Showers afloat..

[onesea]

I have been pondering this problem and have an idea (always a bad idea).

What woud happen if you got one of these:
http://www.manufacturer.com/upload/product/6723659/1%2B6+stainless+steel+european+gn+pan%2Bgn+container%2Bgn+food+pan+_0_desc.jpg
Approx cooker shaped so it could fin in oven or on rings.

Then fit 1 fitting for a hose point (metalic) and one for vent/ filling.

Then use like solar shower... Could be used in toilet compartment if suitable drainage. Hang on deck and lower hose through hatch/ port hole?

Any views ideas does it already exist? Already been tried?

Advantages: Controlled water usage, showers possible but not too easy. No need for pressurised hot water etc

 

[TQA]

Take a standard solar shower and a kettle.

Boil kettle add hot water to shower till temp suits.

Use shower as normal.

Worked for me.

Where I am just now the problem is the opposite.

 

[prv]

Take a standard solar shower and a kettle.

+1. Replacing standard useless hose and head with better if required.

All you'd do with the catering vat is give yourself something extra to store on a small boat (if you had a big boat you'd already have a shower, right? )

Pete

 

[onesea]

All you'd do with the catering vat is give yourself something extra to store on a small boat (if you had a big boat you'd already have a shower, right? )

Pete

SWMBO is thinking we want shower, me is thinking extra cost, maintainence and weight.

Shower means hot & cold water on tap, means bigger tanks, clarifier another pump or 2 more electric, solar cells, wind generator or more fuel, which is all more weight and more to maintain.

Here on the south coast its hard enough to avoid marinas why not use the services that are there?

Must admit had not thought of solar shower and kettle that would work for when we want a shower.

Any suggestions for which ones best?

 

[njsail]

I still hate using the shower on any boat in the summer. The humidity in the cabin goes up and the bathroom is just too damp afterwards. Its nice to have, but a solar shower filled with water either warmed by the sun or with a kettle as described above is still my preference. I have hot/cold running water at the stern but prefer the solar shower tied to the boom. Simple and it works great. At times I also run the hose from the solar shower on deck down into the shower. It's also a good failsafe for the ladies who sometimes get lost in the shower and forget we're on a boat with a finite amount of water (especially hot water).

A friend of mine has a placard mounted in his head that states - "Conserve water....shower with a friend."

Does the captain get to choose who he showers with?

 

[BobPrell]

I . . . . prefer the solar shower tied to the boom.

A friend of mine has a placard mounted in his head that states - "Conserve water....shower with a friend."

Does the captain get to choose who he showers with?

This helps identify those ladies with the all-important RAN* rating for cruising.

*Relaxed Attitude to Nudity.

 

[TQA]

Must admit had not thought of solar shower and kettle that would work for when we want a shower.

Any suggestions for which ones best?

Over the years I have had 2 or 3 solar showers, all seemed to be OK.

My current one is a 19 L Plastimo.

 

[oceanpilgrim]

pump it

Hi
If i have a shower on deck i use a pump up garden spray and bottle,just fill up with cold water boil a kettle add till right temp,screw on top pump up and away you go,cannot use two much water and if you have some left over use it next time

 

[vyv_cox]

Hi
If i have a shower on deck i use a pump up garden spray and bottle,just fill up with cold water boil a kettle add till right temp,screw on top pump up and away you go,cannot use two much water and if you have some left over use it next time

One step further than this for us now, although at one time we did exactly that. I now have a 5 gallon plastic container in the lazarette with a caravan submersible pump and a pressure switch, hose goes to a single shower head in the transom. The whole lot cost well under £100. In mid summer in Greece we just use water at ambient temperature, otherwise we can add a kettle full of boiling water to the 5 gallons or put a smaller amount of warm water in a bucket and transfer the pump.

 

[SHUG]

Even one step beyond Vyv is to get a pressurised plant waterer from a Garden Shop. In warm climates it can be stowed on deck and the water soon warms up for an after swim rinse-off.
For example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Knap...K6RY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327935957&sr=8-3

 

[Greenheart]

All credit to clean, green crews with their binbag ablution kit. A great idea that needn't be restricted to mini-cruisers.

But...thinking how off-puttingly dismal a cold cabin and cold or tepid washing water are, particularly at the start and end of the sailing season, I wonder if the Roman 'hypocaust' isn't due for a revival, in yacht design?

Admittedly this isn't a cheap idea, nor one relating to sweaty high-summer scenarios mentioned above. But is there any reason I haven't thought of, why heated washing water couldn't first be pumped through underfloor pipes to raise cabin air temperature?

Not the first time I've mentioned it here. I'm going to have a go, even if it's only a propane boiler pumping into a roll-away lilo made of linked 8mm copper pipes, for the tented cockpit of whatever dinghy I launch this year...I'll get burn-insurance first.

 

[Liz_I]

Definitely second the garden pest spray 8 litres gives 2 good showers incl. hair washing. Left on deck in the summer and we have a shower after every swim. Mind you we are blessed with a deep centre cockpit so quite private.
Just as a comparison the ships shower using the pressurized hot & cold system would use in the region of 3 gallons!

 

[Poignard]

We manage ok with a kettle of hot water and a plastic washing-up bowl (before anyone shudders with horror, it is not the one used in the galley).

Pretty basic but it works. After all, it is no different in principle to the Victorian washstand.

As no-one has yet declined a repeat invitation to drinks on board our small boat I assume we are reasonably fragrant. Either that or the measures are generous.

 

[prv]

Not the first time I've mentioned it here. I'm going to have a go, even if it's only a propane boiler pumping into a roll-away lilo made of linked 8mm copper pipes, for the tented cockpit of whatever dinghy I launch this year...I'll get burn-insurance first.

I think you've just re-invented hydronic heating, although most people use conventional radiators or fans blowing through head-exchangers rather than lilos.

Pete

 

[VO5]

We manage ok with a kettle of hot water and a plastic washing-up bowl (before anyone shudders with horror, it is not the one used in the galley).

Pretty basic but it works. After all, it is no different in principle to the Victorian washstand.

As no-one has yet declined a repeat invitation to drinks on board our small boat I assume we are reasonably fragrant. Either that or the measures are generous.

I agree.
Furthermore boarding school / army convenience techniques are being forgotten in this era of luxury and comfort.
You can tell who has not been "trained". The clue is the requirement for a full kettle of hot water to shave with. Half a mugful is plenty enough.
Additionally not the flannel, but the sponge is perfect for shipboard use;
convenient, comfortable and not excessive in the consumption of water.

 

[LadyInBed]

We manage ok with a kettle of hot water and a plastic washing-up bowl

That and a sponge is what I use though current boat does have a shower in the fwd heads, I am always conscious of water economy. The only difference from the previous boat is that I don't have to expose myself in the cock pit area
I like the idea of the pressurised plant waterer for an after swim spray down.

 

[Tidewaiter2]

I agree.
Furthermore boarding school / army convenience techniques are being forgotten in this era of luxury and comfort.
You can tell who has not been "trained". The clue is the requirement for a full kettle of hot water to shave with. Half a mugful is plenty enough.
Additionally not the flannel, but the sponge is perfect for shipboard use;
convenient, comfortable and not excessive in the consumption of water.

Those coloured plastic mesh shower/wash ball thingies get a good lather up quickly and dry v quick + dont smell like the second flannel if put away wet!

 

[Greenheart]

Re underfloor water pipes...I was thinking that having on board the equipment to heat and store water, one might as well pump it through an under-floor manifold, to warm the cabin up too. I understand it's much more efficient than burning gas or diesel to warm air, which is then blown out to accumulate near the cabin ceiling, while the crew shivers below with frosty feet!

It's true, impressive efficiency with water needn’t translate to being grimy. But considering how easy and inexpensive it is to store and heat a decent supply even aboard a weekender, such thrift may hint at tight-fistedness…or much worse, that absurd but oft-heard conceit: pride, shown about the type of economies that only belonged aboard Bligh’s launch, crossing the Pacific.

But it must relate to numbers of bodies on board...those many designs which aim or claim to sleep double the number they ought, invite dissatisfaction and discomfort along, as well. Eight crew aboard a 37 footer......prepare for half-rations of fresh air...

 

[Tidewaiter2]

Re underfloor water pipes...I was thinking that having on board the equipment to heat and store water, one might as well pump it through an under-floor manifold, to warm the cabin up too. I understand it's much more efficient than burning gas or diesel to warm air, which is then blown out to accumulate near the cabin ceiling, while the crew shivers below with frosty feet!

It's true, impressive efficiency with water needn’t translate to being grimy. But considering how easy and inexpensive it is to store and heat a decent supply even aboard a weekender, such thrift may hint at tight-fistedness…or much worse, that absurd but oft-heard conceit: pride, shown about the type of economies that only belonged aboard Bligh’s launch, crossing the Pacific.

But it must relate to numbers of bodies on board...those many designs which aim or claim to sleep double the number they ought, invite dissatisfaction and discomfort along, as well. Eight crew aboard a 37 footer......prepare for half-rations of fresh air...

...And do not serve high fibre or beans

 

[Poignard]

The clue is the requirement for a full kettle of hot water to shave with. Half a mugful is plenty enough.
A

I am even more miserly and shave with cold water!

(A method of avoiding shaving rash I learnt from the film 'Good Morning Vietnam' - it works, by the way!)

One could, of course, grow a beard and thereby save shaving water and gas/paraffin, as well as avoiding shaving rash. But I doubt many would countenance going to such an extreme.