water as a beverage

[skylark]

How do you prefer to drink water as a beverage?

I like coffee, but only in the morning.

I like tea, but it makes me nervous and anxious so I try to avoid it.

Perhaps green tea would be a better choice.

Nido dry milk is good as a substitute for milk, but this is something I prefer at breakfast and lunch but not so much later in the day.

Right now I am drinking plain water which is good for thirst but not particularly exciting.

A little lemon or lime would improve things.

How do you like your water?

[freeskier710]

Personally, I prefer my water with ice.  Occasionally with some kind of flavor pack added to it, like Propel or Kool-Aid.  Lemon is also a great flavor if the water isn't good by itself.  Most of the time I just drink it by itself though.

[CharlieJ]

Lol- usually we jus stick a glass under the sink spigot and step on the foot pump a few times. Now that it's gotten hot and we can easily get it, we have ice again. Now we usually just dip the glass into the melt water in the ice chest. We take pains to keep the chest clean so we can do that. We also have Tang in various flavors, and powdered lemonade which we use when the mood strikes.

But most often, it's water right out of the tank.

[tomwatt]

If the water is getting iffy (discoloration, funny taste, etc.) I tend to use herbal tea to add a bit of zing to it. It just helps to mask the things that might be objectionable - drinking brownish water, even when it's clean and safe to drink tends to be unsettling.

[nowell]

I guess im odd. I always just drank my water as is. I have heard people say everything from its boring to they dont like the taste  ??? but to me, its always been enjoyable to just pound down a big glass of plain ol water. This became helpful in Marine Corps boot camp too, when they used to force hydrate you. It never bothered me while other kids would throw up, lol!

[maxiSwede]

We tend to drink a bit of plain water too, right from the pump/tank.

Natural 'stuff' we carry onboard anyway and does wonders to the water is lemon/lime, cucumber (yes, as od as it may sound) and ginger.

A few drops of rhum in the evening is maybe to obvious to need mentioning...?

[Auspicious]

Couple of cups of decaf coffee in the morning.

Plain water all day.

Apple-cinnamon tea, sometimes with a splash of Grand Marnier, before dinner.

I also carry Crystal Light, lemonaid flavor, but don't make it often unless I have ice.

[Mario G]

A pot of coffee in the morning a few glasses of ice tea at lunch  and lately its been shushies ,Gatorade thru out, but if its plain water I have to have ice in it. I'm bad about chewing on ice , but its a habit I've had for 30+ yrs.

[SV Wind Dancer]

In the AM I chug some water to hydrate and then 3 cups of strong dark roast...usually drunk on deck contemplatin' the mornin'...then I put one cup of coffee and one cup of strong tea into two 2-liter bottles respective, add one dose arty sweet to each and fill with water, that carries me til the PM...On a hot afternoon a glass of port wine diluted with an equal amt of water over ice is a relaxing delicious refreshment if the descending sun is excessively liberal with his favors...After an evening meal the coffee arrives again (med strength this time) and is drunk on deck contemplatin' the evenin'...then water alone thru the night and within reach at bedtime.  Every month or two I'll buy a 2 liter diet cola as a change of pace, and once in a while I get a taste for some diet tonic water, the quinine stuff...I like the slightly bitter/slightly sweet taste.  And, every time I chug one down I think 'darn, one of these days I need to try mixing a little Gin with this...'  Doh!  ;^)

[wolfenzee]

I prefer stove top perk coffee...but don't like powdered creamer and *really* don't like black coffee so the only alternative I can figure as far as creamer that doesn't require refrigeration is something like Baileys. I have a really good water filter, 5micron filter made by a company called KX (their "Matrix +5" sweeter taste) with an additional .2 micron ceramic filter that removes 99.99996% of e coli (of places where I might be uncertain of the water quality).
Water really does taste good...there is no reason to have to cover it up...though it can get boring after a while. Things like "sun-tea" assorted powdered stuff especially those that are actually good for you.

[JWalker]

What is this water you speak of?   ???


we drink Rum!  ;D

[Ingy]

Instant coffe in the morning with sweetener & non dairy creamer.  Water with Walmart (Great Value drink mixes) mixed into a quart container.

[s/v Faith]

Straight up for me thanks....  8)





THAT, gentlemen... is JUST how I roll.  ;D

[gpdno]

I start the morning off with a good size large, strong coffee.  The rest of the day I drink water.

When I'm sailing, I drink quite a bit of water.  I find that if I start to get dehydrated I am more prone to seasickness.  If I start to feel queazy, I'll drink a bottle of water. 

[Capt. Tony]

Love that morning cup of coffee.  It defines exactly what time of the day it is and just what I should probably be doing.  But my kidneys, port side in particular, really enjoy making rocks for me.  So I drink about 2lt. of water a day once we get into the upper 80s and above.  Having enough water onboard is a real, nagging concen of mine always in the back of my mind.  I have been giving serious thought to putting in multiple (read 5-6) small integral water tanks throughout the hull in spots.  Many, fr the obvious reason of more water.  But also to reduce the threat of contamination, or more acurately, cross contamination.  I have thought about just carrying "jugs" of water but them there is the storage issue.  I know we talked about wine bladders in the past on another thread.  Does anyone here have some experience with how well they hold up to chafe?

Any body got ideas on how to approach this one?

[Oldrig]

Capt. Tony,

I can't really solve your water storage problem, but I wonder if it would be easier on your kidneys if you kept one of those hiking hydration systems, like the Platypus, in the cockpit. I've got a friend who mounts two near the helm, and he sips a bit of water all day long. Of course, that means he's also got to go to the rail fairly often, but I think he told me that he has kidney problems, too.

Just a thought.

--Joe

[CharlieJ]

I keep a half gallon jug of water in the cockpit of Tehani, and refill as needed. Then I know how much I drink.

[Capt. Tony]

Sure would add to the convenience having something like the platypus.  At my "summer consumption" rate I find I am drinking fairly constantly (water) anyway.  I just need some different ideas of how to keep 20-40lts. of drinkable water around.  Well, not just around.  Decanting it into smaller "handy" vessles, whether they be jugs or platypus is a consideration but not that big of one.  I'd like to use all of those odd shaped, not so practicle for other stuff places onboard.  Manufactured bladders tend to be much too large for what I'm envisioning.  I suppose if the rum and tequilla come in a bottle my water could too. ???  I'll keep scroungin around the net for ideas but I haven't seen anything that would lend itself well to a small boat yet.

[CharlieJ]

I just keep an old Gatorade bottle refilled with water, in the cockpit all the time. Refill as needed.

Now that I'm back home, it sits on my workbench.

Seriously speaking, we never found our 36 gallons  to be too little., In fact we seldom even began using the bow tank. Even in the Bahamas. Not that hard to find water, Bimini, Nassau, Exumas, Elutheura. In fact, I need to pump that bow tank dry, clorox the tank and refill since it hasn't been used in a while.

[rorik]

Mathilda has two 25 gallon tanks, one under each settee. In the bilge there's a bronze manifold with valves so I can use one tank or the other or both. There is only one hose from the manifold to the filter and then to the sink.
On the lighter side, you could always get one of those bottles like the gerbils use....  ;D
Sorry, had to......