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Disclaimer and Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK is offered on an “as-is” basis. I do not warrant that the information contained in the text and illustrations is fit for any purpose
whatsoever except, perhaps, as conversation topics for boat skippers in
anchorages, marinas and cantinas around the world. In a nutshell, this is
what has and has not worked for me—it may not be appropriate for your
situation.
I also want to make clear that this book is not officially endorsed by
watermakers,* or
Recovery Engineering, Inc., the manufacturer of
any other organization or business concern. It is the product of a sailing
cruiser using a word processor somewhere at anchor or underway off the
coast of California and Mexico. It is not endorsed, promoted, subsidized,
or coveted by anyone else. Caveat emptor!
With all that said, I want to thank those cooperative souls whose input to my knowledge base on watermakers made this book conceivable.
First, by a mile, is Christian Johnson, recent product manager at
for
the
watermaker line. He supported my idea of using a real cruiser to
not only instruct and help other cruisers on site, but also to gather valuable feedback for the engineers at Recovery Engineering. Nate Mueller,
Johnson’s successor at
, picked up the ball and is continuing to support this unique effort.
My thanks to all the good people at Recovery Engineering for their
help—especially Tom Amundson, Mark Beckenbach, Dede Cavanaugh,
Ron Erickson, Dick Hembree, Rob Lazore, John Lindsay, Alan Lizee,
Matt Martin, Dan Pierstorff, Chris Schlough, Sam Sharpe, Debbie Taylor, Mike Trisler, and the inimitable Capt. Jane Ford.
By any metric we adopt,
PowerSurvivor watermakers are successful products. Part of the reason for that success is feedback from customers—those many sun-tanned, Spanish-learning, power(battery)hungry cruisers roaming the seas and ports of Mexico. Among those
whose knowledge and experience have been of special value to me are
Joe Baños (S/V Sea Hope, WA5PHO), Rob Caruso (S/V Dream Catcher),
Dennis Lepak (S/V Backstreets, KE6KKL), Tim Schaaf (S/V Casual
Waters, KC6GIT), and all the cruisers who attended my “sun’n’beer”
seminars along the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico during the last three
years.
*
Survivor and PowerSurvivor are trademarks, and
mark, of Recovery Engineering, Inc.
I also want to express my deepest gratitude to my cruising partner,
Teri Damron. Without her constant support and encouragement, there is
little doubt in my mind that this book would never have seen the light of
day. Good women, good friends and good first mates are hard to find—
she has been all of these, and much more.
Although I have written this book with the cruising sailor foremost in
my mind, I hope it also satisfies a felt need among watermaker owners in
general. Much of the information is of interest to anyone concerned with
the use and maintenance of small-scale reverse osmosis desalinators.
Finally, regardless of the help I’ve received from many other people,
any errors in the following pages are entirely my own original—and unintentional—creations. For these, I profoundly apologize.
—Gary E. Albers
S/V ISHI
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Banderas Bay
Nayarit, Mexico
is a registered trade-
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