Freshwater tank under the the V berth.
Lucas suffered a migraine on his 2nd day aboard and required some Staminade (a salty sports drink with electrolytes) to re-hydrate and it was only when he was recovered that he complained about the taste of our water. Our initial response was that Lucas was just being weird. But wait a minute: my cups of tea were a little strange tasting too but I was well distracted with the family aboard and beyond making a fuss. The Bloke began cogitating on the the various observations, especially after Tom joined the chorus, and he began to connect the strange set of circumstances.
During our passage over to Lady Musgrave the bow seemed heavy from both a boat trim and steering perspective. Odd, but the sea state had been a bit horrid. When anchoring I’d noticed that mooring lines in the anchor locker had fallen off their shelf and through the webbing onto the chain below. Odd, but plenty of water had washed through the chain locker during our passage; perhaps more than normal and water can certainly shift things. We’d certainly never had water run down the inside of the V berth before though, and we’d certainly experienced heavier seas elsewhere. Odd. Why now? Furthermore the wetted areas were streaked with something brown and gritty - rust particles perhaps? Decidedly odd.
Then it dawned on The Bloke that a length of dynema rope in the chain locker might be the culprit. It was a component in a reinforcement strop he’d recently created. He’d decided against trimming it in case he needed to redo some knots, leaving a long trailing bitter end. It’s expensive - over $20 per metre. It would be wasteful to cut it unnecessarily wouldn’t it? Oops. Mr Murphy is constantly stalking and finds an invitation at every indiscretion. Never leave a length of rope/twine trailing. Never!
The dynema was just long enough. It was just stiff enough and just the right diameter to plug the chain locker scupper at the waterline. You’d actually struggle to manufacture such a perfect little plug had you wanted one. The chain locker filled with water in the messy seas - right up to the very top where there is a breather for the for’d freshwater tank. Seawater had found an entry into our internal freshwater system. Thankfully we operate with two independent tanks switching from one to the other as needed hence sparing both tanks from contamination. At least we had that in our favour.
Everyone aboard was invited to enjoy longer showers albeit that they were now a teensy bit salty. With 6 bodies aboard, the tank was quickly emptied but it did require switching tanks across at ‘bath time’ so we could enjoy uncontaminated water through the day. The regime backfired on its second day when I’d forgotten the salty tank was in operation when carefully filtering, filling an refrigerating a few bottles of water- doh. What a comedy. All the kids subsequently joined in the fun of querying whether I was offering fresh or salty drinks! It was a huge relief when that contaminated 200l was finally gone and we could return to 100% fresh sweet water - not too salty, but just right!
Hidden away in the top corner of the port side of the chain locker - the water tank breather hole, the anchor-winch remote (curly cable) and the cable connecting the port side navigation running light. We think the latter was insufficiently sealed (since fixed) and was the source of the water and rust ingress. The anchor chain always has a bit of rust in the links hence the fine rusty grit that found its way into the front cabin.
View into chain locker with anchor-winch remote clipped against the moulded fiberglass that shields the breather hole etc...
Deconstructed front cabin - yet again!
Contents relocated to the salon which is in an unimaginable mess.
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