Well, happy new year! Happy new decade! Hopefully you've set some resolutions or goals that are ambitious but achievable - ideas or actions that will improve not only your life but the lives of those around you, near or far.
If you're thinking of going cruising, here's an idea! You'll likely purchase a previously owned boat, and if you're lucky it'll have been equipped by the previous owner for a world voyage with all the best kit. The boat will be for sale cheap because someone's health went South, a divorce forces the sale, or it's part of an estate sale and "everything must go".
There's lots of deals like that out there on the boulevard of broken dreams. Generally it's some guy who spent the last 10 years purchasing and equipping a boat for the big retirement dream, only to find out his wife would rather stay put and play with the grand kids. A fortune has been spent on various bits of gear and now the whole kit and kaboodle is for sale. If you're lucky enough to find one of these deals and the selling party actually did a great job installing the gear, documenting everything for ease of maintenance (electrical and plumbing diagrams, etc) then maybe it'll really be a steal rather than a large puzzle that perhaps turns into a larger headache.
One of the recurring themes among cruisers out here in the South Pacific is water maker problems. There are lots of folks out here who got a great deal on a boat, fully equipped for cruising, and a water maker was part of the kit. It's an older unit but the previous owner swore up and down that it worked great before it was pickled for long term storage.
The new boat owner inherits this water maker and begins to spend money to bring it back to life. It hiccups along making water and breaking down, and the repair dollars start to add up. It's not just the cost of parts, it's the international shipping and customs fees, the delays in parts arriving, the hassle of finding fresh water sources and spending half a day humping water out to the boat to fill the tank when you'd rather be paddle boarding or hiking.
Some places procuring fresh water is easy. However potable fresh water might be more difficult to find and putting foul water in the boat tank creates new and wonderful headaches. If you have to seek potable fresh water to replenish the boat, then you need a bunch of jerry cans for the purpose, and they have to have a home. Like having a big row of blue water cans strapped to the deck? Not me. There was a highly experienced sailor killed near New Zealand recently when a dinghy that was secured to the foredeck broke loose and managed to damage a deck hatch, allowing green water to enter and sink the boat. If there's any choice, keep the topside clear of everything possible!
Anyway, back to water makers. I've seen folks spend more trying to keep an old water maker running than a new one would cost. It's that old "sunk cost" economic theory thing, except nobody actually practices it. They just keep throwing good money after bad.
Especially if you're not wealthy or very electrically, plumbingly (I made that word up) and mechanically inclined, buy a robust, fully manual water maker brand new, then perform or at least understand the installation of the system and pay careful attention to how it's performing over time. Trends in power consumption or product water output and quality will serve as a warning that something bad is about to happen. Get ahead of the problem. Fancy watermakers can be cantankerous with confusing malfunction symptoms and the parts very, very expensive. Keep it simple, stupid. The KISS principle will serve you well, especially out here in the boondocks.
Isabel chose our water maker after studying on the problem for a while. It's a CruiseRO 30 gallon per hour unit. Fully manual operation. Product support is beyond excellent, and the company answers the phone and email promptly. Parts are cheap and available. One of the best decisions we made, and money well spent.
Maybe you think you'll just use a rain catchment system to fill your fresh water tanks. Well, it hasn't rained here in weeks, and we're in the tropics.
Good luck, and here's to a great new decade!
----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment