BACKGROUND

As the population of the world increases, sources of fresh water are becoming increasingly important. Rainwater is an inexpensive source of freshwater. However, collection of rainwater has typically been limited to land. Since a significant amount of rain falls over the world's oceans, it would be desirable to have a system for collecting rainwater in the open ocean.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments may take the form of or relate to autonomous, ocean-going, “rain-catcher” vessels. Herein, such a rain-catcher vessel may also be referred to as a “raft.” Such rafts may take advantage of surface ocean currents to travel throughout a large area of the ocean, using little to no power for purposes of propulsion. A fleet of such rafts could provide a low-energy, inexpensive, system for collecting and bringing fresh water to coastal cities and islands.

In one aspect, an example system includes: (a) one or more ocean-going vessels, wherein each ocean-going vessel comprises a water storage chamber and is configured for collection and storage of rainwater in the water storage chamber, wherein each ocean-going vessel is configured to drift with surface ocean currents in order to navigate to one or more delivery locations, and wherein each delivery location is on or near to a land mass; and (b) one or more delivery stations located at the one or more delivery locations, wherein each delivery station is configured to receive stored rainwater from one or more of the ocean-going vessels.

In another aspect, an example ocean-going vessel includes: (a) a water storage chamber for storage of rainwater; (b) at least one inflatable side feature, wherein an interior surface of the at least one inflatable side feature defines, at least in part, the water storage chamber of the at least one ocean-going vessel; and (c) one or more openings to the water storage chamber that are configured to allow rainwater into the water storage chamber, wherein the ocean-going vessel is configured to drift with surface ocean currents in order to navigate to one or more delivery locations that are located on or near to one or more land masses.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that the description provided in this summary section and elsewhere in this document is intended to illustrate the claimed subject matter by way of example and not by way of limitation.

