More Preparation

Yesterday I went to Soriana's, a big store in what could be the biggest mall in La Paz.  I purchased a dozen sponges of the kind that I like and two plastic buckets with graduations on the side.  I'll try to reserve the new buckets for gathering rain water when the time comes.  I've still got the two old buckets for the cleaning work.  Unfortunately I could find no canned meats, let alone the corned beef or beef stew that I was looking for. 

The appropriately nautical binnacle cups

I also found some plastic cups that fit snugly in the binnacle holders if I push them down.  This might seem trivial, but I've found that cups at the binnacle are extremely useful for holding glasses, head torch, rigging knife, etc.

This morning I visited the coffee table with the intention of giving a few things away.  John got two containers of teak oil just in time for the teak phase of his boat work.  (Reggie had advised me not to use oil on my new teak.)  Don will take the small battery charger that has been so useful to me in US-Mexico waters and will remain so until my departure day.  Don will treat the charger as a resource to be loaned out to whomever needs it.   The charger is one of several electrical appliances that I'll be giving away before moving from the 110V to the 240V world.

I now have plenty of food provisions on board but all day yesterday I worried about the weak link of the coming endeavor, the supply of drinking water.  I am planning on a passage of 90 days to Cape Town, though there is a good chance that it will be less, possibly as little as 80 days.  Several issues kept swirling around  my head, such as:

- How much fresh water can I reasonably expect to use each day?
- If, When, and How Much rain water will I get?
- What happens if I run short of water?

First of all, the chance of getting no rainwater before rounding the Horn is pretty low, but if that does happen and I run short I can stop at the Falkland Islands.  This means that I must carry enough water for the 60 days to get me to the Falklands.

2.8 liter daily ration of water?

At Soriana I was fortunate enough to notice a sealed plastic jug calibrated to 3 quarts, or about 2.8 liters.  This morning I filled it with water and poured enough into a pan to cook rolled oats in the morning, another bit to cook spaghetti or rice at night, the a couple of cupfuls for coffee or chocolate.  I think that what remained in the jug was enough for drinking and judiciously rinsing dishes.  With 300 liters of water on board (280 in the tanks, 20 in two 10 L containers) I could last in theory 100 days at 3 liters a day or 75 days at 4 liters a day.  But I figured that once I severed my ties to land I would feel vulnerable so I decided to augment the water supply with some of those relatively cheap 5-gallon (19 L) containers of distilled water used all over La Paz.

I mentioned my plan this morning and John offered me two empty jugs that he had on board.  Nevertheless I set out on the bicycle for a distilled water business a few blocks from the marina.  On the way I saw a water truck parked while the man made his delivery.  When he returned asked him if he could come by the Marina de La Paz and 5 minutes later he was there.  I got greedy an purchased four 5-gallon containers.  I told the man to keep the change so the four jugs cost 300 pesos.

Pachuca's extra water supply

The photo shows all of my spare drinking water: 4 x 5 gallon jugs and 2 x 10 liter jugs, for a total of approximately 25 gallons or 96 liters.  They fit nice and low in the passage between the quarter berths.  I will stuff the area with padding to prevent the containers from sliding around while allowing me to step through to the quarter berths.

I make that to be a total fresh water supply of 376 liters, or about 100 gallons.  This should see me to Cape Town using a profligate 4.5 liters or an entire gallon of water a day.

If and when rain comes these jugs will come in very handy.  It is too risky for me to try to transfer rainwater into the tanks during a cloud burst.  The deck is very narrow at that point and I don't want to be dealing with a funnel in one hand and a heavy container in the other while the boat is pitching and there is wind about -  particularly at night.  I plan to have 2 or 3 of the jugs empty and at the ready, and transfer the rainwater into them in the safety of the cockpit.  Later, when things are quiet, I'll transfer the water into the tanks.  If and when that day arrives I'll be spending the next few days catching up on laundry washing and will ease up on the water discipline.