Question asked by Ghislaine:

A-hoy it's Primary 4/5 from St James's Primary School in Paisley, Scotland are learning all about The Vendee Globe Challenge. Today we were learning all about the Katadyn POWERSURVIVOR 40-E and how it works. We would like to know what you would do if it broke- do you have spare parts on board the boat or do you have a back-up supply of fresh water? Hope you enjoy the rest of your sailing

Answer:

We have two full sets of gaskets and seals for the desalinator, and it was serviced by the official service center before we left. I run it every time that we charge the batteries, and try to keep our 88-liter fresh water tank close to full, so that if we had a desalinator problem, we'd at least have a supply to get us to a solution. Also, we have a hand desalinator for the life raft, that we could use. And as well, if it is the motor that fails on the desalinator, we have a lever arm that can be used to pump the seawater through the membrane.

Thanks for the question,

Rich