We’re still experiencing the effects of the full tank of well water that we inadvertently took on over a week ago. The water was ok for washing but undrinkable, even after running through our excellent filter. When we anchored here in the Elizabeth River we didn’t know how long we’d stay and just figured we’d use up the water and refill next time we stop for fuel. Of course we ended up staying here longer and eventually we used all of the well water. So here we were with an empty tank and a marina with a fuel and water dock right beside us, but it’s a little tight to get to. Also, we have a good set with the anchor, and our anchor chain is very messy and rusty and leaves a terrible mess on the deck every time we raise it. So what to do? We decided to stay put and ferry water out to the boat in collapsible containers. We have four jugs holding five gallons each. Every day when we dock the dinghy behind the marina Jack refills the jugs using a dock hose that a nice marina resident offered us. Then we haul them up on deck and pour the water into our tank. We figure we’re using about 10-15 gallons a day for washing and cooking so we’re slowly gaining on our 100-gallon tank. If we were anywhere else but the ICW we’d be using our watermaker, but you need clean seawater to make clean water and the water here has too much crap on it.
