........................Endeavour Index Page............Plumbing Mods Index Page

..................................Previous Page.............................. Next Page If There Is One

======================================================

.........................--- 44 Gallons of Water Storage --

======================================================

Besides the 80 gallons in 4 tanks in the bilge and the 6 gallon tank up in the cockpit coaming we wanted more storage of water in containers that would be easy to clean if in doubt and that we also could take ashore in the dinghy in places like the Bahamas where sometimes you can't take the boat to a water source.

We wanted to use the quarter berth for storage so decided to add additional water storage there. We use Reliance 4 an 7 gallon water containers on the Mac and liked them so looked at them to fulfill our needs. They stack and after taking some measurements we found that we could put a 4 gallon container on top of a 7 gallon container. 4 sets of these would give us an additional 44 gallons of easily accessible water and we could take some of the containers ashore for more water in the dinghy. In my mid 70's the 7 gallon are pretty heavy for me to handle but the 4 gallon are just right. If I take the 7 gallon ashore I don't necessarily have to fill them so they work. We also use these to refill the ….

… two containers that we keep at the sink for use there. On our current trip where we have been out almost a month these portable tanks have worked out fine. We have taken them ashore and refilled the main tanks in the bilge with them and used them to refill the containers at the sink.

The only down side was the weight they add to the boat in this area that resulted in a list to port and to stern. We corrected that by putting the diesel and gas containers we carry up along the lifelines on the starboard side just ahead of mid-ship and also putting most of our heavy can goods in drawers and under the draws on the starboard side settee. Those changes in where we keep things leveled out the boat and we really like having these portable containers for our drinking and cooking water source. The main tanks are new but eventually we might not want to drink from them. We do add a little Clorox when filling them.

As you read down the page you will see there are fixed supports on the side of the tanks towards the center of the boat. The back upright shown above can easily be removed but the hatch cover under it can be removed without removing the upright.

.

.

.

.

To the right above there will be what I call a removable fence to hold the containers on that side. The fence is held in place by the 4 brackets at the bottom and ...

….. the long board at the top in the picture above.

.

.

.

To remove the fence you pull the pin in the bracket at the bottom of the picture and then slide it forward ...

….. just enough that it clears the other bottom brackets. At that point you can swing the bottom to the left and slide it out of the quarter berth. You do this with no water containers in place, but can if just the back ones are in place.

You stack the containers and slide them in two at a time.

The front upright goes in place by pulling the bottom hatch cover forward a couple inches and then putting the upright into the top bracket. Next hold it in place and slide the bottom hatch cover back into place and …...

….. it traps the upright in place. There is still a lot of storage room next to the water containers and we have plastic bins that slide into that area. The tighter you pack the area the better everything stays in place in rough seas. We put other items in this area that are bulky but don't weigh much.

=======================================================

............................................................................. Next Page If There Is One