one sails further north, I understand it is even more critical. I have storage for 340 liters in 2 tanks. They are located under the salon seat bench and beneath the galley cabinet. Neither is very accessible.

 

[Terry Cox]

FWIW Karen Thorndike sailed solo around the world on a 36' cutter with a 32 gallon potable water tank. Her longest stint between ports was 90+ days. Go figure.

 

[jssailem]

She was tough

 

[Terry Cox]

She was tough

Her reply, when I asked how she did it, was we're way over washed. Washing with salt water will get you and other things clean. Collecting rain water into her tank also helped.

Small island fresh water sources in BC become somewhat limited, especially during the summer months, when draughts strain their supplies. Mainland and big island sources usually will have no limits. Shearwater was the only place that I recall where they had a ten gallon freshwater limit without a fuel fill up. Lund had a boat wash restriction, but all I did was rinse off the forest fire ash., which was not a problem.

 

[marcham]

Lund now charges by the Liter for water. Several of the Gulf Islands are starting to see issues with water availability in the peak of summer due to increased usage compared to when their systems were designed. Boat/car washing is often banned come July, but I've never encountered a fuel dock in BC that does not have water.... that being said, I haven't been to all of them yet (i'm trying). The issue is being away and staying away from cities and marinas for 2 + weeks. Water is our single limitation. Fuel tank is good for about 250 - 300 NM. Power is essentially unlimited in summer (Lifepo4/ 600 W solar). We have a huge fridge and freezer. .... need mo water!

To wrap this up ....

I could have fit a modular or compact watermaker in the v-birth by removing the mirror cabinet above the sink and building a slightly larger cabinet (i'd probably remove the sink, like in the H38). I could have fit here a single or dual 21" membrane, like the electromaax solarmax 200 or Aqua Nautica Aqua 30 Pro

I also could have fit a larger unit in the aft starboard lazarette if I relocate the diesel heater and the vacuflush to the port lazarette and then use the space that was intended for the generator, this would have required running a 40' water line from stern to bow which I wasn't too excited about... but ....

Vital Lyfe are expecting to start selling their compact / portable water maker this fall, so I placed a pre-order.

Whereas most Clark pump watermakers make 7-10 US G at about 140 Watts (18 Watts/ US G), the Vital Lyfe is expected to do 6 US G per hour at 200 Watts ( 15 Amps @ 12.8 VDC) (33 Watts/ US G). So a little less efficient but not by much. If the numbers pan out, that means making 90 L every 3 days would cost us about 55 Ah (including flushing time). We can live with that. Considering we're switching on the hot water tank almost every day (800 Watts for 45 minutes = 50 Amp-hrs)....we expect to use the induction cooktop to handle a lot of our hot water needs .

So not nearly as efficient as the clark pump but much more efficient that the majority of cheaper watermakers that just use a high pressure pump.

Bonus is the size of the whole thing 20 x 9 x 8 inches.

I know this sounds like a sales pitch (i'm not affiliated with the company ... no kickbacks or nothing), but for ocasional use (say 1-2 months a year) this seems like a great option, especially when you consider that it's expected to retail for 1/10 th the price of a traditional marine watermaker.

Depending on what we plan for a cruise next year we might just use it on deck twice a week. If we plan a longer trip and we want to run it in motion, then the water feed hose I'll just stick down the sink drain hose till it reaches the thru-hull. I'll have to tap a line into the water fill hose, T it off, and install a valve or a dry break quick connect.

Needless to say, I've put in a pre order (small deposit required) and hopefully it's integrated in the boat by next spring. Access | Pre-Order Now

This is not an ad! Just a PSA for fellow members (hoping I don't get banned...).

 

[marcham]

FWIW Karen Thorndike sailed solo around the world on a 36' cutter with a 32 gallon potable water tank. Her longest stint between ports was 90+ days. Go figure.

Solo being the key word .... aka ... showers are optional!

32 gallon with regular rain catching would work, but I'd consider it survival, and the commodore would likely not come to play on the boat

The vacuflush uses a few liters a day (and there's no head smell on the boat!). We don't yet have a sea water pump in the galley for dishes. We use about 20-30 L per day.

In the 90s when I chartered with friends (we were young, so we packed every birth to split the costs), we'd often have to limit ourselves to a quick rinse off with the salt water deck wash pump, we just used Joy soap (now Dawn?) to get rid of the salty sticky feeling. It worked. We didn't get run out of Vineyard Haven for smelling like yachties.