Showering on a small boat

 

On the average small boat having sufficient hot water on board always seems to be a problem.  Hot water tanks take up a lot of room and have to be heated either from the engine via a closed loop on the fresh water side or from electricity which requires that the vessel is plugged into shore power. If the boat does not have shore power and the motive power is an outboard then heating a hot water tank is not an option and other solutions need to be sought. For making tea, coffee and other hot drinks, doing the dishes and so forth a kettle on the stove works well enough but it does take a some time for the water to get hot and is no good for showers.

In warm weather a solar shower where water is heated in a black plastic bladder hung from the rigging works well but water supply is limited and is useless early in the day or later at night. The other caveat to showering on small boats is that the heads compartment often doubles as a shower and taking even the briefest of showers makes a mess and requires that the head be cleaned up immediately after negating the use of the shower in the first place to some extent. On a small cruiser the best place to take a shower is often the cockpit or aft deck and some boats do indeed have cockpit showers but then again we are back to the old problem of heating the water. One of the portable camping type instantaneous water heaters could be the answer. Only meant for outside use I am sure it would be possible to pull one of these out of a locker when needed connect up to a suitable gas container and enjoy a hot shower. Unlike a fixed installation they are cheap Walmart sells one for $120 which is indeed cheap. They do work well enough but they MUST be used outdoors as they require to be vented into the open air. The other safety concern is with the gas connection but providing the user is careful and follows all normal safety check I don't see a real problem. The other reason for using one of these in the cockpit is that gray water runs out through the drains direct to over-side along with any spilled gas, not that there should be much of that. The best bit is that clean up is a snap unlike taking a shower inside a heads compartment.

Comments

[Petr Šimon]

Another simple solution is a garden sprayer. Heat a kettle of water, add it to the cold water in the sprayer and pump it up. Works great indoors or outdoors.

[Paul Rae]

Mark,
I refer to your comment about it being needed to be vented to the outside. I installed one on my boat in a locker with it vented down to the bilge, just because of the potential for a small amount of condensation. What about the CO2 and exhaust heat you might ask.
After seeing a number of these installed by boat builders in New Zealand, and questioning them on the venting, they had this to say.
"These devices are no worse, and in fact usually consume less BTU's than the average Oven with 3 ring burners installed in most boats. You don't exhaust your cooking stove to the outside, why should these be any different."
Most of the unit's I saw installed in new boat's had them installed in the galley, on a wall, and vented inside the galley with a small deflector plate on the exhaust to prevent heating the ceiling.
The boat builder's take on the need to vent to the outside was the manufacturer just trying to cover their "rear". Usual sensible installation procedures apply and don't use in a small confined space for a long time. CO2 from the stove and these instant water heaters disperse quickly in an open boat. Install a CO2 monitor and see for yourself.
Mine has a 1.3 meter flexible metal ventilation hose from the unit to the bilge. I can hold my hand quite comfortably at the end of the hose. Most of the heat is dissipated from the hose itself. Of course mine is plumbed to the HW on the boat and an aft, outside shower arrangement.
Cheers
PR

[joseph ouma]

Wow! That's new to me.