Calculate your water supply, consumption per person and cruise planning

Water consumption determines how long a leg between two harbours can be. Twelve litres per person per day covers drinking, cooking and washing without anyone having to go short, and with a shower on board that figure soon doubles. A watermaker changes the arithmetic, but it needs power.

From the insurance point of view, water tanks are above all a source of claims. A burst hose or a leaking joint puts the interior joinery, upholstery and electrics under water, and that is expensive. Whether such damage is covered depends on the cause: a hose that bursts suddenly counts as a sudden event, whereas a pipe that has gone porous over the years is wear and tear.

The comprehensive hull cover, from Basis-Plus upwards, is an all risks cover: everything that is not expressly excluded is insured. Wear and tear on the part directly affected is one of the exclusions, but consequential damage arising from it is not. In practice this means the porous hose itself is not replaced, but the soaked interior joinery is.