Cockpit Shower

[TopperHarley]

Hi Folks,

The combined faucet/shower in the head of my Catalina 30 makes such a mess in such a confined space that Im considering fitting a shower to the cockpit area.

Ive done a bit of research and think Im after something that handles both hot and cold water, and has an on/off trigger in the handle to save water whilst soaping up etc.

My problem is, that the units available locally are either cold water only, or dont have an on/off trigger. My local shipwright is trying to talk me into one without the trigger, but I suspect that this is because that's all he has in stock.

I liked the look of the low profile Whale Twist shower, however found this less than complimentary report that has changed my mind:

Whale ‘Twist’ Shower review

Any thoughts or recommendations ?

Thanks.

[Prairie Chicken]

Showers in the cockpit work really well, and yes, you want an on/off trigger or button as well as hot/cold controls. Finding a head with a button or trigger shouldn't be too tough--look online. We used one for many, many years--great as long as the outside air temp is warm & it isn't too windy. You just have to time your shower between the heat of the day & the cooling of the evening.

[msponer]

My RV has an Attwood Marine Aft Deck Shower -- hot & cold water, and trigger. It works great.

Our boat has another kind, hot and cold, but no trigger. One twists the shower head to turn it 'mostly off'. I don't like it as much because it doesn't turn completely off.

Our previous boat had a pump up garden sprayer that we painted black and would set out in the sun. Simpler but it didn't help fill buckets for doing laundry in the cockpit.

[roverhi]

WE just used a bucket to get salt water for a wash down and a pot of freshwater for a rinse. No installation headaches and worked without a pump. Of course it helped the sea water was warmish.

[jeepbluetj]

What msponer said. Don't look at boat crap. Look at RV crap. It'll be 1/4 the price, and work just the same (since it's all plastic anyway)

I've moved all the controls and guages to the coaming, so I'm going to do the same - put a shower in where the original guages were down by the cockpit sole. I'll use the atwood or maybe another RV unit when I do it.

[Prairie Chicken]

Look at RV crap. It'll be 1/4 the price, and work just the same (since it's all plastic anyway)

Ours was chrome, or maybe stainless. It also had a separate chrome temp controller that you set and then essentially left alone. Worked for many years trouble free. I agree that RV items are often a good choice though.

Before that we had the Sunshine Showers--black vinyl bags with a little nozzle on the end of a short tube. You hung it from the boom. The plumbed in system with hot & cold control worked much better.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by msponer

.......Our boat has another kind, hot and cold, but no trigger. One twists the shower head to turn it 'mostly off'. I don't like it as much because it doesn't turn completely off.......

That may be by design so you don't forget and leave the knobs "on" and keep pressure on the shower hos and head. That's how the ones I installed in my house are.

For the OP, there are several different products that do what you want. Get on the Internet or look in the catalogs.

[Cormorant]

I know this isn't really what you're looking for, but it's a great cheapskate solution. You can either fill it with cold water and let the sun warm it, or if you already have pressurized hot water onboard, just fill with a temp you like.

Pump-up Solar Shower

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

Ours was chrome, or maybe stainless.

Do you remember the name? A Solar shower or bug sprayer just won't get the soap out of the wife's hair, it's too thick. Therefore I need a shower.
My RV has one on the outside right by the black water discharge, but it's a cheap plastic thing and I'm looking for something ideally not quite so cheaply made. I've not seen a high quality outdoor shower on an RV

[belizesailor]

We have a hose mounted in the cockpit which stows neatly in its own enclosure and is long enough to reach to the transom steps. If I need more length for a task then I can just screw on another section of hose. It has a gardening style pistol grip sprayer with several spray patterns, a couple of which make for a nice shower. Also has a misting pattern which is handy for freshwater rinsing fishing gear without using much water.

I find this to be a much more useful set up than just a dedicated shower.

Handy for cleaning up larger cookware, that wont fit easily in the sink, off the transom too.

Its cold water only, but don't really need hot water outside here in the tropics.

Regardless of which option you choose be sure to install a shut off valve near where it is plumbed into the system so you can shut it off if a leak develops. I also have an inline shut off valve in the hose near the bulkhead mount so I can shut off the pressure in the hose in case it fails unexpectedly while we are off the boat...and would otherwise pump our tank dry.

[HopCar]

Take a look at the cockpit showers sold by Scandvik. They offer about a dozen different configurations and they are very well made. Not cheap.
Scandvik Marine Inc. - list


Whale also makes a nice one that has regular knobs instead of that twist thing.
http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/sit...eDatasheet.pdf


If you decide that you want one, I'd love the opportunity to quote you on it.


Ron is correct, all of the hand held showers I've seen do not shut off completely so that pressure can't build too high in the hose.

[a64pilot]

I found a few on Defender also
Scandvik Exterior Shower Box with Mixing Valve and Standard Sprayer

The one Hopcar links to, the Scandivik one if I understand you can get two "cups" one with the mixing valve and one with the shower head, but cover both with one stainless steel cover plate. Looks to at least have a better appearance than a plastic box would, and I want something that looks better than a plastic box
Do I have that right?

[a64pilot]

Hopcar,
Will you quote me a Scandivik 12147 and a 12134?
Is the 12147 an on and off as well as a temp mixer?

I had what looked like a 12134 on my last boat, but cold water only, and it worked very well for rinsing off after diving, only thing it was missing to make it a great shower was hot water

[rwidman]

Here are some choices:


Showers, Wash downs & Sinks | SSI Custom Plastics


I believe they will sell direct

[Prairie Chicken]

Pilot, the Scandivik ones you've picked out look the same as ours. We've since sold the boat so can't confirm that for you. I liked it much better than the plastic one we have on the new boat, similar to the one msponer posted above.

PS, it handled long hair just fine!