Plastimo Bladder and Whale Gusher MK3

Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
I had a nice experience upgrading my 30 year old water system on my O'day 272. I installed a Plastimo 13 gallon bladder and a Whale Gusher MK3 foot pump. I adapted the 1/2" hose to a standard household sink sprayer, cut and heat-shaped a plexi mount to hold the sprayer over the galley sink, and it works great.
I reduced the water capacity of the boat by 1/2 because we only weekend on the boat, and we bring drinking / cooking water, so this is only for cleaning. Additionally, we are at the dock most nights. Because we are on a lake, and overboard discharge is not allowed, I converted a collapsible camping water tank for use as a waste water tank. It fits under the galley sink and is small enough to easily lift out. It is not large enough for a long cruise, but for our weekend, it seems sufficient.
All in all, I am pleased with the two products. The foot pump pushes water on both the up and down stroke. The bladder has a heavy duty liner and sits nicely in the port settee where the old tank once sat.

I give these two products a "thumbs-up."

Thanks,
Andrew
 

Pat

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Jun 7, 2004
1,250
Oday 272LE Ninnescah Yacht Club, Wichita, Ks.
sounds great Andrew, along with your email to me I think I can install one of these to replace my cracked poly-e tank...
I think I should be in great shape with about a 20 gal. tank...afterall, we too spend most nights at the dock....and if we anchor
out, 20 gallons should be fine for dinner and breakfast needs.....thanks, Pat
 
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
@agprice22: We also have a whale foot pump. Its perfect. It is far superior to the electric system we once had in every way.
It delivers exactly the amount of water required for the task quickly. We also have its outlet connected to a household sink sprayer like you (that currently just hangs from a bit of wire - thanks for the plexi idea). I pulled the perforated end off to make it stream instead of spray. Someday a 25 gallon bladder will replace the 3 5 gallon jugs under the vberth. Under the sink in our slide out galley is a 3 gallon catch jug.

@Pat: I'm having trouble wrapping my head around staying at a dock most nights and thinking 20 gallons of water should be good for dinner and breakfast. For us that's a 10 day supply and we rarely dock overnight...