100R — off the grid

off the grid<br>Because of the decentralized nature of our work, this has to be spelled out quite clearly: Preparing for impending apocalyptic events should mean collective action and structural reform , not individualism and isolation.

water

rain

shower

power

provisioning

productivity

medical

internet

formalities

receiving mail

lpg

waste

distractions

radio

hardware

software

data storage

heating

washing dishes

laundry

People choose to live off-grid for self-sufficiency, resilience, or ecological reasons. For us, to live off-grid, is mostly letting go of the numbing culture of convenience and surrounding ourselves with systems we trust for long transits across the ocean. When far away from the coasts, we rely on our vessel and what's on it. When something breaks, we must repair it. We found that learning to live in communion with our vessel offered a peace of mind previously unimaginable.

Maslow's pyramid of needs positions as the most basic, or most crucial, physiological needs, like water, food, warmth and rest, followed closely with security and safety. Meeting these basic needs, while living offgrid, takes but some planning and time.

water

A photo of a sign in Minamiise(Japan) taken by us in 2019, it was located on a mountainside near a freshwater faucet. At the time, a local was there filling up a jug to producing good-tasting sake. 水飲み場(mizunomiba) translates to "water drinking place".

It's easy to forget that water is not inexhaustible when it flows so readily by the turn of the tap. Living on a boat certainly helps to develop a deeper connection to this precious resource. Depending on where you are, you'll have to treat it, catch it, carry it or pay for it.

In an emergency, the WHO recommends 10-15 liters a day per person(7.5L of which ought to be treated water), for washing, drinking, cooking, with 2.5 and 3.5 liters of that amount alloted as drinking water(per person) each day. At sea, being frugal is important, most small cruising boats do not having the carrying capacity for this amount of water. When we sailed for 52 days at sea between Japan and Canada, we left with 320 L of water, leaving us with 3 L per day per person(we didn't use all of it). We use up an average of 2.5 L per day per person, but only because we didn't do laundry, caught extra rain water underway, used a pressure sprayer to do the dishes, and because we bathed lightly. When anchored near a port, once a week, we would ferry four bins of 10 liters from shore to the boat. To conserve water, our sink faucet is operated with a manual pump, where each pump draws out approximately 60 ml of water, allowing us to measure our usage.

Carrying separate bins makes for a more resilient system. If salt gets into one tank it won't corrupt the entirety of your supplies. While traveling we met a delivery crew on a sailboat, bound for South Korea, that were forced to drink coconut water after a bad seal allowed salt water to contaminate their only water tank onboard. A sure way of preventing contamination, is to check all o-rings and tanks for leaks before leaving. We chose not to have a desalinator aboard Pino, and have managed well without it. It's a device that is expensive, high maintenance and power-hungry.

Our main water tank carries 170 L (45 US gal), our secondary has 105 L (27 US gal), while an additional 40 L is stored in separate bins(2x10L + 1/20L).

When it is not possible to dock at a marina, we use smaller 10 L (2.6 US gallons) bins to ferry water from shore. While it requires more trips, the lighter containers are less prone to breakage. When filling up, we filter the water.

Treating water

The best method for disinfecting water is to boil it for 1 full minute(At elevations over 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) boil water for at least 2 minutes).

If boiling is not possible, it is necessary to filter the water prior to treating it with iodine or bleach.

Boiling water or adding bleach does not make heavily contaminated water safe because it does not remove chemicals. You must find an alternate safe potable source of water.

Filter

Find a filter that is 1 micron absolute or smaller with a NSF/ANSI 42 or NSF/ANSI 53 certification. See all certified products.

On the boat, to filter our tank water, we hook a twin set of filter housings in the line to purify the water. The 1st stage filter is pleated, and removes sediment, silt, dirt, rust, and other particles, and the 2nd stage carbon filter reduce the content of chlorine, concentration of toxic heavy metals, natural organic matter and oil products. This option is only possible when filtering from a pressured tap at a dock.

We also carry a 6-cup Brita pitcher to filter the water coming out of the faucet. We do this because the tank isn't always 100% clean(ours is damn hard to clean). A large Brita unit would be better, but we do not have the storage space for a 32-cup, and the 6-cup is short so it isn't likely to tip underway (easier to...