Long showers

Among the criteria for future boat search is a separate shower stall no smaller than the one I currently have at home, which is like 32" x 32". Several of the common trawlers I see owned here fit that criterium nicely. Of course, having a decent shower doesn't do much good if you don't have the water or the water heater capacity to take a decent shower.

Based on my experience at our rather primitive cabin, I can take a luxurious (by my definition) shower with 4 gallons of water. Most boats I'm looking at have fresh water capacities of 80-150 gallons. If we (wife and I) are cruising the Loop with regular access to water, taking two 4 gallon showers each day seems practical, especially if that's a priority of ours. Is that consistent with you all's experience?

And what about the Bahamas? I read that water is far more scarce there. Is it so scarce that you can't refill freshwater tanks every few days?

Don't see the need for every-day showers unless spending time in warm/hot humid climates (which I try to avoid: a day in Cartagena took me 10 days to recover) or one is doing hard, sweaty/dirty labor.

In the islands it's easier to shower with saltwater outside then do a freshwater rinse.

I realize it's a preference thing that not everybody subscribes to, but for me it's a daily deal. I just sleep better. I can go a week without when backpacking, but given the option, it's a daily thing.

Salt wash, fresh rinse makes sense. Does soap lather in salt water?

Have you both salt/overboard and fresh water available in the shower?

My solution was to have enough water capacity for domestic cruising (I like a shower every day also) and will possibly add a water maker if trips to the Bahamas necessitate it. Fresh water is more attainable in the Bahamas now than it was 10 years ago. It may be plentiful enough in 5 years not to need the water maker.

Ted

It's a given with us to shower daily and our showers take far more than 4 gallons of water. The average American shower takes 17.2 gallons of water and lasts for 8.2 minutes. Cruising the loop, if you stop at marinas, then water won't be an issue. You mention 80-150 gallons. I'd want all I could get.

In the Bahamas, water is readily available but expensive. If I was going to regularly cruise the Bahamas, I'd add a watermaker if at all possible.

Our shower head at home runs about 2.5 gpm, so I'd say we average more than the 17.2 gallon figure you cite. Far different at the off grid cabin though where the flow rate is around 0.5 gpm. It's all what you can get used to.

I definitely don't see us as marinas every night on the Loop types, and freshwater volume may well dictate how often we pay for nights. No such thing as "free water" around the Loop?

In hot weather I really enjoy a shower before bed, as Texas said, I sleep better. I do fine with a typical sailor's shower. Rinse. Lather with the water off, then rinse again. On those rare times when we are in warm water, a salt water wash followed be a fresh rinse works well. You can get soaps designed for salt water.

Bow, I just realized the other day that I have a wash down outlet in a locker on the stern. That makes the salt water wash even easier.

HeadedToTexas said:

Our shower head at home runs about 2.5 gpm, so I'd say we average more than the 17.2 gallon figure you cite. Far different at the off grid cabin though where the flow rate is around 0.5 gpm. It's all what you can get used to.

I definitely don't see us as marinas every night on the Loop types, and freshwater volume may well dictate how often we pay for nights. No such thing as "free water" around the Loop?

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Combination. If you're using marina services by docking or purchasing fuel, water will generally be free. Other times, you'll pay a minimum amount or be given water free. A lot of municipal docks with free water. I can't guarantee you won't have to pay in places if you're not getting dockage or fuel. It seems to be discretionary at many places. We spent nights at marinas so didn't really pay a lot of attention to their practices if someone just pulled in wanting water.

Just the 2 of us most times, 300 gallons of fresh water a water maker and sometimes that isn't enuff. We cruise for long periods and it just requires a bit of work and planning. Run the generator, try and make water, wash cloths, do dishes, showers and you get the drift.
We're not "Camping" and Dont plan too change our habits. Its all a matter of taste.
My suggestion is make more room for holding more water first, water maker second. Enjoy the time onboard with comfort and you'll enjoy the trip more.

Crusty, with a name like that perhaps you should shower longer? 8^)

Definition of bliss, a long swim then a quick rinse off with fresh water on the back of the boat.Soap & shampoo not needed. A shave is optional.

This requires long hot days with a gentle breeze.This year we have that in spades, too hot really, so our emphasis is on frequent cold showers to wash off the salt.

On our last boat we have a 100 gallon tank. When we went to the Abacos with the two of us plus three children plus one child friend, it was "boat showers" while not having access to shore based showers.

Boat shower being wet yourself, water off. Soap up, water on to rinse. When in a marina we filled up but used the shore facilities.

Now in Sonas we have a 350 gallon tank. to date we tend to shower every day for as long as we want. We did consider a water maker this year but decided to leave it for now. In the Bahamas we may do both full showers and boat showers planned around marina visits, staying a night at Emerald Bay each time to pick up people flying into Georgetown. Which is mid-March, early May and Mid May. So it will probably be full showers in March, boat showers in April and full showers in May.

Having lived with a watermaker for the last 15 or so years now, I can't imagine life without one...
We use lots of water for everything, we simply make more as we need it.
Tanks are always fresh due to the high turnover rate, the dogs are clean, we are clean, the boat is clean...
Bruce

HeadedToTexas said:

I definitely don't see us as marinas every night on the Loop types, and freshwater volume may well dictate how often we pay for nights. No such thing as "free water" around the Loop?

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My boat holds 300 gallons. If there are 2 people on the boat, I could stretch that out to 15 days with nice showers each day. A significant part of water consumption is also how you do dishes, don't leave the water running. Then there is laundry at 11 gallons per load. I could certainly use less, but it's really not necessary.

Then there is reality on the Loop. How long will you go without stopping for groceries, night out for dinner, laundry (if no washing machine on board), and sight seeing ? There are also some places with free docking and water for the night. Maybe a better way to figure out the water part of the equation is to figure it backwards. As an example : if you stopped once a week for groceries, to do laundry and other general cruising maintenance, you would need water for 6 days. If you and your wife needs combined for everything were 20 gallons per day, then 120 to 150 gallons would seem reasonable. Maybe you need less; maybe you stop more often.

Ted

HeadedToTexas said:

Based on my experience at our rather primitive cabin, I can take a luxurious (by my definition) shower with 4 gallons of water. Most boats I'm looking at have fresh water capacities of 80-150 gallons. If we (wife and I) are cruising the Loop with regular access to water, taking two 4 gallon showers each day seems practical, especially if that's a priority of ours. Is that consistent with you all's experience?

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Surprised Wifey B hasn't chimed in with the suggestion to combine that into one 6-minute shower.

dhays said:

I do fine with a typical sailor's shower. Rinse. Lather with the water off, then rinse again.

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Use that navy shower technique with the combined approach above... and maybe it'll turn into a very pleasant 20 minute thing, hardly any water used at all.



-Chris

Plenty of water on the loop and traveling in the US.

Much is hard , some tastes like it came from a swimming pool , so a taste test is always worth the effort.

In the Bahamas paying for RO water is how you get drinkable water.

Town Dock water wont kill you and is suitable for showering and dish washing rinses.

A solar shower of dock water with a real water rinse could be done.

An on off button on the shower head saves a lot of water. That way no re-adjusting temperature by messing with valves.

BTW Bruce B, I bet those dogs will claim your brand new boat real quick. Hopefully you have an aft deck shower for them.

I also sleep better on a hot and humid day after a shower.

We only carry 100 gals, so we need to ration on longer trips.

We spend Alot of time in the ocean to keep the body core temp down. One final ocean dip a few hours prior to bed. A quick, approximately 2 to 3 gallon rinse on the swim step with some soap to hit a few key areas at the end of the day, and a little spritz of water on the intermediate showers during the day to get the salt off.

Looking forward to summer, and getting back in the ocean. Our water has been cold, and very dirty with our rains. Had to go in last week to look at my props, and felt like I needed a tetanus shot.

300 gallons of water sounds like a great thing. That said, it seems like most boats shoe horn tanks into impossible spots that makes refitting difficult. Do you folks live with the tank capacity of the boat as built, or do you re-engineer larger tanks? Seems this conversation is usually about replacing aging or leaking fuel tanks, but 20 year old water tanks could get pretty funky too. Maybe the answer is to find a place to add a second 150 gallons? It's all a matter of compromises, right?

HeadedToTexas said:

Among the criteria for future boat search is a separate shower stall no smaller than the one I currently have at home, which is like 32" x 32". Several of the common trawlers I see owned here fit that criterium nicely. Of course, having a decent shower doesn't do much good if you don't have the water or the water heater capacity to take a decent shower.

Based on my experience at our rather primitive cabin, I can take a luxurious (by my definition) shower with 4 gallons of water. Most boats I'm looking at have fresh water capacities of 80-150 gallons. If we (wife and I) are cruising the Loop with regular access to water, taking two 4 gallon showers each day seems practical, especially if that's a priority of ours. Is that consistent with you all's experience?

And what about the Bahamas? I read that water is far more scarce there. Is it so scarce that you can't refill freshwater tanks every few days?

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The more water capacity the better for real cruising obviously.

But water isn't that hard to get in most of the Bahamas. And it's easy enough to stretch your supply by taking navy showers when necessary. Nobody needs to take a long shower just to get clean.

You can add flow restrictors to your faucets and shower heads that can reduce the flow rate down to 1-1.5gph or even less for a sink faucet.

If you are really going to be out in the boonies a lot, then a water maker can be a worthwhile investment.

HeadedToTexas said:

300 gallons of water sounds like a great thing. That said, it seems like most boats shoe horn tanks into impossible spots that makes refitting difficult. Do you folks live with the tank capacity of the boat as built, or do you re-engineer larger tanks? Seems this conversation is usually about replacing aging or leaking fuel tanks, but 20 year old water tanks could get pretty funky too. Maybe the answer is to find a place to add a second 150 gallons? It's all a matter of compromises, right?

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If the tanks are plastic (mine are), it's pretty easy to commission them with a mild bleach solution and then they are good to go. As they are not exposed to U/V, they should last many decades. When refitting my boat, I considered reducing fuel capacity from around 700 gallons to 450 gallons (still a range of 1,500 miles), and converting the space to water tanks. Decided that it made no sense to rework perfectly good, well engineered tanks to gain 200 gallons of water. Adding capacity is more difficult. Aside from the required space, weight is a huge factor. Adding 150 gallons of water, tank, and the associated mounting material, could add over a 1,500 pounds of weight. Depending on the size of the boat, that could have a significant effect on trim and waterline.

Ted

I will definitely be a displacement speed cruiser as I am already in no hurry despite living firmly in the rat race. Still have to push that extra 1500 pounds around though.

HeadedToTexas said:

Among the criteria for future boat search is a separate shower stall no smaller than the one I currently have at home, which is like 32" x 32". Several of the common trawlers I see owned here fit that criterium nicely. Of course, having a decent shower doesn't do much good if you don't have the water or the water heater capacity to take a decent shower. ...................

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Setting specifications like this can seriously impact your choice of boats. All boats are a compromise of many things. Space is at a premium on boats unless you have unlimited funds. There might be a boat out there that's perfect for you but the shower is only 28" X 28". What will you do then?

Don't forget that however much water you carry on the boat, you will want to heat it somehow. You won't have that 50 gallon water heater that you're accustomed to at home.

Like a few others have posted, we don't take a shower every day when cruising. We never take a long, luxurious shower on our boat. That's what marinas are for.

Don't expect your boat to have the luxury of a five star hotel suite unless you're rolling in excess money.

This last summer I was concerned about water. There were 5 adults on board for a week. We have a fresh water head, then the showers as well. We filled up our 2 x 175 gallon tanks when we picked up our guests (adult children) and I gave them strict rules on water use since fresh water is hard to find where we were.

We got back to Westview (Powell River) a week later and had only gone through a little over half our water. Again, we were frugal on the showers, not letting the water run, and using soap and shampoo after a swim followed by a fresh water rinse.

HeadedToTexas said:

I will definitely be a displacement speed cruiser as I am already in no hurry despite living firmly in the rat race. Still have to push that extra 1500 pounds around though.

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There is still trim in displacement mode. What size boat are you considering? 150 gallons in the bow or stern can easily make the boat squat or plow. Having it off centerline could give you a pretty noticeable list. One 90 gallon tank on my trawler is to port of center. It causes 2 to 3" or list when full. I can offset that by transferring fuel, but it does have a significant effect. Ideally if the weight is in the load center of the boat, it only settles more in the water. Obviously keeping the tanks as low as possible helps, not hurts stability. If I was going to add more tanks to a boat, I would at least replicate the weight in that place with one gallon water jugs to determine effect before making a final decision.

Ted

O C Diver said:

If the tanks are plastic (mine are), it's pretty easy to commission them with a mild bleach solution and then they are good to go. As they are not exposed to U/V, they should last many decades. When refitting my boat, I considered reducing fuel capacity from around 700 gallons to 450 gallons (still a range of 1,500 miles), and converting the space to water tanks. Decided that it made no sense to rework perfectly good, well engineered tanks to gain 200 gallons of water. Adding capacity is more difficult. Aside from the required space, weight is a huge factor. Adding 150 gallons of water, tank, and the associated mounting material, could add over a 1,500 pounds of weight. Depending on the size of the boat, that could have a significant effect on trim and waterline.

Ted

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Ted, behave of mild bleach solution aboard which is chlorine as you know. Chlorine attacks seal rings, pump valves & diaphragm, double check-valves, pressure regulator. Moreover chlorine becomes salt when mixed with hot water (in water heater) then generates an oxydation reaction (yes !) in the hot water tank of water heater.

Hydrogen Peroxide products for fresh water treatment (there are many) are great which are essentially water with an extra oxygen atom (chemical formula H2O2). No side / harmful effects on fresh water pump, rings, water heater, etc... and very good to degrade all kinds of bacterias.

But if you want your fresh water tank to have a "chlorine shock', fill it full with mild bleach solution and clean fresh water then pump out with an external pump from the external filler hole. And then use Hydrogen Peroxide products at a later time.

If you are thinking about modifying your boat to get a larger supply, is the cost of that modification more costly than installing a water maker? Cruise RO are not that much, and the parts can be installed where the room will allow.

Pilou said:

Ted, behave of mild bleach solution aboard which is chlorine as you know. Chlorine attacks seal rings, pump valves & diaphragm, double check-valves, pressure regulator. Moreover chlorine becomes salt when mixed with hot water (in water heater) then generates an oxydation reaction (yes !) in the hot water tank of water heater.

Hydrogen Peroxide products for fresh water treatment (there are many) are great which are essentially water with an extra oxygen atom (chemical formula H2O2). No side / harmful effects on fresh water pump, rings, water heater, etc... and very good to degrade all kinds of bacterias.

But if you want your fresh water tank to have a "chlorine shock', fill it full with mild bleach solution and clean fresh water then pump out with an external pump from the external filler hole. And then use Hydrogen Peroxide products at a later time.

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Agree bleach may be a bit harsh, but saying H202 "is water, with an extra O atom" is a stretch. Some molecules can go from benign to deadly with a few atom changes.