Freshwater Shower for Saltwater Boaters....

Last July my wife and I bought a 2002 SAN TE off a dealer’s lot. The boat already had a shower in it. We board/boat solely in saltwater and upon purchase I thought “Well, we'll never use that.”

Here's how my buddy and I modified the shower system.

1. Bought a 39.6 gallon Plastimo flexible water tank from West Marine.
2. Added female quick disconnects to the inlet and outlet fittings on the tank. Put the flexible tank in the bow compartment.
3. Disconnected and plugged the original hose on the inlet (suction) of the shower pump in the engine compartment.
4. Cut a piece of 3/8” ID hose that was long enough to run from the bow compartment to the shower pump. Put a male quick disconnect on one end of the hose and connected this to the flexible water tank in the bow compartment. Hooked the other end of the hose to the inlet of the shower pump.
5. Coiled approximately 70’ of the 3/8” ID hose in the engine compartment (5 laps around the engine compartment). Used zip ties (tie wraps) to ensure the hose would not come in contact with any part of the engine or exhaust.
6. Disconnected the original hose on the outlet (discharge) of the shower pump. Connected one end of the 70’ coil to the outlet of the shower pump. Spliced the other end of the 70’ coil to the hose that was originally connected to the outlet of the shower pump.

Viola! We have a hot freshwater shower. We fill the bag with freshwater prior to heading out to ride. The heat in the engine compartment warms the water in the 70’ of tube. The hot water lasts for about a minute. After the next rider takes his/her set the water is always hot again. The flexible water tank was expensive at $110 but there are probably cheaper options. The tubing was only $0.33 per foot at Home Depot. As a side benefit the water bag adds about 300 lbs of ballast when full.

Man does a warm shower make my wife happy after a set! Please refrain from the “How can you be cold in Hawaii jokes.” We also have a heater in the boat and it gets plenty of use this time of year.

Sorry for the long post. Just thought other salt water boaters might be able to make use of this concept. I’m sure there is room for improvement. We wanted to keep it simple.