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SVI Bareboat/Water refill
#64538
08/12/2015 08:38 AM
08/12/2015 08:38 AM
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 229 West Chester, PA
ligot
OP
Traveler
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OP
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 229
West Chester, PA
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Doing a bareboat with SailCaribe in Dec 6 on a cat with only a 79 gal water tank. We have 6 crew and 9 days on board. Our intention was a tour through Culebra/Culebrita then to Vieques but we're not finding much for refilling the water tanks on that itinerary.
What would you folks recommend for an itinerary with at least one place to stop along the way? 79 gallons just seems REALLY small when our last BVI trip had 8 people, 7 days and we went through about 300 gallons.
Thanks for any suggestions.
S/V Tortuga Lagoon 46
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Re: SVI Bareboat/Water refill
[Re: Winterstale]
#64541
08/12/2015 11:52 AM
08/12/2015 11:52 AM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 399 Pacific NW
snmhanson
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 399
Pacific NW
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Really no where to fill tanks between Fajardo and St. Thomas at this time (I read somewhere that they are working on a solution to that). We bought a bunch of gallon jugs for drinking water and even to rinse dishes in a pinch - and we also went to the USVI and refilled out tanks there. However, going to the USVI and back from the SVIs isn't a quick trip and I'd only recommend that if you actually want to go to the USVI. You could also bring some jerry cans filled with water and then refill them ashore when they are empty. Maybe Sailcaribe has some lying around for that purpose. Otherwise conserve water or you might find yourself making a mid-trip return to Fajardo to refill the tanks.
Matt
P.S. Not sure if it's your cup of tea, but we took a slip at Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas on our last trip to the islands and had a nice relaxing (and civilized) time there. It wouldn't be a bad mid-trip stop to refill tanks, do some laundry, swim in the pool, have a good meal or two ashore, restock provisions, etc... The only issue may be if the winds are up it can be a rough trip from the SVIs - but the trip back is a downwind sleigh ride.
Last edited by snmhanson; 08/12/2015 12:05 PM.
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Re: SVI Bareboat/Water refill
[Re: sail445]
#64549
08/15/2015 12:11 PM
08/15/2015 12:11 PM
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 229 West Chester, PA
ligot
OP
Traveler
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OP
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 229
West Chester, PA
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Thanks for all the feedback. I did double check and the specs for the 2016 Lagoon 400 on SailCaribe shows a 79 gal capacity. Even checked to see if it had a water maker but it doesn't show it in the equipment. In my experience though, 79 gal is REALLY small. I think we're going to check with SC and hope they have 2 - 5 gal jerry cans and we'll try to fill them every time we go ashore. It is both an experienced and low maintenance crew so I'm sure we can both conserve and refill in increments as best we can. The resort is tempting, on our last BVI trip we took 1 day on the dock at Scrub and really enjoyed the break. However I'm not sure it's worth the trip over to USVI. We'll run it by the crew though. BTW, I was doing the same calcs as Sail2wind ... 30 gallons is HUGE and way too heavy to move around a dinghy and then haul on board. And filling the dinghy is clever but ... never gonna happen. Thanks again for the feedback, if there are any suggestions beyond the obvious (bioluminescent bay etc) feel free to chime in.
S/V Tortuga Lagoon 46
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Re: SVI Bareboat/Water refill
[Re: ericlut]
#64554
08/19/2015 03:50 PM
08/19/2015 03:50 PM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,100 Maryland
Twanger
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,100
Maryland
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Watermaker requires the generator on Big Papa Lulu.
The watermaker on CYOA's Big Papa Lulu makes 25 gallons an hour. I don't know the exact current draw, but am guessing that it's comparable to an air-conditioner unit or two. Water and ice tastes fine, though we bought bottled water before we knew we'd be in Big Papa, so we drank it.
We tried to keep water topped-off because I'm of a conservative nature, and if we had a generator or water maker problem I wanted to make sure we had a pretty full tank of water. Our strategy became to run the generator from 3pm-6pm and make water. Then we turned the watermaker off and made cool air with the AC units while cooking, and to get the cabins cool for sleeping. Running the watermaker and the AC units all at the same time is not recommended. Boats generators are generally not sized for the maximum possible load.
The ice-maker on Big Papa would keep a cooler cool with ice, and also make enough to do frozen drinks or drinks with ice. Big Papa also had a cockpit fridge, so keeping beer cold didn't require a cooler. To supplement cooling the drinks in the cockpit cooler we also made a gallon jug of ice every night in the freezer.
The icemaker drew 25 amps at 12 volts, so it was not a huge power hog (on the grand scheme of things). We ran the microwave on the inverter once, and it took 100 amps at 12 volts! Yikes!
We used 100 gallons of Diesel in 9 days, and filled up at Del Rey for $270. Big Papa holds 112 gallons, and I was getting a little nervous on the last day. This consumption seems pretty frugal to me, considering we were running the generator about 16 hours a day and also used the engines some. I'd MUCH rather have this set-up than be worrying the whole trip about where my next water stop is, and where I can get ice next. Water and ice are not cheap or available, and trading them for a few dollars in Diesel fuel seemed like a good deal to me.
Hope that helps!
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Re: SVI Bareboat/Water refill
[Re: ericlut]
#64558
08/21/2015 07:46 AM
08/21/2015 07:46 AM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,277 Saint Thomas, USVI
CaptainJay
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,277
Saint Thomas, USVI
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ericlut said: Walt--thanks for the thorough explanation. We've finally decided to give CYOA a try and we're on their new Mahe 36 "Flyer" for 10 days in January. She has water and ice makers. Not really needed for our USVI/BVI itinerary but will be a nice amenity. Eric, Welcome to the family, the water maker that is in Flyer is different than the one we put in Big PaPa Lulu. It's a 12 volt unit. It makes 15 gallons an hour. It can be run while your underway using alternator power or when your running the genset from excess capacity of the battery charger. On our boats with water makers we also install a drinking water quality filtration system, a sediment filter, carbon filter and UV light that puts pottable water at every faucet in the boat. No more bottled water. Flyer has a very comparable ice maker to Big Papa Lulu. It has a typical front load fridge and the optional front load freezer. Jay
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Re: SVI Bareboat/Water refill
[Re: Sibilant]
#64561
11/06/2015 04:42 PM
11/06/2015 04:42 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,956 St. John, USVI
RickG
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,956
St. John, USVI
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We're back in the BVI after 2 weeks in the SVIs/PR. Puerto Del Rey had $2.55 diesel and $2.85 gasoline. Dinghy Dock reopened 10/31, but you could get water fills while they were closed. Just two of us with 95 gallons of water tankage, so we did not lug water. But, we have two 5 gallon collapsible Coleman water jugs and a siphon starter.
Cheers, RickG
Last edited by RickG; 11/06/2015 04:43 PM.
S/V Echoes, 2003 Beneteau 423 Grenada
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