“Arranging the journey was so difficult.
Getting home again was much easier.”
–Thor Heyerdahl
OK so we aren’t real live-aboards
(although in my Kat dreams we are)
We have never been more than 3 days without land comforts such as
electricity,
hot showers,
a toilet that doesn’t make us feel as though we are on a roller coaster.
(we have a good story about that one but without an accompanying picture
it wouldn’t have the same ‘impact’)
But in our brief time without creature comforts
I have distilled my list down to two limiting factors:
Water
…as from
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
‘water water everywhere’…
surrounded by the stuff…
but we still need a drop to drink…
I have calculated that we need
1) 4 litres of drinking water per day,
keeping in mind the importance of a splash or two for our evening scotch.
We have an 8 litre camping jug which we fill with ice and water before leaving.
and the rest we keep as bottled water – some kept in the cooler, the rest stashed below in the hold.
We can get away with less if we include juice in our calculations
or we could drink less which would change the calculations for head pump-out
but in the hot weather hydration is ultra-important.
2) 2.5 gallons every 2 days for washing up (we carry 3 – 2.5 gallon jugs onboard)
we could stretch the 6-day limit if we are careful.
I have read that the two things people don’t bring enough of is water and paper towels.
It seems like such a waste but paper towels are necessary
for wiping the dishes to remove the bits of food before washing and we do use a lot of them.
And a great help in conserving water is using
a spray bottle of water with a touch of vinegar to rinse the dishes.
3) our solar shower gives us a good 4 showers
with a dip in the lake or river in between should be sufficient…
Pump-out
we should be able to go
(no pun intended – well not really)
about 1 week before needing a marina with sanitary facilities
Conclusion:
our limitation away from shore
6-7 days