So this is a quick post. We have made a revolutionary change on Lost Loon … WE HAVE A WATERMAKER!!!!

Living aboard there is one precious commodity and it’s WATER…the fresh kind …drinkable and worthy of cleaning everything. How crazy is this notion living on the sea where we are surrounded by billions of gallons of water!! We are so conscious about the use… brushing teeth, washing dishes, cleaning the boat, rinsing after swimming, and showering. The drinking water we keep in galley jugs separate from the water tanks, it seems to taste better and so they deplete fast. We move about from island to island in hopes that there is potable water we can obtain when we get low. This also means we either pull the boat to a dock( not always the easiest… many times we wait for a dock to be available) or tote water in 6 gallon jugs back and forth in the dinghy and pour into the tanks. I think I posted something last year about catching rainwater to partially replenish our supply.

Mike and I alone figure we use a sparing 5 gallons per day. That is between consumption and washing, whereas we use a bit more when we are snorkeling a couple of times a day or if we have visitors aboard. It’s quite difficult to always remind friends and family to conserve the water.

We had contemplated a watermaker system over the last few years, but we were not ready to sacrifice some precious space for the installation just yet, until we realized the number of guests we might have this year and didn’t want to worry about being short on water. We researched systems and it was amazing the different output ranges we found. Then we saw a great portable unit called Rainman. It is a small compact gas generator and pump in one with separate container for the desalinator unit. After several calls for information, we became official owners.

We were expecting a friend to arrive in the next week and SeaTask Co out of Oakland Park, Florida was able to expedite the unit so it could be brought down at that time. Upon his arrival and once on the boat it was like Christmas!! We had spent the few days before his arrival to plan out storage space and it all fit perfectly.

We were situated in Charlotte Amalie and didn’t think it would exactly be the cleanest spot for our first test run of fresh water, so we moved to another cleaner anchorage the following day.

As soon as the boat was anchored Mike had his watermaking equipment ready with the directions. After 30 minute washout of factory chemicals, we had crystal clear drinking water, producing at the rate of nearly 38 gallons per hour. The first taste was amazing, making something so precious out of seawater!! It was our new gold! This stuff tastes as good as any ‘spring’ water we can buy in the Islands!

We will still conserve our use, but now we can wash some clothes more often, clean dive gear well, wash salt off the boat, and spend just a few more moments in the shower.

Happy making fresh water…. just so you know how precious this stuff is the next time you turn on the faucet.