watermaker

A few days earlier the watermaker representative had come to inspect my installation and had found that I was missing an important control valve that would allow me to flush the system with fresh water to keep it clean.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

I needed to get this watermaker working, or my Atlantic attempt would be over.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

I was at the back of the pack, I was still cringing with embarrassment over the watermaker incident, and now I was wracked with seasickness and doubts and was too scared to sleep.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

If the watermaker failed and I ran out of ballast water, I also had a backup manual watermaker, but this was truly a last resort as it would take several hours a day to manually pump enough water to keep me alive.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

After about an hour I decided to stop and try out the watermaker.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

With the watermaker droning away, chickpeas growing in the seed sprouter, and plenty enough food to see me to Antigua, I looked around at my orderly boat and felt, possibly for the first time, utterly at ease in the ocean environment.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

Second, it was important to have reserve water on board in case the watermaker failed.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

The watermaker was without a doubt the most important piece of equipment I had on board.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

When I arrived at my boat, the representative from the watermaker company was waiting for me.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009

If the watermaker failed, I had seventy-five liters twenty gallons of water stowed in plastic bottles below decks.

Rowing the ATLANTIC Roz Savage 2009