On Showers — Fit2Sail

Everyone spends their COVID isolation building an outdoor shower, right?

A man stands in a dirt pit lined with landscaping fabric, pressure treated 2x4s standing vertically in concrete footers next to a planked house wall. There are boxes of tools on a rock ledge next to the man. — *Deciding on where, exactly, to place the shower.*

An outdoor shower has been on the project board for this house pretty much since we finished clearing out the smoke-infused carpets and furniture. Other items have taken priority; between replacing all the plumbing, replacing a lot of rotten siding, and painting the whole house . . . Oh, let’s not forget installing 2 sliding glass doors and shoring up attic rafters. Plus, in 2021, we were at the house for all of a single week and wood prices were even higher then than they are now.

This year, even though our time is limited, wood is still expensive, AND Jeremy brought 4 separate boat projects to get done? The outdoor shower had to happen.

A grey exterior house wall, overhung with pine branches, has a vertical plank of fresh wood with blue plumbing pipe leading to a shower head. An unpainted fence-style wall forms the perimeter of what is clearly an outdoor shower. — *Plumbing, set.*

Details were important. There was some serious discussion about how high the walls could be. High enough to cover what needed covering yet low enough that the shortest adult (that would be me) can see over with ease. Lots of hooks for towels and bathing suits. Shelving for shampoo. Not shown is the adorable bird-house shaped “Maison du Savon.” Under the shower is a gravel-lined pit with a trenched drain. Most important, though? It’s a shower with a view.

A shimmering lake, framed by mountains in the background and trees in the foreground. It's peace in a photo. — *Shower view.*

Of course, on the boat, when we shower in the cockpit we also have a shower with a view. An outdoor shower. Ours on Calypso isn’t quite so roomy, and we don’t have hot and cold plumbed water, but it’s nice all the same.

How do we have a shower when we don’t have pressure water on board? A foot pump is great for the galley, but how does that work for showering? Our solution is a modified garden sprayer.

A plastic cylindrical tank with a black hose and long wand. The word CHAPIN is in block letters. — *A garden sprayer*

We take a standard 3-gallon garden sprayer and change out the wand nozzle for a kitchen sink sprayer. If you want a longer hose, you can swap out the hose entirely. We’ve sewn a dark canvas cover for the tank which helps it be a solar heater; on cloudy or especially cold days we’ve found that a kettle full of boiling water poured into the tank makes it just about the perfect temperature.

This works really well for us. It can be moved easily, meaning we can shower on the side deck in deserted anchorages or tucked into the cockpit in places with closer neighbors. If we need to rinse off in the dinghy, we can move the shower to the dink. When we finish the head conversion down below, we will be able to bring this tank down below and use it in serious privacy. It stows easily in the lazarette.

3 gallons of water is enough water for 4 very decent showers, especially when we are using it primarily for rinsing off salt water. This meant when we had the kids with us, we’d fill it once a day. If we’re splurging on full fresh water, shampoo and all, showers, then that 3 gallons is luxurious for both of us.

You do have to clean the tank every now and then, especially if you’re in the habit of not using it frequently. Otherwise you do get some algae growth.

We love our outdoor showers, whether they’re the result of full-on construction mode or an easy modification of an off-the-shelf purchase.

deep blues of underwater coral swirl with turquoise water that stretches into a grey-blue sky. Far in the distance a small sailboat lies at anchor. It is the only boat in sight. — *Heading home for an outdoor shower*