Sailboats with showers?

[PPPPPP42]

More of a luxury item than any real necessity but I'm used to seeing regular 23-26 foot cruisers with those waterproof bathrooms with handheld sprayers and drains in the floor that they use as a shower. Maybe its just because its mostly older boats in my price range but most of the sailboats in that size range seem to have similar bathrooms to the power cruisers but I don't see that many are for use as showers. Is this a feature that only normally appears in newer boats, or is it larger boats? I suppose its hard to fit all the crap necessary in a sailboat.

Anyone ever converted the bathroom in a 25 or 26 foot older 70's sailboat to function as a shower? I suppose the drain wouldn't legally be allowed to dump overboard. I wonder what those on demand water heaters cost, the ones the Japanese people use are tiny little buggers.

[sailingdog]

It can be done, and the water discharge from the shower can legally be pumped overboard in most areas, as it is considered GREY WATER, not BLACK WATER. Black water is what comes from the head and contains human fecal matter or waste.

On older boats, they didn't set the boat up with a shower since the head compartments weren't generally made of waterproof materials, and taking a shower in them would create a pretty huge mess. Modern plastics and boat building technique changes have allowed them to do this on even fairly small boats now, as a fiberglass liners and such can be used to create the waterproof space required.

The on-demand propane heaters can be a serious explosion risk/hazard and many insurance companies will not insure a boat equipped with one. YMMV.

I'd also point out that on a smaller boat a solar shower setup might make more sense. Many smaller boats don't have pressurized water to begin with, so a solar shower or some other gravity fed system would be required. You'd be surprised at how hot the water in a simple solar shower can get by the end of a long summer day.

[PPPPPP42]

Yeah it would have to be propane, the electric ones are such power hogs that they are shore power only. I'm sure since I only ever get boat liability insurance it wouldn't effect it since they never bother to actually look at the boat here for just that.

Now I'll hafta look up how efficient the propane heaters are. I can glass in the head (easiest way i suppose), add an overboard drain and a proper water system to a 26 footer or so without hogging up much extra space. As a bonus I could put a T in the line and have a nice propane grill too.

It'll be awhile yet before I get a boat but i'll hafta document that correctly and do a write up on it for others to see.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by PPPPPP42

Yyeah it would have to be propane, the electric ones are such power hogs that they are shore power only. I'm sure since I only ever get boat liability insurance it wouldn't effect it since they never bother to actually look at the boat here for just that.

Now I'll hafta look up how efficient the propane heaters are. I can glass in the head (easiest way i suppose), add an overboard drain and a proper water system to a 26 footer or so without hogging up much extra space. As a bonus I could put a T in the line and have a nice propane grill too.

It'll be awhile yet before I get a boat but i'll hafta document that correctly and do a write up on it for others to see.

Whoa.....now thats not really correct. Most, if not all 'electrical' hot water heaters run off engine not only shore power.

[sailingdog]

Technically, the hot water heater would be a hydronic one if it ran off of engine heat... it might also be electric as well, but without the heat exchanger and coolant loop, the engine does nothing.

Originally Posted by tdw

Whoa.....now thats not really correct. Most, if not all 'electrical' hot water heaters run off engine not only shore power.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Technically, the hot water heater would be a hydronic one if it ran off of engine heat... it might also be electric as well, but without the heat exchanger and coolant loop, the engine does nothing.

Ok smartass......

Last marine hwh I used (current Womboat doesn't have one) had an element that ran off power generated by the engine or shore power. It also had a heat exchanger to make it more efficient.

Surely no one would have an hwh that was purely shore power ?

Would they ?

Alternatively, am I mistaken and in fact off the grid it was all down to the heat exchanger and the electrical was purely shore power ?

[sailortjk1]

Andrew,
That is the way I know it to work. (Maybe it is different on the other side of the world.) In fact turning on the hot water heater on our boat while away from shore power is a big no no. Our inverter can handle it but it sucks the life out of the batts in no time. Heater is off underway.
Wife showers all the time on board while we are under motor, no juice. Just heated off the engine.

[mitiempo]

The skipper of a commercial troller I'm currently working on (wiring) is installing a 3 way water heater - AC shorepower, hydronic off the engine and a coil through the Dickinson diesel heater as well. 2 ways to get hot water when away from the dock and in the winter at the dock an alternative to the shorepower.

[sailingdog]

Most marine hot water heaters use the engine cooling water to heat the water when the engine is running, but use an electric heating element when hooked up to shore power.

I can't think of any that use the engine for electrical power to heat the water due to the really high amperage requirements that would entail.

Some are only electric, and provide no hot water when not hooked up to shore power or a genset...but typically, these aren't seen on sailboats. Here's one by Raritan that has NO HEAT EXCHANGER, so they do exist, but they are fairly rare on sailboats.

Originally Posted by tdw

Ok smartass......

Last marine hwh I used (current Womboat doesn't have one) had an element that ran off power generated by the engine or shore power. It also had a heat exchanger to make it more efficient.

Surely no one would have an hwh that was purely shore power ?

Would they ?

Alternatively, am I mistaken and in fact off the grid it was all down to the heat exchanger and the electrical was purely shore power ?

[sailingdog]

This is likely only a two-way hot water heater—hydronic and electric—and has a loop that is connected to the heat exchanger running through the heater.

Originally Posted by mitiempo

The skipper of a commercial troller I'm currently working on (wiring) is installing a 3 way water heater - AC shorepower, hydronic off the engine and a coil through the Dickinson diesel heater as well. 2 ways to get hot water when away from the dock and in the winter at the dock an alternative to the shorepower.