The small boat is going. Whether I'm on it or not, remains to be seen.
The small boat is going. Whether I'm on it or not, remains to be seen.
I had one of those blue jerry cans (actually 7 gallons, not 5) on the SHTP in 2010, and it sprung a leak on the return trip. It was wedged under the table, not touching any sharp points that I could tell, but still moved around enough to develop a crack. Same thing happened with my other blue jerry can on the LongPac in '09 or '11. It's surprising how thin the plastic is, especially in the corners. Those Waterbricks look like a better idea.
Not exactly related to storage on board, but I always keep two 2 1/2 gal jugs of water backing up whatever I carry in the installed 16 gal tank amidships on Harrier.
I also have a 12 gal bladder under a bunk plumbed into the system...occasionally a 9 gal bladder under a opposite bunk. Most important tho, is my use of 2 1/2 gal jugs in lieu of larger. This takes advantage of the ease of carrying the small jugs to the dinghy when provisioning from shore...visualize Hanalei Bay. Two full 5 gal jugs are extremely difficult to carry for any distance, especially for those of us smaller types. No problem with the 2 1/2 gal size. Easier to lift from the dinghy to the deck over the lifelines, as well.
yes, those 7 gallon blue ones suck and are super low durability in corners like you mention
Water storage on TAZ!!, an Express 27: In 2012 I carried 13 gallons in a bladder and 13 gallons in 1 gallon jugs. I lost 8 gallons in a bladder leak and was glad to have the separate containers for the balance. Next time, no bladder. The 1 gallon containers made it easy to measure my planned 1 gal/day consumption. They provided a reasonable relief from a leak being catastrophic. They can be stored in many places. Empty containers weigh almost nothing (Arrowhead jugs are thinner than most). I lined my cubbies with indoor/outdoor carpet to minimize friction damage to the jugs. In an emergency (who knows what) they are buoyant. The 1 gallon jugs are easy to handle. Marking them with numbers makes inventory a breeze (you need to use them in numerical order). For variety, every once in a while I flavored them. I'm sticking with 1 gallon jugs.
I went with the Dromedary Bags from MSR (REI sells them). The black ones are plenty tough, because they are flexible they fit it odd and small places. I have a place on the fore bulkhead to hang one while i fill the day use bottles.
Downsides: Not cheap, and need to modify the spigot for higher flow.
And I see you can subsist on Pinto Beans, Rice and Dog Food stored in Water Bricks! Thanks for the link, good product. BTW, if you still have the ICOM SSB Dave, I found a microphone in my garage - happy to send it to you or the next owner.