January 16, 2010 – For four months after we arrived in mid August, the weather was very wet, raining nearly every day. In the tropics it has always been easy to keep our water tanks full with only rain water. We plug the scuppers and Swan’s high bulwarks allow the deck to fill up quickly, directing the water aft where we scoop it up into five gallon plastic containers, treat it with bleach (1/2 teaspoon/five gallons) and pour it into the tank fills.

 

The same has been true here in Majuro, until now. In early January, the trades turned on and the water tap turned off. Now we are only barely able to keep up with our water needs, essentially drinking water (we use saltwater for everything else). It seems the stronger the trades blow, the drier it gets. This week (January 11), it has blown 20-25 knots all day, every day, with occasional gusts to 30 knots. As a result, the boat and rigging are full of crystallized salt, encrusted with coral sand grit. We are hoping for rain soon to rinse the boat and fill the tanks. According to the locals, this is the norm (though not so windy) from January through April. So, for the next few months, it looks like water will become very dear. Apparently, the situation is difficult for the locals as well, who also depend on catchment water.

 

January 17– Water will also be our biggest concern as we sail from here to the Seattle area in the middle of June. We will have to sail due north to about 30 degrees north latitude before favorable winds will allow us to turn northeast toward our goal. This will make for a long trip, about 45 days, so we will have to ensure our 70 gallon supply will last by not using fresh water for anything but drinking. We plan to take a couple of spare five gallon jugs of water just in case anything interrupts our plans along the way.

 

January 29 – It rained and we collected enough to fill our tanks and thoroughly wash the boat. No worries. If this pattern keeps up, rain should be able to keep up with our water needs.

 

We are moored about 200 yards from the dinghy dock here in Majuro. Nearby, there is a hotel that has WiFi, but the signal was too weak to use. So, we bought a USB WiFi antenna on the internet and now we can easily do our emailing from the boat. We lash the antenna high up on a running backstay. We only use the computer during the middle hours of the day when we have excess solar power to do so.

 

February 2 – Our philosophy of cruising has always been to keep it simple. We have no refrigeration, watermaker, generator or outboard (we row) and our electronics are just VHF, SSB/Ham, depth finder, GPS and laptop. Even our windlass is manual. Our power supply is an 85 watt solar panel. Of course we can use the engine for charging, but we never do, except by default when powering, which is seldom. In two years of cruising, we have only used the engine about 30 hours. This simplicity has paid off in that we have more time to enjoy the beautiful destinations we cruise instead of repairing or maintaining equipment.

 

In the last two years we have seen many boats with broken gear. The equipment items that seem to fail most often are watermakers, refrigerators and electric autopilots. Recently, a large yacht sailed in with a failing freezer and nearly lost $1000 worth of food, but was able to move the food to another boat with a freezer just in time. Others have not been so lucky.

 

Other failures have been gas or diesel generators, wind generators, outboards, alternators, SSB’s, radars, electric windlasses and a smattering of other things, mostly electric. A lot of time is also used up performing PM on these same items.

 

I mention this, because people preparing to go cruising should carefully consider what they choose to outfit their boats with. The gear mentioned usually runs well in the first year or two, but saltwater and salt air are inexorable, particularly in the tropics. Eventually, there is a price to pay for initial convenience. If this equipment is aboard, spares should be brought because things like watermaker membranes and refrigerator compressors are very difficult to obtain in far flung cruising areas.

 

Unfortunately, every possible spare can’t be brought, so many are stuck waiting for parts. Which points out a curious mindset: once a piece of equipment is fitted and cruisers become dependent on it, they feel compelled to fix it when it breaks. Others, who cruise without that equipment (e.g. watermakers, refrigerators), just sail away. I like to remember Miles and Beryl Smeeton, who cruised more than 130,000 miles, including rounding Cape Horn. Their sole piece of electrics was a battery powered transistor radio.

 

Personally, I retired in order to avoid stress and eliminate complication. Bringing it with me cruising just doesn’t make sense.