Last week, Ariel was launched, right on schedule. We spent the weekend and Monday aboard. When getting ready to clean the deck, we discovered a bird's nest built between the anchor rollers. We waited to see if the parents were around, but it soon became apparent that they did not follow Ariel's travels from the boatyard to our slip. If they had been around, I would have left the nest in place, but without the parents, I removed the nest and got on with cleaning the winter grime from the deck. Saturday was very nice, so we got a good start getting the boat ready. We were able to get the dodger and bimini on and finish cleaning the cabin areas. We are still moving things around, trying to find the best storage arrangements.
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Filters
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Sunday was extremely windy and quite cool, so this spoiled our plans to get the sails on. I used the time to finish the watermaker installation. Now that it is done, I am adding some pictures to describe the process. Much of the system consists of filters that prepare the seawater before it reaches the reverse osmosis membrane. It is extremely important to protect the membrane. The first filter in the system, which is not shown, is a strainer just after the seawater enters through a thru-hull under the galley sink. Next is the system of filters in the first picture. The side with the pinkish color normally has a charcoal filter installed. This filter removes chlorine from the fresh water used to flush the system. This side is connected to the freshwater system. The pink color is from the antifreeze used in the system during winter storage. This has since been emptied, and the charcoal filter is installed. Chlorine will destroy the membrane. This is a precautionary filter in case any public water is added to the water tanks, which may have chlorine. We always filter our water for chlorine anyway because our water tank is aluminum, and chlorine will react with it, causing corrosion. The other side is the first filter on the seawater side of the system.
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20 and 5 micron filters
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Pump
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Next in line is the pump, which draws seawater and pushes it through the system to the RO. The controls (brains) are also part of this module. Several electrical connections extend from this module to various components to monitor status. The control panel (not shown) is mounted above the navigation desk. Immediately following the pump are two additional filters: a 20-micron filter and then a 5-micron filter. These are in the black housings. All of these components are in the space under the settee next to the galley. This space is close to all water connections, and no harm will occur from water leakage during filter changes. The last component of the system is the actual RO membrane and Clark pump. This is mounted behind the settee and attached to a shelf. This is actually upside down and hanging from the shelf to preserve space. This unit takes in filtered sea (salt or brackish) water and produces fresh water, which is sent to our water tank. The discharged saltwater has been piped through an existing through-hull just above the waterline. We won't start the system until we can anchor out, likely Memorial Day weekend. It is important to provide clean seawater to the system.
We stayed on Monday to test our internet connections and my ability to work from the boat. The marina has a wireless system (for a fee), which we subscribed to. Bottom line, I was able to work quite well from the boat. The wireless connection is actually faster than the DSL service we have at home. I subscribed to a second service for our personal laptop and used Skype for business calls. The work area in the guest cabin is comfortable, quiet, and I was not distracted. Linda spent much of the day scraping the finish off the teak caprail.
