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.