Customers
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“I wanted to send Village Marine some feedback on my experience with my water maker.  Could you pass this on?
 
I am super, super happy with the decision to go with Village Marine, and with the choice of model/options. The unit has exceeded our expectations in every respect. I am particularly pleased with the ease of operation now that we are used to operating it with its remote control unit.
 
We have been sailing for two months so far this summer (I have a leave of absence from my work) with an average of 4 people aboard at any given time. We run a washer/dryer every other day and do a fresh water wash down of the boat at least weekly. We have not taken on any shore fresh water during the entire two months. The Village Marine unit easily supplies all of our fresh water needs. This has been a tremendous benefit during our cruising since we have generally been in remote areas of Nova Scotia and Maine.  I am a very happy Customer and have recommended Village Marine to anyone who asks. Please pass on my compliments to the Village Marine team.”
Mark Lenci
Cruising in NE USA and Canada with a Village Marine STW model watermaker aboard

"We have been in Honolulu, HI for the past 4 years refitting our boat after 25K miles of cruising the West Coast of America and the South Pacific. We are planning to head again this spring. One of the items on the refit list was moving our Little Wonder Watermaker to a new location and getting a complete service performed on the unit.
 
As we started this project we tried to determine just how many hours that Little Wonder had run. As best we can figure, over the course of 4 1⁄2 years, the unit ran at least 7000 hours producing somewhere around 42,000 gallons of fresh water!!! The only problem we ever had was when we sailed through an oil slick, forgot to turn the unit off and damaged the membranes. Other than changing the membranes, I can honestly say that I never had a single problem with the unit. I changed the oil in the pump a couple times, but I never even had to change the belt on the unit. It has truly been the most reliable piece of equipment we have on the boat!
 
On our way down the coast of California in 1999 we stopped in at Long Beach and had the factory upgrade the unit to its current configuration. The people at Village Marine Tech were fantastic. They not only upgraded the unit, but also picked it up and delivered it back to us at the marina. I can’t say enough good things about this company and it’s employees.
 
In our travels, we have met many other cruisers with Little Wonder watermakers on their boats. All of them have expressed the same level of satisfaction we have experienced. Anyone looking for a watermaker that will easily produce 35 to 50 gallons of water a day, every day, for years on end, need look no further than this unit. It truly is a Little Wonder!!! I think I forgot to mention that our system is still working just fine, but after 7000 hours of use, I think it’s earned a complete servicing. I’m looking forward to producing another 50,000 gallons of water once I get the unit back!
 
If anyone would like to talk with me directly about my experience with this unit, please feel free to give them my email address."
Gene & Sheri Seybold
S/V Reflections
Valiant Esprit 37
Currently in Honolulu, HI heading back to the South Pacific in the spring!

"I had a Little Wonder on the 32-foot sailboat (a Gulf 32), which I sailed from San Francisco to Thailand. It was about the best-performing piece of equipment on the boat, so naturally I purchased another VMT unit when I bought the Nordhavn.
M/Y "Knot Yet II"
Name withheld by request
Nordhavn 46
Currently in Umag, Croatia

Alan Jorgensen writes that he purchased a second hand LW150 watermaker about 8 years old and took it to the Ft. Lauderdale VMT store for service ...
" While I waited in the Village Marine Tec. offices, your team replaced the membrane, reversed the end-caps, and had my aging unit running along at full capacity in less than two hours. When the work was completed I received a full briefing on the troubleshooting and repair from (the staff whose) perseverance, attention to detail, and professionalism made both me and my wife very pleased and appreciative since we can now sail into unknown areas certain that our fresh water needs will be met, if not exceeded. We know that Village Marine Tec. has large corporate and government contracts, and that we must be the smallest customer imaginable to you, but your team in Ft. Lauderdale made us feel that we were their top priority, and for that you've gained loyal customers who will certainly spread this story to other cruisers considering watermakers for their vessels. Please pass along our thanks and appreciation to your Fort Lauderdale team. Our comfort and safety at sea have certainly been enhanced by their efforts."
Vessel: "Kristina", 27' Nor'sea sloop
Area Sailing: East Coast USA / Bahamas
Owner: Alan Jorgensen, USCG (Retired)

“ We love our STW 400. We have been using it for more than eighteen months, while cruising in the Caribbean. We have 45' Lagoon catamaran, and spend most of our time away from marinas. We have been lucky with the support from all my major system vendors, but absolutely love Village Marine. When we first installed our unit, there was some confusion and the factory sent ours wired for 110 Volt and we had requested 220 Volt. There was no technician available, in our area, and so Village Marine Tech support talked me through, on the telephone, changing the wiring in the motor to allow for 220 Volt operation. The point is that this is one example of the very fine factory support. At the end of the day, I expect that most of the RO units are similar. However, when one needs support, that is the true test of the company. Village Marine has been superb. We have not had any problems with the unit, but have needed some handholding, from time to time, on maintenance issues. The support groups in San Diego, Ft. Lauderdale, and the factory have been fantastic. We only have about 1000 hours on the system, but it has worked without a problem. It is so very simple, especially compared to other units that some of our friends have. We would highly recommend Village Marine and the STW 400 to anyone considering an RO unit for their boat.”
John and Marcia Kamps
Lazzarone

“ We are … sailing around the East Coast of the Republic of Panama. We have the Village Marine Tec Squirt 600 and love it. Our unit has 2195 hours and has been our sole provider of fresh water for over 4.5 years. If your figure that out, we have averaged over 35 gallons per day every day. We LOVE our water maker!! In fact most other cruisers are tired of our constant positive statements about our Village Marine while they complain about their Pur or Spectra.”
Name withheld by request.
Panama

"sorry for not getting back to you sooner, ...i wanted to let you know how very much i appreciated your intervention and help concerning the installation of my (Little Wonder) VIP water maker...the unit now performs very well with a stable 800psi (reduced to 700psi here in the san francisco bay area due to the moderate water salinity)... i am sure the addition of the 20mic prefilter with the pump assist will prove to be a good addition here in the bay and coastal waters and for off-shore use as well....many thanks again to village marine..."
S/V "Pacific Puffin"
Michael Payne, Captain and Owner
40 Ft Ketch
San Franscisco Bay

Our vessel is a Cape Dory 40, Cutter rigged, sailing vessel. We cruised the Caribbean and Central America from November 1997 till 2001, when we transited the Panama Canal. While preparing for our trip across the Pacific we decided to install a water maker. After much research amongst the cruising community we decided to order a Village Marine LW-200. Our unit was shipped to us in Ecuador, So. America. Our sales representative at Village Marine had anticipated every contingency for our installation and we had on hand virtually every part that was required to insure an easy and first class installation. Ours is the Modular Unit and we had very little difficulty in finding space for the components. The installation went very well and was uncomplicated. The unit was fired up and it functioned perfectly from the start.
Since we installed the Little Wonder water maker in May of 2002 we crossed the Pacific using, more or less, the usual cruising route. After island hopping we ended up in New Zealand. From N.Z. we then cruised back up to Fiji, Vanuatu and then Australia. From Australia we cruised through the Indonesian islands, Malaysia and Thailand. We depart Phuket, Thailand in 2007 and are currently in the Red Sea, on our way to the Mediterranean. All during these 5 years of covering in excess of 30,000 miles of cruising we have used the water maker virtually every day in all manner of conditions. It has not failed us. All we have done is change the filters regularly. That's it. Sometimes we wondered if we were just lucky, because other cruisers complained about their water maker problems. We couldn't really relate, and at times felt guilty to have had such trouble free service.
The really nice thing about even a modest output water maker such as ours is that we have always kept our water tanks full and this includes our doing laundry and giving the cockpit and decks an occasional wash. We even installed a wash down in our cockpit with an extra long hose so that we can periodically hose down the cockpit on long passages.
If you are going cruising install a water maker. It makes life so much better. No more back strain from lugging jerry jugs. Plenty of water to drink and clean the boat.
And, last a note about power requirements. We have a 400 Amp hour battery bank powering lights and the usual electrical and electronic equipment. We don't have a separate gen set. All our power needs are met by our Four Winds wind generator and 3 75-watt solar panels. When at anchor we run the water maker mid day for 2 to 3 hours off our solar and wind power.
If you have any customers or potential customers who would like further information regarding our experiences with the Little Wonder we would be most happy to share our experience (boatcomono@yahoo.com). We look forward to many more years of service and a good relationship with your company. Many thanks for a good product and good customer service.
Sincerely,
Will La Fleur
S/V Como No
Cape Dory 40 Cutter.
Port Ghalib, Egypt