Wilderness Cruising | Nautitech Open 40 blog

I mentioned that Kiwi fisherman gave us fish for helping him, but this is not the first time we've been given fresh fish by Kiwis. We eat fish, but we're no good at catching them. Luckily for us New Zealanders are very good at catching fish, and also happen to be generous with them, or perhaps we just have a hungry look. Over on Great Barrier Island we saw a familiar boat, but when we went over, the owner was not who we expected. The boat had been sold, and the new owner was onboard. We got to talking about boats, and the next thing I knew I'd offered to take a look at his watermaker for him. They had an Open Ocean 30L DC model. We have the 60L model, and they are basically the same. Watermakers are a sensitive bit of kit. Despite the sophistication, they feel like a cottage industry, not at all like a dishwasher home appliance. You need an understanding of electrical circuits, reverse osmosis membranes, filters, plumbing, high pressure, power, etc, before you even go near ...

So our water maker finally broke down beyond repair. We made several mistakes in selecting and installing this particular watermaker. Having one of these units malfunction is not a nice experience. In fact it could be pretty serious depending on where you are. The reason is you need water is to drink. Having one of these units means you can spend pretty much an near unlimited amount of time out in remote areas. Boats do need consumables of course, but with a good watermaker onboard, all you need is food, and fuel. So to setup for 2 months it can be pretty easy, 3 months possible, but you have to work harder and plan better.  Our fuel tanks hold 215 litres each, this lasts us around 1-2 months before they are below half. We could use less diesel, but we like hot showers. When it comes right down to it, we don't actually need the diesel to live, just live more comfortably. Coming through the Pacific we toped up 80 litres in Marquesas, our next top up was Fiji over 4 months later. Our...