Daft question about showers on yachts

[dgadee]

I prefer to use marina showers, normally gallons of hot water which I can luxuriate in to my hearts content and no faff of pumping out the water and cleaning/drying up the shower after

Ha! More like standing under cold water after everyone has been there before you. Worst, too, was Brighton where someone would be on the toilet a few inches away from you when you were having a shower.

 

[RupertW]

I think this is like all universal forum questions, we defend the decision we have settled upon because it suits us best, and can see nothing but disadvantages in the other fool’s choice.

 

[ryanroberts]

Current status of my fancy Techma macerator and similar tank - blocked breather and dicky inlet solenoid. I swear this boat knows I am trying to sell her. Sticking in a composter on next boat is high on the list.

 

[V1701]

Ha! More like standing under cold water after everyone has been there before you. Worst, too, was Brighton where someone would be on the toilet a few inches away from you when you were having a shower.

The Brighton ones have been done up for a while on the East side & are in the process of being done on the West, they're actually very nice individual rooms now. The trouble is some of the scrotes using them have no respect for others and leave them in a right state. I've seen one that literally looked like someone had done a dirty protest in there & recently a notice has been put up on the door that the facilities are for humans only, not sure (but I can imagine) exactly what prompted that. Don't get me started on dog owners. Unless you go at peak times you can always find an acceptably clean one...

 

[RupertW]

The Brighton ones have been done up for a while on the East side & are in the process of being done on the West, they're actually very nice individual rooms now. The trouble is some of the scrotes using them have no respect for others and leave them in a right state. I've seen one that literally looked like someone had done a dirty protest in there & recently a notice has been put up on the door that the facilities are for humans only, not sure (but I can imagine) exactly what prompted that. Don't get me started on dog owners. Unless you go at peak times you can always find an acceptably clean one...

Have you thought of using showers on your own boat so they are always available, clean and private?

 

[BigJoe]

Before we were full-time cruisers, we showered aboard but found the condensation played havoc with the electrics in the head.

Now we live aboard, we shower in the marina families for several reasons.

1. Stops condensation

2. Great facilities

3. Gets you off the boat

4. Meet other people

 

[V1701]

Have you thought of using showers on your own boat so they are always available, clean and private?

No, in ten years of FT living aboard I haven't showered on board once, I use the communal ones every day. Same reasons as big Joe I guess...

 

[ross84]

Would having a bucket wash in the heads still present you with the same problems? It's really not hot a 3 jet power shower I care about, a bucket and sponge is fine, but being warm and doing it in my own space is really important to me.

In the summer, I guess I could do all this in the cockpit (will buy a cockpit tent) with a bucket or solar shower.

Again, I'm thinking about a specific situation here (UK winter, bad facilities marina) - when I did my RYA in Gib, I found the Spanish facilities along the coast fantastic.

I found out yesterday my work has a shower, so I guess in the winter I could use that.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I am slightly bemused by the strong feelings invoked in this thread...

For what it's worth, I've often showered on our boat and other boats and I've never had a problem with smelly water and residue. I've never had a shower that drained into the bilge though. The idea of scummy water in the bilge where it would be difficult to clean completely isn't a good one. However shower compartments with shower drain sumps and pumps are perfectly acceptable and don't smell at all.

One needs to remember that showering on board is a different experience to showering ashore. Both our shower compartments double as heads with the shower being a lift out shower head from the sink. They have a push button start stop function built into the shower head and the general principle is that you sit on the lid of the loo and give a few seconds of water all over to wet yourself. You then soap and give another few seconds of water to rinse yourself off. Having experience of submarine shower etiquette probably helps. There's a bit of woodwork in the heads but most of it is laminate/wipe down surfaces and the shower tray pumps out overboard with the press off a switch. I've never noticed the wood work suffering too much, although after twenty years, I've now had to revarnish the f'wd heads door.

It really is no problem and showering at sea when underway and putting fresh clothes on is one of life's pleasures. On longer passages, it's a real luxury. You can't do it on ocean crossings unless you've got a water maker but throwing buckets of seawater over yourself when you're in the tropics is no hardship.

Whether we use the local marina showers when we are alongside is all on a whim. If they're close to and really nice showers, then I'll make the effort to go to them. If they're jeton/token only and poor quality (dirty, poor showering experience) then we don't bother and shower on board.

For years I'd never showered on a boat, but when I discovered how easy and non messy it is, I'm now a complete convert.

 

[ross84]

...........

For years I'd never showered on a boat, but when I discovered how easy and non messy it is, I'm now a complete convert.

Thanks for responding - what boat do you have btw?

 

[Irish Rover]

I've never used the showers in the heads but my wife and daughter both do when we're at anchor or in a port with no shower facilities. I've never looked too closely at the underfloor pump out setup but I know it doesn't work automatically with a float switch. You have to keep the push button switch in the heads depressed for the pump to operate. I assume this is usual or should there be a float switch?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Thanks for responding - what boat do you have btw?

Its a Westerly Sealord

 

[john_morris_uk]

I've never used the showers in the heads but my wife and daughter both do when we're at anchor or in a port with no shower facilities. I've never looked too closely at the underfloor pump out setup but I know it doesn't work automatically with a float switch. You have to keep the push button switch in the heads depressed for the pump to operate. I assume this is usual or should there be a float switch?

Both are common. On our current boat you have to switch it on by hand. Other boats have a float switch. Both work perfectly well.

 

[maby]

Both are common. On our current boat you have to switch it on by hand. Other boats have a float switch. Both work perfectly well.

Float switches used to be limited to high end boats - our first three boats all had manual switching. These days, the float switch seems to be becoming the norm - our current boat which it very much an AWB with standard trim has one.

 

[stephen_h]

As well as solar showers and buckets, a garden sprayer is also very useful.
Fill with a kettle full of warm water - easy!

 

[V1701]

Would having a bucket wash in the heads still present you with the same problems? It's really not hot a 3 jet power shower I care about, a bucket and sponge is fine, but being warm and doing it in my own space is really important to me.

In the summer, I guess I could do all this in the cockpit (will buy a cockpit tent) with a bucket or solar shower.

Again, I'm thinking about a specific situation here (UK winter, bad facilities marina) - when I did my RYA in Gib, I found the Spanish facilities along the coast fantastic.

I found out yesterday my work has a shower, so I guess in the winter I could use that.

Having a shower available at your work is great, swinmming baths, gym also possibilities. Cockpit tents make a massive difference to comfort in bad weather, the smaller the boat the more difference they make. Sadler or other double-skinned boat (Etaps are as well) will be better in winter - less condensation, easier to keep warm. It strikes me that Sadler 32s & 34s are good value for money now. You'll work out what works best for you and absolutely do not let it put you off trying the liveaboard life. There's always a way...

 

[ross84]

Thanks all - actually I went down to Liverpool Marina yesterday and found the facilities clean and fairy modern. I guess don't believe everything you read online