Washing machine on a boat

I have been searching for that "perfect" boat for a year now. We have decided to spend the first year of our retirement living aboard on the east coast. We are in the 35 - 42 range right now. Leaning more toward the 40 ft. range. About 1/3 of the boats we see have a washer/dryer combo onboard. Either way, with or without, is not a deal breaker for me. I was just wondering. Where does the water come from and where does the water drain? I can figure out that the water comes from the tank, so would need to have a good supply of fresh water. I'm sure it doesn't just drain overboard! Is there a grey water tank?

It goes overboard and comes from your water tank you will need a good supply of water

Greetings,
Mr. 613. I don't know of any vessel (limited knowledge here) with a gray water tank. As far as I know, there are no areas in North America that require this. All gray water goes over the side (dishwater, showers, washers). Water is supplied either by a shore hose or from on board tanks. If one has limited on board water storage I suspect clothes washing either would be limited to those times one was hooked up to shore water or done in a bucket. The other option, of course, is cruise a la "Commando" (not recommended in certain areas)....Sorry gang, no images available-trust me, it's for the good of the nation.

The Splendide units use 11 gallons (US) for each load on regular wash.

If you live in a area that requires clothing, a washing machine with good drying ability is a valuable feature. The small combination units wash well but dry poorly. Hauling your laundry to a from a laundromat is a pain in the A.

We have a combo unit on our boat and have only used it once because we have not done any long distance cruises....yet.

The unit does a good job of washing but as Scary said, they don't do well with drying. I bought a lightweight, collapsible drying rack to aid in that. The plan is to wash the clothes then hang them on the drying rack until they're almost dry, then put them back in for a short dry cycle to remove wrinkles.

You mean there really are boats w washing machines?

Any broom closets?

manyboats said:

You mean there really are boats w washing machines?

Any broom closets?

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Yes and yes. At least ours does.

You betchya,, we've got a Kenmore stacker on board. My wife uses it all the time, me not so much.

Greetings,
Yes and yes like Mr. O. Actually 2 broom closets one of which we use for sheet music for the grand piano (baby, NOT full size). I suspect Mr. O keeps his collection of deck shoes in his....

Gray water rules are comming, I was recently in Marco Island Esplanade Marina Marco Island Florida Rules and Regulations

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Yes and yes like Mr. O. Actually 2 broom closets one of which we use for sheet music for the grand piano (baby, NOT full size). I suspect Mr. O keeps his collection of deck shoes in his....

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The multiple closets around das boat.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
I suspect Mr. O keeps his collection of deck shoes in his....

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You mean "my" deck shoes!

Just when I thought he'd forget!

Greetings,
Baby grand...


Mr. hm. Whoa, whoa...the only pairs of deck shoes I see in Mr. O's pictures are a tan pair (pic #3) and a black pair (pic #4). Weren't yours pink? Hmmm...no evidence in Mr. O's pictures I'd say unless they were under the towel in pic #1...

The only thing under that towel is white Formica! I promise!

I just installed the Splendide 2100XC and the Admiral loves it. She says it does a good job at cleaning small loads. The reason we installed one is the high cost of laundry facilities in BC and the convenience of having a unit onboard.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

I just installed the Splendide 2100XC and the Admiral loves it. She says it does a good job at cleaning small loads. The reason we installed one is the high cost of laundry facilities in BC and the convenience of having a unit onboard.

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How well does it dry? We're in the throes of replacing our old Splendide combo (vented) that came with the boat and is probably original, i.e., 20 years old. It made no attempt to dry, was making very scary noises, and at some point in the wash cycle would try to shake the boat apart. But not bad for a 20 year old machine methinks. The new 2100XC is about to be installed and hopefully will do a reasonable job of drying. And washing of course.

Conrad said:

How well does it dry? We're in the throes of replacing our old Splendide combo (vented) that came with the boat and is probably original, i.e., 20 years old. It made no attempt to dry, was making very scary noises, and at some point in the wash cycle would try to shake the boat apart. But not bad for a 20 year old machine methinks. The new 2100XC is about to be installed and hopefully will do a reasonable job of drying. And washing of course.

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Admiral says it does a good job, but take a little longer due to 110ac versus 220ac. We also got a "vented" model due to the feedback here on TF.

Alaskan touches on a point I've heard others mention. The dryers come in both vented, and non vented models. From what i've heard the vented ones do a much better job of drying.

We have both a washer and separate dryer. Both run on 220 and we use them all the time. Very convenient to do all the laundry en route.

Our boat also came with an ironing board....now that is a waste of space.

Greetings,
Mr. NM. "...an ironing board....now that is a waste of space." Not necessarily so. Fish cleaning station immediately comes to mind.

Add some indoor/outdoor green carpet to the iron board and you have the "perfect" fish cleaning station!

We have the 2100XC and does only an OK job of drying. As previously stated, it's a 120 volt unit so figure it will take twice as long for drying as your home unit. We do use the dryer for towels after showering. Both bath towels for 20 minutes in the morning and they're dry with no "wolfy" smell.

RT Firefly said:

I don't know of any vessel (limited knowledge here) with a gray water tank.

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Mine comes close -- everything drains into a single 40 gallon sump, which has an automatic pump hooked up to it. When I am in a pristine anchorage, etc., I will often turn off the pump, and "hold" my grey water for a day or two.

We have a 120 Gallon grey water tank with a sealand pump that pumps it overboard. I can either manually do it or put it on auto and as soon, as enough water gets to the ultra switch it pumps it overboard.

Ann loved having the ironing board, but then again we had plenty of space. Guests were always very impressed to find pressed bed linens especially... luxo maxo!

Besides, how else is one to enjoy a proper Christmas breakfast?

The 2100XC is fine for washing and fine for drying light items like underware and tee shirts etc. Heavy items like towels and blankets get hung out to dry on the flybridge (enclosed).

The admiral and I are looking at moving from a 42 GB Classic to a 55 Fleming.. Fleming has combo unit.. has anybody put a separate set of washer / dryer in a 55 Fleming? where?
Thanks for any insight

We have a stackable. It works OK and we use it every once in a while. We spent 10 days anchored in the bight of cape look out and arrived at Beafort, NC on a sunday. Wouldnt ya know the only laundry facility would be closed. We plugged into power and water and cranked up the washer and drier. When your on the hook for extended periods of time, you mainly wear swimming suits and dont really need a washer that much. It does use tons of water. I wouldnt use it if trying to conserve water, but at the dock we use the marina's new front loaders. I wouldnt base my descision of which boat to purchase on weather it has a washer and drier. Its a good plus though in a pinch. Also more stuff to break too.

We are live aboards and I went with the stackable Splendide set. The washer and dryer both work very well doing 14 lb loads. The dryer is vented through 4" vent line to the outside and can dry a full load of towels in about 90 minutes or less. The washer has a great spin cycle that really gets the water out of the load.
I had to enlarge the opening as it started as a combo unit. The poorly vented 3" plastic vent line was pathetic. Where it made a turn it literally blocked most of the air flow. When I removed it, the line was almost completely plugged.
The the 4" line on the new system, with the exception of the short metal flex from the back of the dryer to the top of the compartment is all 4" PVC. Easy to clean and allows for great flow. The total run has (2) 90 degree elbos and (2) 45 degree. In the 2 plus years we have had it, I have checked the line to clean it twice and have yet to find any debris in the line.