5th April, 2017

Boat Chores

March, 2017

One of our boat projects is keeping fresh water on board. Some people have water makers. We have one. A very old one. It is not very productive, as it only makes 1 ½ gallons per hour, so we don’t have it connected. If we were going to Central America, or across the Pacific Ocean, we would probably buy a new one. Since we carry two water tanks with a 100-gallon capacity in each, and the cost would be approximately $8,000 (That is American dollars.), Jay and I have decided to forego a new water maker and depend on local resources.

Some marinas have potable water. If that is the case, all we have to do is fill our tanks through a hose. We only use that water for washing dishes, showers and plumbing the head. For drinking water, I figure one gallon a day for two people. (Which is generous.) We usually stock 15-20 one-gallon containers for our offshore cruises. When we are at a marina, like Paradise Village, it can be as simple as walking to the market and purchasing the water. For a tip, one of the bag boys will bring it to the boat on a cart. It is not always as simple as that when in more remote ports.

In Barra de Navidad, our contact for water is Maria. We call her and place our order. She usually delivers the very next day. We needed to fill both tanks, but since she delivers by panga, we opted to do it over two days. The first day, we ordered 25 five-gallon containers. That was the easy part. The hard part is picking those babies up and transferring them through the funnel into the tank. That is Jay’s job, and it can be back-breaking. We also use them to fill our empty one-gallon containers. A few days later, we ordered another 15 five-gallon containers, and we were all set for our 150-nm journey back to Nuevo Vallarta. All this costed us about $1100 pesos or $55.00.