With a calendar full of visitors booked in for July and August we thought it was time to investigate the WATERMAKERS. Yes we have two!
On Joline, NOT expecting something to work is our default expectation when trying something for the first time.
It was with pure delight and amazement that when we fired up the SPLASH 30 watermaker: – it actually worked. Infact, it worked really well, we were both impressed. It can even run well off the solar panels.
Our only discovery was that there is no indication that the water tanks are full, other than the bilge alarm going as it overflows from the fresh water tank into the bilge. The problem at the moment is the bilge alarm and auto bilge pump in the starboard side isn’t working either! ( on the to do list). Quite a shock when we lifted the floor boards to see several inches of water slopping around.
Unfortunately 30 liters an hour isn’t going to cut it when we have 8 shower hungry family on board. Time to investigate big Bertha – a 70 liters an hour unit which looks like it hasn’t been run for years.
Handy Hardy loves a challenge and this was to prove one of those SPB challenges. Why two priming pumps? Within half an hour, spanners, drills hammer, winches and a topless John was professing loudly – SPB accompanied by “These people are idots”. They had just left the old broken one in place because they couldn’t get to it to remove it. Then someone had mounted the new priming pump (also not working in position but was working n deck), in a place above the waterline which isn’t going to help the priming process at all.
Grim determination from John and some teamwork utilizing the dinghy winch resulted in the old priming pump being victoriously offered to Neptune just before dusk.
I give up what does the abbreviation SPB mean - I could find - Super Powered Being, Sound Play Back, Scandinavian Plow Boy, Simulate Peanut Butter and my all time favourite - Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubrahmanyam. Not sure which one fits best maybe - Scandinavian Plow Boy!