On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:19:09 -0700, RW Salnick
wrote:

Thanks Glenn..

No, I absolutely refuse to have my boat connected to city water. There
have been 3 near misses on our dock alone in recent times, where a
fitting of some kind failed inside a boat, and the City of Seattle then
endeavored to sink the boat by pumping in gallons and gallons of water.
In the most recent case, the water level rose over the engine,
requiring an engine replacement, in addition to extensive interior
refurbishment. In this particular case, the owner was aware of the
risk, but promised himself that he would always turn off the city water
when leaving the boat. He forgot. I live off my tanks, thank you very
much.

Sorry, I guess that sounded like a rant.

I've thought of having direct water on my boat, but just have a header
tank with a float valve fed by a _very_ thin hose. This would then
feed the main tank.

By using the main tank as a 'cache' only a trickle of water is needed
to keep it topped up.

Also by using hose with a narrow bore and thick walls it should be
less vulnerable to damage if moved while frozen.

cheers,
Pete.

Pete C inscribed in red ink for all to know:
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:19:09 -0700, RW Salnick
wrote:


Thanks Glenn..

No, I absolutely refuse to have my boat connected to city water. There
have been 3 near misses on our dock alone in recent times, where a
fitting of some kind failed inside a boat, and the City of Seattle then
endeavored to sink the boat by pumping in gallons and gallons of water.
In the most recent case, the water level rose over the engine,
requiring an engine replacement, in addition to extensive interior
refurbishment. In this particular case, the owner was aware of the
risk, but promised himself that he would always turn off the city water
when leaving the boat. He forgot. I live off my tanks, thank you very
much.

Sorry, I guess that sounded like a rant.


I've thought of having direct water on my boat, but just have a header
tank with a float valve fed by a _very_ thin hose. This would then
feed the main tank.

By using the main tank as a 'cache' only a trickle of water is needed
to keep it topped up.

Also by using hose with a narrow bore and thick walls it should be
less vulnerable to damage if moved while frozen.

cheers,
Pete.

Might be OK Pete, but sounds complicated... and all of the parts of the
system which could be continuously supplied by city water would have to
located outside of the hull for safety. I think that would be the float
tank you mentioned, and since the float tank feeds your main water tank,
then your main tank too. If there is *any* fitting or hose which could
break or pop off and provide a continuous supply of city water inside
the hull, then Murphy says it will, and at the worst time.

The huge advantage of living off the tank is that the hull is already
carrying the water. If it relocates to a lower place in the hull
inadvertantly due to a system failure of some kind, the boat cannot
sink. And of course, freezing is not an issue (unless it is time to
refill the tanks, which Murphy says always happens when it is raining or
snowing, at night, in a gale, when you have a guest, who is in the
middle of a shower)

bob
s/v Eolian
seattle