When I am onboard, I too conserve water like crazy. But god I do love a long long hot shower, and have been known to drain the hot water tank. My last time I went cruising with 5 of us, for the week we only used 55 gals. I know this because that is what the tank held and went dry on us as we pulled in the dock. BTW, that was with 5 women onboard too ( 3 of them never went sailing before). So I thought we did pretty good.
As to theories, I just think there are sailors and there are landlubbers. No gender discrimination. Some like their land luxuries while others can do without. Sometimes that without can be a total lifestyle change, i.e. liveaboard, or others, part-time, for the vast majority of boaters out there. One has to remember there is a learning curve to living on a boat whether full-time or part-time on water use, electricity, storage, cooking, and other living accomodations. What most of us are use to doing on land for all of our lives we cannot totally do on water. There are compromises and sacrafices. However, for the green folks here, it does work the other way around. What we learn on conservation on the water can certainly relate to how we live on land!
