Daft question about showers on yachts

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ross84

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Sure I know the true seadog uses a bucket and rinses off, but maybe in a Marina in the North of England it isn't so great. Most boats in my budget don't have showers. I don't mind - I'm used to bucket showers! So my question is, I can I just use a bucket in the head - does the water go into the Bilge and can then be pumped out? Or are the heads in yachts usually 'wet' rooms anyway?

Thanks :)
 
ross84 said:
Sure I know the true seadog uses a bucket and rinses off, but maybe in a Marina in the North of England it isn't so great. Most boats in my budget don't have showers. I don't mind - I'm used to bucket showers! So my question is, I can I just use a bucket in the head - does the water go into the Bilge and can then be pumped out? Or are the heads in yachts usually 'wet' rooms anyway?

Thanks :)
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It's not a daft question, it's one of the first questions anyone who lives on a boat gets asked, along with how many people does it sleep. If you're in a marina use their facilities, I don't know any marina-based liveaboard who regularly showers on their boat, there's no point. If there's a pullout shower head type tap at the sink and a hole in the floor that drains in to the bilge then yes theoretically you can shower on board. Have a look at what's there, you'll work it out...
 
V1701 said:
It's not a daft question, it's one of the first questions anyone who lives on a boat gets asked, along with how many people does it sleep. If you're in a marina use their facilities, I don't know any marina-based liveaboard who regularly showers on their boat, there's no point. If there's a pullout shower head type tap at the sink and a hole in the floor that drains in to the bilge then yes theoretically you can shower on board. Have a look at what's there, you'll work it out...
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Just remeber not to pee in the shower if it drains to the bilge! :)

W.
 
Dirty, soapy water will stink, and I do mean stink, in a few days. If you have a built in, well sealed, shower compartment, with an electric pump on the drain to overboard or to a dedicated grey water tank, well and good, but you will do better in the marina shower. If you drain it into the bilge... well... you’ll find out...
 
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V1701 said:
It's not a daft question, it's one of the first questions anyone who lives on a boat gets asked, along with how many people does it sleep. If you're in a marina use their facilities, I don't know any marina-based liveaboard who regularly showers on their boat, there's no point. If there's a pullout shower head type tap at the sink and a hole in the floor that drains in to the bilge then yes theoretically you can shower on board. Have a look at what's there, you'll work it out...
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We aren’t liveaboards but spend about 3 months a year on the boat and almost never use the marina facilities as that feels like having a bathroom in your house but taking a towel, washbag and clothes and walking down to the end of your street. But without running hot water and a sealed heads I wouldn’t do it.
 
We also full time cruisers /liveaboard the short time we use marinas over the winter , unless the showers are real bad we won't shower on board , mainly because of the condensation showering on board course.
 
sailaboutvic said:
We also full time cruisers /liveaboard the short time we use marinas over the winter , unless the showers are real bad we won't shower on board , mainly because of the condensation showering on board course.
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Agreed. In most marinas (in Greece at least) you have to pay for the electricity and water that you use on board, so why pay extra for the water and electricity to heat it for a hot shower when the marina hot showers are free?
 
RupertW said:
We aren’t liveaboards but spend about 3 months a year on the boat and almost never use the marina facilities as that feels like having a bathroom in your house but taking a towel, washbag and clothes and walking down to the end of your street. But without running hot water and a sealed heads I wouldn’t do it.
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So where does the dirty water go?
 
The Colvic Watson 34 that I live on full time in a UK marina has an immersion heater & a hole in the floor in the head that drains into a dedicated small container inside of which there is a float switch and a water pump that pumps overboard. I shower every morning but I’ve never had a shower on the boat. You could make one of these units yourself or I think I've seen them already made up for sale before now...
 
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Similar to above, we have a shower on board but never used in the last 9 years. Small heads so would need to sponge dry a comparatively awkward shaped room / round the lavvy after each shower plus run the risk of soaking the toilet roll.

Far easier to wander up to a shower block every now and then.
 
Although last time in was doing something internet window shopping for new boats, an American had converted the fore peak of a yacht into a large bath! Now that could be fun!

You'd need to upgrade the water heater somewhat though!
 
We don't have a shower on board. It would be a ridiculous waste of valuable space to install a shower on a fine-lined 28-foot yacht such as ours.

When not in a marina, we use a bowl of hot water and a flannel and the waste water goes over the side, via the heads. We never seem to have any shortage of visitors coming on board for a drink or a meal so we presumably don't stink.

In marinas we normally use the showers ashore except when it is cold. Then my wife, who has a less spartan attitude to life than I, uses the bowl and flannel with the fan heater blowing on her whilst I brave the elements and head for the sanitaires, where I stoically endure the trickle of tepid water that passes for a shower in Brittany's marinas. :(
 
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Our shower drains into the bilge where we have a Jabsco air operated bilge pump switch and electric diaphragm pump. Admittedly the shower is ahead of the mast and the bilge is deeply vee’d so there is little waste water left in the bilge after a shower, perhaps a cupful. We’ve lived on board for six years showering daily and never experienced any smells from either us or the bilge! Of greater issue was keeping the heads area dry. We installed shower curtains on hooks so that they could be quickly removed and taken on deck to dry after our showers.
 
We've always found that, for summer cruising, a cockpit tent and a solar shower works well enough. It's not the most pleasant experience but after a few days it feels worth it to get the salt out of your hair. We usually just boil a kettle and add cold water to make up the five litres that the solar shower requires.
I've tried using a garden water sprayer as well, and it works quite well but is a bit too frugal with the water.
 
ross84 said:
So where does the dirty water go?
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Goes into a sump in each shower floor that holds several litres and is pumped out as needed during the shower.

In answer to some other questions the water is almost always hot enough from running the engine earlier either on passage in calm or to get into the marina/bay and park/anchor. If engine not used that day and plugged into mains then immersion heater used to get a tankful for showers and washing up. It’s only our second day at an anchorage we might have an issue. In the Summer we will just use the lukewarm aft deck shower after swimming but I’m looking at using some (maybe most) of the unused solar power after the batteries go to float at lunchtime.

Condensation isn’t an issue in the summer with the heads hatches open but in the winter our trusty dehumidifier clears showers, cooking and clothes drying inside even when it is pouring down and damp outside.

I haven’t answered the questions on cost of water and electricity because for our sailing habits they are minuscule compared the other huge costs of sailing the way we do.
 
Our Furia 332 shower has a drain in the floor connected to the bilge pump manifold and is pumped over the side. I usually use the marina showers as they're larger and very good but sometimes, especially in August, the visiting French use all the hot water and leave the place like a pig sty so it's the onboard shower then.
 
Our boat has a shower tray and a shower head on the heads tap but the surroundings are all wood that would inevitably be soaked during showering. We have never used it. When we sailed in colder climes we showered in the cockpit with shower curtains on a square frame for some privacy. Now in Greece we shower on the aft platform at anchor and in the marina showers when we are there.
 
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