Open the hatches. Close the hatches.
Rainy season has started here in the Caribbean and that means, yes, you guessed it, it rains. Every day. Several times. Because of this, we need to be really on top of whether or not our hatches are open or closed. We never, EVER leave the boat with them open. Squalls with torrential downpours can sneak up on us within minutes. Several times each day, and night, we now go through our close-the-hatch drill, with the overhead hatches getting priority. This must be done quickly! Fortunately these rain squalls are typically very short lived. Five to 10 minutes after busting open, the clouds disappear leaving us with sunshine (or a starry sky).
The good side to these daily squalls is that we’re not lacking for fresh water. Our watermaker has been supplying us with drinking water and our crude rainwater-collection system has been netting us buckets of fresh water. If not drinking, what do we use it for? We use this water for cleaning the dishes, laundry, cleaning the boat and of course, nice fresh-water showers.
How do we collect it? We simply leave a bucket underneath each stern corner of our bimini*, tethered to the boat of course so that they don’t blow away in the wind. When the rainwater drains out of the channel on the edge of our bimini, it runs right into the buckets. I told you it was crude.
Eric and Bonnie have a more sophisticated system on their boat but one that works in a similar way. Instead of just letting the water drip into buckets as we do, they have glassed in hose fittings and can screw in pieces of garden hose to funnel the same water supply into their jerry cans.
Our neighbor at anchor here has a tarp affixed to the bow of his boat that collects water and funnels it right into his water tank (I think). I’m not sure that would do that exactly but the collection idea is solid.
Anyone traveling down this way, with or without a watermaker, should give some thought to this subject. We might as well take advantage of Mother Nature’s fresh water gifts.
*A bimini is what covers the cockpit. In our case it is a hard bimini, made from fiberglass.
You guys could try and come up with an awning of some sort, doesen’t have to be big, so you can always have a hatch or two open.
One of many projects.
Very timely post! We are trying to come up with a water catchment design.
I’d start by sitting on your boat during a rain storm and watching where the water flows/runs.