If you’ve been following along the last few months, you know that the Engine Room is my favorite spot on Steppin’ Out! It’s the “heart” of the boat and contains several systems that allow us to travel the world safely while being self sufficient when away from the dock!
This is the first Marlow Explorer to have MAN engines installed and we chose the V-8 1200’s to propel us safely and efficiently to faraway places around the world. To generate electricity when we’re away from the dock, we installed twin Kohler 24kW generators. Either generator is capable of fully powering Steppin’ Out and if you’re wondering why two, it’s for safety and redundancy in the event that we have an issue with one, we have a backup. It also means less spare parts to carry aboard.
In the picture above titled “Port side, looking aft” you can see the port generator in the foreground and the two water makers in the background with the protective blue wrap still in place. We’ll be able to make our own water and having two water makers gives us another level of redundancy to ensure a constant supply of fresh water. We spec’d Bluewater Desalination units – a 1200 GPD unit and a 950 GPD unit. With both units running simultaneously, we can produce 89 gallons per hour of clean, fresh drinking water. Our water tank holds 350 gallons so we can top off the tank in just under 4 hours. A tank of fresh water should last us a week under normal use and longer if we need to conserve for any reason.
