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Position: Upright
It’s the little things, Carol likes to remind me. I’ll finish her sentence for her: It’s the little things that separate the girls from the boys. Like washing. For the past three years Aleta’s shower has served as a large locker, chock full of critical equipment: foul weather gear, bolt cutters, ice chests, engine oil, and a folding ladder. So full that the thought of emptying it out and using it for its intended purpose was as far from our minds as opening a seacock and using it for a bidet.
The Admiral’s Ball
As a seasoned adventurer, I’m comfortable living in the same clothes for weeks at a time. Washing is necessary only in the direst of circumstances, like a first date. Or attending the Admiral’s Ball. (My Uncle Eric described the Admiral’s Ball as, “a navel engagement without the loss of seamen.”) Needless to say, both events are dim memories today. When finally nagged into bathing I find most marinas have serviceable showers. They may be unheated, communal, and open to the outside world, but as long as there’s soap and a trickle of water that’s all a guy needs to clean up. Besides, I only get excited about baths.
Carol has somewhat higher expectations. Warmth and a modicum of privacy rank high among them. A lock on the door goes a long way to ensuring a relaxing experience. Finding pre-adolescent lads and muscular boyfriends in the ladies’ showers occurred with enough regularity in Cartagena that Carol often made two trips to the facilities to make sure they had emptied out. No woman wants or deserves a shower with Norman Bates. Worse, I have it on good authority that women are messier in public facilities than men. If true, that’s really unappealing.
RTFM!
With Aleta’s maintenance crew fully engaged, Carol thought nothing of adding a working shower to her already extensive list of on-board to-dos. Success hinged on a working sump pump. Finding the pump was easy, identifying its switch on the breaker panel straightforward, but getting it to turn on was a little more challenging. First step: break out the voltmeter and start pulling wires. Wrong! The first step is: read the flipping manual and pinpoint the on/off switch in the shower stall. Current flow to sump pump confirmed. Next, reattach the wires and test said pump. Said pump works and draws water through a grubby strainer. Clean grubby strainer and seal all connections. Test shower taps for flow. Flow they do. Groovy!
Last Question
With all the checks out of the way and Aleta’s water tanks full, Carol was ready. Setting the fan heater on the head she pointed it at the shower stall and turned it on high. Sealing the portholes from draughts, she undressed and stepped in. I gently reminded her that she forgot to flip the sump’s panel breaker. I said I would be happy to do it for her. For the next 15 minutes the pumps pumped away. Eventually, Carol emerged pink-faced and smiling. And smelling better, too. The only thing she didn’t do was sing. There’s plenty of time for that.
The remaining question is: where will the junk that was in the shower live now? Your suggestions are welcome. Please concatenate them with a Bitcoin and send it our way.
Public Service Section
(Place at the start of the post. – ed.)
Reader Warning: This post contains sweeping generalizations of cisgender behaviours. If you find such language offensive, please proceed with caution.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are of the crew and not necessarily the editorial staff.
My first reaction was that she really should have sung, at least a little. On further cogitation, I see that shower singing tends to use more fresh water, so: shower smiling is the better choice!
I wonder if there’s a formula for calculating water consumption while singing ‘Green River’ vs. ‘Take Me to the River’? Does one demand more lather than the other? Empirical studies are needed!
Remember the days of the solar shower bag. Sitting out all day in the sun hopefully getting warm
Hanging from the boom as you sat in the cockpit doing your best to implement a navy shower with 2 gallons of water
Haha. We have a solar shower bag if you want to relive those days.
I think that your idea of the seacock-bidet is pure genius! Luckily for Carol, you’re more of an idea guy, not an implementer of said ideas (as established in a recent post and over years of having other people do the real work for you!).
Not only that, a 2-inch diameter seacock will let in 55 gallons of water a minute. Surely that’s enough for a quick refresh? Man the bilge pumps!
Just for the sake of the exercise will be useful to have the boat general layout plan to mastermind where the junk might be stowed. It’s more the curiosity to see how is the Aleta’s interior designed!!! 😉
Hi Nicolò! Good point! I added a layout picture on our FAQ page. Link here: https://aleta.life/index.php/faq-contact-us/
I think we may need to do a little tour video. I’ve been enjoying Kimbo coffee, too.
Congratulations! A shower in the boat is a must! It looks nice and inviting. Showers are not storage units, they are sanity keepers. We must have a bath gel celebration!
I’m sure if you scrub Carol’s back she’ll scrub yours! 🤣
Have you considered the floating equivalent of a backyard storage shed? I’m sure you could engineer one and cobble it together.
True! We could repurpose the dinghy! I know many cruisers leave gear in far flung ports with the intention of collecting it one day. They never do!