Non-electric desalinators

[Ken Bourke]

Has any member of the forum had any experience of a desalinator which is designed to be towed behind a boat and which the makers claim will start to produce fresh water once the boat speed exceeds 4 knots? The makers claim that this device will only reduce boat speed by 0.03 of a knot.

Any advice on desalinators would be appreciated but the advertised costs of an electric device put it way out of reach at the moment. Also, the size,current draw and wiring of electric models, to me, dont make the electrical devices attractive to me for a 40ft ketch.

[Bedouin]

Hello Ken, Don't know the unit your writing about but first check how much water it makes as I suspect it might not be much. An alternative is to think of catching rain water; my yacht has 'gutters' which connect to a hose system that runs the water straight to the tanks; I haven't taken water on board for about 4 years though I am a stickler for water wastage. Another consideration is the ongoing costs in servicing a desalinator - something the makers are reluctant to discuss. Food for thought.

Regards

Peter bedouin@hotkey.net.au

[Nausikaa]

On the subject of catching rain water, I saw an interesting thing a while back. It was a yacht fitted with an in-boom furling system. With the sail up, all rain water hitting the sai ran into the boom from which, at the forward end, a hose ran to the water fill pipe. Obviously you would have to wait a while after the rain started before connecting the hose to the water fill to allow the salt to wash off but I thought it was a neat system.

All the best,

Stephen

Yacht NAUSIKAA

[sid]

hello everyone

the watermaker stated above might be this one..http://www.watermakers.ws/index.html..sounds like it , hope to hear from someone with watermaker knowledge if it is as good as it claims. the raincatching method using your sail does sound interesting as well

take care sid

[Ken Bourke]

Thanks for the replies. I have found the website for the watermaker it is http://www.watermakers.ws/watermaker.htm. It doesnt make a huge amount of fresh water but with proper water discipline it should make enough to keep a couple of people going till another source eg a creek ashore could be found.

The comments re catching rain water were helpful and I will look at the rig and see what I can come up with.

Ken

[Seafarer]

You could probably make your own solar desalinator and get more water from that than the tow-behind. Provided you have sun, of course.

There are also desalinators that you pump by hand.

You can build a powered desalinator without too much hassle, and if you "pickle" it after each use it will last a decently long time. They don't take up much space, either. There was a very comprehensive article on the construction and care of such desalinators in Good Old Boat magazine some time ago. You may be able to order the back-issue.

Ken, if you are refering to the Waterlog watermaker, go to the

Seven Seas Cruising ***. website www.ssca.org and do a searh of

waterlog watermaker on the discussion board site. There is a lot of information posted there...and not very favourable. You do not have to be member to read the board.

Good luck

John

[donnalange]

another way use of the mainsail,if there is minimal wind, is to place a bucket at the base of the mast. by lifting the topping lift a bit, rain water will channel to the mast base. I found it very effective in the South Atlantic where winds were less and especially effective in trades where wind is to stern and natural aspect of sail lifts boom and channels water to mast. Had been wondering about towed system. Thanks for input.

[Ken Bourke]

Many thanks to all that replied to my request for advice. As suggest by John W I took a look at the SSCA board and it was quite enlightening. The overall concensus seems to be that the mob pushing the towed watermaker are really shonky so I have ruled that out. The help of all who replied is much appreciated.

Ken

[salvor]

I use the power survivor 40e desalnator system. I have installed over 30 units, all clients are happy, the system is easy to install