Water maker

. However, in general, the oceans have gotten dirtier & busier with many more cruising boats crowding anchorages over the years, many if not most dumping their raw sewage right there where anchored where we would be washing dishes & brushing our teeth.
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Yes, and indeed these are not places where you should be using a water maker.



.We do have a 2003 C-Dory & the water tank is already in the bow under the V Berth, so no putting any other tank up there. We have considered putting in a water bladder in the back in the holding tank that we are not using as we have a composting head, but that project would be difficult to get to & figure out
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The water tank you have in your 2003 C Dory is on the port side. There is still room for another tank/bladder tank under the V Berth. Also the direct conversion (after appropriate sterilization) of the aft holding tank, since it is not being used, is a viable option.

I Cruised Baja from the mid 1960's until 1996--I am sure that there are more boats there now than were in the past. But I suspect that you can still find plenty of areas where there are not other boats polluting the water.--if necessary pick up that 5 gallons of sea water you might need in a non polluted area.

specific advice from any Cbrat that has installed a 6 to 8 gallon an hour watermaker that draws less than 15 amps.
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I doubt that you will find anyone who has a water maker which only draws 15 amps and puts out 6 to 8 gallons an hour. in a compact space. The closest you will find is the Village Marine (Parker) "Little Wonder" 12 volts, 15 amps, 6 gph... (The Rainman 12 volt unit uses 32 amps...to give that type of output). Then there is the "neat and compact" part. Where are you going to put these components? Where have you put the refer and freezer? What other storage space will you give up (I assume that you probably already ditched the water heater.). You have 370 Watts of solar panels: are you going LiFeP04 batteries to save weight and space to fully utilize that amount of solar energy?

I don't know if you have queried the cruising forums--but I would check out the section on water makers. There are a number of queries there, and a lot more depth of knowledge than among the C Dory owners.
 
Hi from Dana and thanks for the reply.
No we would not be making water in the crowded dirty anchorages, certainly waiting until we were in a cleaner more open area.
Our V Berth water tank is directly in the middle of the bow. Also the entire area was solid fiberglass under the cushions, we then cut 2 hatch like openings either side of the centered water tank for clothes storage.
5 gal water tank long gone (only worked 110 anyway), no good cruising ... and we tucked a little 2 gal Bosch 110 hot water heater under our galley sink. I stay on the boat during my work week at our marina saving me 2 hrs of driving back & forth from Monterey to Big Sur .
If we converted our holding tank in the back, we would put a water bladder inside... the big challenge is getting to it, it’s pretty buried.
We have 2 110 watt solar panels permanently mounted on our cabin top. The extra 150 fits on top the Bimini only when cruising, otherwise stored off the boat, we have 2 house group 31 120 Amp hrs batteries regular water filled as that’ was what was recommended for our Suzuki engine. In the past we like to stay anchored is a place for several days at a time so no engine charging & of course no generator in this small of boat (nor wind generation) it’s all about the sun power !!
Our small refrigerator is just under the captain’s seat where it was when we bought this boat (just upgraded it to more energy efficient & quieter one) and the freezer is a portable ENGEL frig/freezer smallest lightweight plastic one they make. We like to barbecue & need to store enough for maybe 7-10 days out from shopping sources. We do hope & plan on being out in the Sea away from marinas for periods of time at a stretch.
We have gone round & round on all the water makers out there. The Venture 150 looks good to us but yes, takes up inside storage space not to mention the $$$ & install project.
They apparently don’t make the Kydadyn 80 anymore because of
chronic problems they had with those units ...so I’ve been told.
That’s the one we would have picked for it’s size to output & draw.
The Rainman 12V is much too high an energy draw on our total battery bank as it’s recommended to be 400 Amps & ours is much less. The only other option is the gas model. We would keep it out in the cockpit with a cover (for sitting) when not using it.
We carry gas for our dingy outboard anyway
We shall see. Think we’ll look into the holding tank to water tank option. Think on that one a while !!!
Wonder if anyone out there has done that ??
Thanks again for everyone’s input .
Fresh water lake cruising is so much easier!! But then again it’s not Mexico !!
 
The Spectra Ventura 150 will take up about the same space under the setee as the mermaid ac system we tossed and uses less amps than the Village that did not make the cut. The Rainman gasoline powered one has it's negatives also but obviously uses 0 amps. The water tank is in the center of the v-berth forward of the footwell. As a past professional boat builder and a member of several cruising forums I am well versed in almost all aspects of our rebuild of Sierra. I am looking for C-dory specific answers from a C-dory owner that has installed a watermaker.
We know what we need to cruise the way we like and opinions on whether we need a watermaker or not are not helping us. It sounds like we may be one of the first to build a months on the hook saltwater cruiser the way we envision Sierra will be.
Thanks, Micah
 
Yes, I do believe you will be the first to envision the CD-25 as a "months on the hook saltwater cruiser." There are plenty of folks here who use their boats to cruise for months at a time, but do so within the design capabilities of the boat. That is not to say your vision isn't achievable, just giving my opinion (based on years of cruising with the CD-25) that there will be trade-offs. Loading that boat for a month off the grid (food, fuel, water, supplies, gear) is going to make for one heavily loaded boat. Performance will suffer. Space (including "personal space") will be maxed out.

Doable? Sure, with a full understanding of the limitations of space. Is it "the best tool for the job"? I think most folks would question that. The CD-25 was a great cruising boat for us for years. We spent months at a time on it, practiced water and power conservation, (including the occasional jerry jug of water and fuel) and the boat took us to all kinds of great places. If I were looking to do month(s) at a time of self-contained use (before re-supplying), I would be looking for a boat with more native storage, range, and tankage; probably a motorsailor.

People have crossed oceans on boats smaller than the CD-25, but they have been purposely built for that task. That said, I will be following along here and wish you all the best. You two sound very capable.

This forum has a great wealth of how folks use their boats. Your intended use will expand that knowledge base.
 
I meant cruising for months of the time in an area of Mexico with limited resources, Dana did mention that we want to be able to resupply every week to ten days or so. We have years of experience cruising that specific area so we know how to modify Sierra to suit our needs.
We had a sailboat permanently in Mexico for years and also one in California at the same time but I spent too much time on maintenance each year. We are experimenting with trailerable boats so that we can have one boat for both places
In the sailboat I built in Australia my crew of 5 and I sailed from Samoa to Monterey California, a voyage of 52 days at sea to windward for 5,800 miles. In those days it was all by sextant with no electronics, watermakers, solar or self steering. Catching rain squalls and using salt water foot pumps we still ended up with 40 gallons left out of 100. Obviously I build my boats thinking out of the box and every one has been very successful in meeting my goals at the time.
 
danabigsur":gncwvh7r said:
... Our C-Dory has a 20 gal fresh water tank (under the V Berth) and measured availability is 18 gals. ...
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About your water tank, was it installed by the factory or after manufacture? Is it a custom tank or a purchased unit, if so what is the manufacturer and part number.

I have a 22 and I have been considering adding a tank to the forward compartment in the V-berth. But there are not many choices for tanks with a V-shape. There are square tanks, but they would not optimize the space utilization.

Thanks.
 
The tank in our CD 25 appears to be v-shaped to some degree that I know they make, but it is hard to tell because during manufacture the whole area underneath the v-berth was foamed. We cut in hatches and removed a lot of the foam for more storage.
 
I missed the "being able to resupply every week to 10 days" part. That said, being conservative, I would think you would be able to get by with your installed fresh water tank and an aux tank installed where the former black tank was. That would eliminate the space and power needs of a water-maker.

I understand the trailering aspect of the CD-25; that was one of the key reasons we picked that boat when we bought ours. Also, I was in no way questioning your abilities or reasoning; simply offering an opinion and encouragement.

It has been a couple decades since we spent time along the Baja coast. Ruggedly beautiful area. Back then, we were able to buy water in 5 gallon jugs, delivered to where we were, in some places. You couldn't always count on it, though.

Best wishes with the prep and travels.
 
We had a "30" gallon water tank on our Ranger tug, we spent a week out on the mainland side of the sea a couple of years ago on "the lost coast" (amazing cruising area we saw only one sailboat in a week and incredibly beautiful dessert hikes up out of the little cove anchorages and very easy to get to up above San Carlos) and our water just lasted the trip so a maybe 12 gallon ( hard to know what would fit into the black water tank?) waterbladder would be just enough. On our boat we would have to rip out the aft section of deck to put a proper water tank in it's place and even I am not that crazy! So this is the debate that Dana and I have been having that led to Dana's post, we have several hours a day of excess solar power so amps used is not a problem but for a built in watermaker storage space exchanged for a watermaker is a question, a portable gas powered Rainman watermaker does use very little gas but it is as hard to get as water and we don't have space for much of any jugs. It would be removable when back in the marina In Monterey, a plus, but uses valuable cocpit space though I would fabricate an aluminum box around it to use as a seat. After both of us cruising separately in the old days with basically literally nothing we now like a bit of comfort and luxury as long as it is installed "dead bolt" reliable but the cost is always factor, so we go round and round in our debate!
Thanks for taking the time to give us your input, Micah
 
We had a "30" gallon water tank on our Ranger tug, we spent a week out on the mainland side of the sea a couple of years ago on "the lost coast" (amazing cruising area we saw only one sailboat in a week and incredibly beautiful dessert hikes up out of the little cove anchorages and very easy to get to up above San Carlos) and our water just lasted the trip so a maybe 12 gallon ( hard to know what would fit into the black water tank?) waterbladder would be just enough. On our boat we would have to rip out the aft section of deck to put a proper water tank in it's place and even I am not that crazy! So this is the debate that Dana and I have been having that led to Dana's post, we have several hours a day of excess solar power so amps used is not a problem but for a built in watermaker storage space exchanged for a watermaker is a question, a portable gas powered Rainman watermaker does use very little gas but it is as hard to get as water and we don't have space for much of any jugs. It would be removable when back in the marina In Monterey, a plus, but uses valuable cocpit space though I would fabricate an aluminum box around it to use as a seat. After both of us cruising separately in the old days with basically literally nothing we now like a bit of comfort and luxury as long as it is installed "dead bolt" reliable but the cost is always factor, so we go round and round in our debate!
Thanks for taking the time to give us your input, Micah
 
We are in Puerto Escondido right now on our 25. We left San carlos (Sonora) in March , slowly made our way down to La Paz and are now on our way back up to San carlos.
I must say that I felt the same way you do about the water tank capacity on the C-Dory before our first trip down the Sea a couple years ago, we previously had a Tayana37 with a 90 gls water tank plus a 8gl/hr watermaker.
Surprisingly it has not proven to be much of a problem for us.
Adaptation in water use was the key. I installed a valve after the pump to regulate the flow out of the faucet to a minimum, we have 2 solar shower bags and we prewash dirty pots and pans as much as possible with sea water. I carry an extra 5 gls in a jug in addition to a few single gallons of good drinking water.
South of Puerto Escondido Agua Verde has a grocery store with 20 liter bottles (and WiFi @ 30 pesos/hr) Evaristo has an R.O plant and will sell you water (take your own jug) The little bar/restaurant there might sell you water as well l
It's definitely doable especially in the winter unless you decide to have lengthy stays at the islands
I few weeks ago I developed a leak in my tank that now makes the water situation a bit more challenging. I think it might have been caused while filling the tank by unusually high water pressure at the dock in Puerto Escondido on our way down.
 
On our 2006 model year CD 25 the holding tank was in the rear where yours is. I removed it by cutting a hole for a new hatch the same as the port and stb hatches on the face of the motor well. In our case the tank had cracked and was leaking. By removing the tank and now with a third hatch we have access to the entire area under the splash well. If you did something similar it would certainly solve your access problems to the holding tank. And if you removed it, you would be able to choose to put whatever works best there. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the hatch placement.
Cheers
Ron
 
I don't know if I should mention it because you've probably already figured out how you wan to use the cockpit but.... when we cruised with Meander our CD 25 in the Baja in 2009 on the longer trips of up to 10 days away for our base in Puerto Escondito, we carried 2 5 gal containers of water and 2 5 gal containers of gas in the cockpit. The gas containers were the most important. Especially in Las Paz where I had to pack 50 gallons from a gas station 2 blocks from the marina because at that time none of the marinas were selling gasoline.
Cheers
Ron
 
Ron and Alain, thank you so much for your responses, exactly what we need.
We were always based out of San Carlos with our Sailboat and then with our Ranger Tug 25. We never got a window we liked in between northers, most of the reason we are trailering the CD 25 down to Escondido, Dana has to work intill late in the year after the northers have picked up. It is good to know we can buy water in Everisto. The valve to limit the pump water is a good idea, I did put in a little hand pump at the galley sink that draws through a very fine filter. I put in a little sink in the head and both of the sinks have salt water foot pumps. Dana is a nurse and we once got sick washing dishes in salt water so she won't use salt anymore in crowded anchorages. Our boat has a lift off hatch way to the rear of the cockpit that exposes the back half of the holding tank, but it is a very tight spot to work in. I have thought about cutting out the part of the tank l can reach and stuffing a water blader into it. In the old days we ferried a lot of jugs from shore in the dingy and that is one solution. I can't seem to convince Dana to carry fuel in the cockpit and fuel range on a cruising loaded boat is a worry. I did get the optional computer gauge with the new Suzuki so we know our fuel flow rate which helps. On our recent trip to Shasta with a cruising load we were lucky to get near 2 miles per gallon at planing speeds, so I am still learning the boat.
It is so great to hear positive information about how the CD 25 does down in the sea, I wish I could talk in person for more details. We know the Tayanas well, our Sailboat was similar in size that we sailed down in 2011.
Thank you both again for your helpful posts!! Micah
 
Micah,
I did find an image that shows the hatch location somewhatBriggs_y_trying_to_get_back_on_the_boat_by_himself.jpg

We never got a window we liked in between northers,
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Yeah, northers! I didn't really have any experience with northers before the Sea of Cortez. It scared the h.... out of me. The weather forecasts down there are of course nothing like up here, and we ventured out from an anchorage early to beat a norther. Not!!! 40 nautical miles in just over two hours, surfing down the face of 5-7 ft seas, full power to climb back up and eternally thankful for those two extra 5 gal cans of gas I added back in the anchorage! Nothing I want to repeat.
 
Ron & Micah
Ron, my holding tank is under the toilet bowl in the head, the water tank, under the splash well, as measured (10x30x20 approx.) is too big to remove even with an extra vertical hatch on the forward part of the well. I am hesitant to cut too many large holes in that area as I feel the entire well as built is structural in some ways.
Micah, re: fuel range, the only time I get on a plane is when we cross from San Carlos to Santa Rosalia and vice versa, good fuel docks on either side, I burn about 40 gls on that crossing, approximately 80 NM. The rest of the way going south down the Baja and island hopping I mostly go 1800 rpm, giving me around 6, 6.5 knts and I get between 4 and 5 Nm/gallon even fully loaded. I fish all the way and I've been lucky with good size Dorados this year. I usually have half a tank left when I get to Puerto Escondido, I fill up there (~20 pesos/liter) and again will have half a tank, maybe a little less by the time I get to La Paz, Two fuel docks with gas there, marina Costa Baja and marina Palmira (preferred).
As far as washing dishes in sea water, I would not consider it in a crowded anchorage or if the water looks questionable ie; algae blooms, slime ets.. I always give ir a fresh water rinse afterwards regardless.
 
On our recent trip to Shasta with a cruising load we were lucky to get near 2 miles per gallon at planing speeds, so I am still learning the boat.
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Sorry I missed this in your last post. 2 NMPG is probably pretty good for a heavily loaded 25 on plane. We have averaged around 2.5 NMPG in over 12,000 NM of travel in Meander. This is with our 150 Yamaha. Probably a good 4,000 miles of that has been at just over hull speed. Many of us choose to cruise at less that 2,000 RPM at 6-7kts for two reasons. Fuel economy and we just damn well enjoy going slow in boats. (with the option of hurry up when we want. :D )
 
Thanks again, nice photo, our boat is earlier and has a ply/glass cockpit floor and the splash well is open 9" high accross the front with the holding tank under the rear of the cockpit floor, empty because of the composting toilet. So we may cut an access in it for a water bladder.
Thanks for the fuel info we traveled the route from San Carlos to La Paz many times with our sailboat as we kept her in in San Carlos for the summer for many years. We got diesel fuel at all the places you mentioned. I did check out the gas mileage at lower speeds and did get over 4 mpg. We always left anchorages down there at dawn when going north to avoid the afternoon winds and avoided northers like the plague. People up north don't understand that it can go from flat to 6' at 6 seconds in no time. I was hoping that our new to us hot rod boat would be faster than our old sailboat! Alain have you tried XM sat. weather down there we have always used the ham/SSB nets, curious. Still on the watermaker fence as we have hauled a lot of jugs in our time and will have to haul gas cans for sure if we spend a lot of time in Conception. We have excess solar amps we can use for a watermaker but losing interior storage is a tough trade off.
 
Spectra Ventura 200 watermaker looks to have won our debate, the measurements fit and the weight is less than an auxiliary water tank, plus we have plenty of solar amps to run it's 8 amp draw for 6-7 gallons an hour.
I will attempt to load photos of the install if all goes to plan (the gods laugh at me a lot)
Thank you all for your helpful posts, Micah
 
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