Self sufficiency

SaltyPaws does not have the domes or the crew, but in all other aspects aspires to be a super yacht. We even have two launches.

SaltyPaws is a pretty self sufficient yacht. In the 4 months that we have spend in the Med, we have just spend 5 nights in a marina. Self sufficiency means that you can stay out of the marina in any conditions, generate your own power and water. Our anchor Excalibur has been proven in quite adverse conditions. Our nearly 1000 WATS of solar panels drive the autopilot, coffee machine, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven. The water maker provides the cleanest of drinkable water. Our dinghy allows us to carry a myriad of grocercies to the larder.

The main reason for us to go into port is the deck wash. Especially in the Med, rain does not clean the boat, instead it leaves fine dust all over the white deck. Also, beating against 6 Beaufort or more will get your deck covered in a fine salt layer. The solution of course is the “pit stop” boat turn around. In Greece many marinas allow a free short stay, and some even throw in free water. During one such pit stop in Athens, we managed to: Clean the deck, fill the water tank, deliver the genacker for repairs, and have repairman over to fix some electrical issues.

This luxury is not extended in Italy. Free water can be had, just when fueling up at the pontoon for the duration of the fueling. Most other places charge around 20 euros. Having lived in Norway, where the water is free, I was not prepared to loose 20 euros over a few liters of water. Instead, we decided to hook up the deck shower to the water hose. Using just about 3/8 of a tank, we managed to turn SaltyPaws in a Cinderella state, into a SaltyPaws, ready to sparkle at the ball¹. When we were scrubbing the deck, as the second largest yacht in large mooring field, we got a lot of yachties looking what was going on, and probably wondering why we where scrubbing the deck while at anchor.

As I am writing this, our water maker has made up quite a bit of water that we drained over the deck, and it was a good 20 euros left unspent.

Now, the next item on the self-sufficiency list is a washing machine. SaltyPaws does not have one, yet...

1No pumpkins or mice where harmed in the process, but only because Tux could not find any mice.