How Does Showering Work on a Boat?

Ever wondered how showering works on a boat? Like actually? Are there showers on a boat? Do you have hot water? Don’t boat people smell? That last one might’ve been a little far, but otherwise, great questions—and ones I’m here to answer!

Whether you're picturing luxury yacht bathrooms or someone rinsing off with a bucket over the side, the answer depends on the boat! Living full-time on a sailboat has taught us a lot about making every drop of fresh water count, so here's exactly how we shower, get hot water, and stay clean while out at sea.

Related posts:

Where Do Boats Get Fresh Water?

Where Does a Family of 6 Sleep on a 46ft Sailboat? (Leopard 46 Catamaran Tour)

Our Sail Setup For A Pacific Crossing

Do All Boats Have Showers?

The answer is no. Not all boats have showers. Don’t panic—they still stay kind of clean by bathing in the ocean, but it is definitely a whole other level of sailing doing it that way.

Most boats (like ours) have showers in the same place as the toilet. It’s like a mini bathroom that’s big enough to do everything a normal one does... mostly.

But when you do meet a boat where everyone has to dunk off the stern and throw water over their heads to stay clean, it definitely gives you some perspective.

How We Get Warm Water to Shower

On land, you just turn the handle and voilà—you have hot water. On a boat, you can try that, but unless you've prepared, you're just going to get icy water.

So, to get hot water, we have to heat it using our water heaters. These are under two beds—one for the port side and one for the starboard side. We heat the water in three ways:

• If we run the engine, the water heats using power from the alternator.
• If we run the generator, we can flip a switch and heat it using the generator's power.
• Or, if we've had enough sun that day, we can flip that same switch and heat it using solar power (it's pretty great when you can do this!).

So imagine Bella's disappointment when she gets home from surfing to find the batteries don't have enough power to heat the water. It results in a very sad cold shower, trust me.

Most of us don't really mind that we usually have cold showers, but it's definitely nice when they're warm!

The Actual Showering Process

Believe it or not, there is a showering process on a boat. Yep. And trust me, you can tell when there are "land people" on board because they do not know the process.

Want to know what it is?

Step one: Turn the shower on and do a full rinse.

Step two: Turn the shower off.

Step three: Soap up all over.

Step four: Turn the shower back on for a final rinse.

Step five: Turn the shower off again.

Did you get that?

In reality, you're turning it on, rushing to rinse yourself, then switching it off, soaping up, and rinsing off in the same rushed fashion.

Hey, I never said it was a good shower—just that there is a shower.

The reason for this, if you didn't guess, is to save water. Every drop has to be made through our RO system, so we can't go wasting any. (This is actually the main reason some boats don't have showers—they simply can't afford to use that much water.)

If you're curious about how our watermaker works, you can check out this post.

Where Does the Shower Water Go?

Wow, so many good questions.

The shower water goes into a sump, which is then pumped overboard. Yep, nothing fancy about it.

Because of this, we do try to use natural soaps and shampoos so we're not harming the ocean every time we shower. Bella loves making these, you can go see one of her recipes here.

How Many Showers Do You Have?

On board Happy Days, we have three showers inside and one outdoor shower that has both hot and cold water.

I actually think Archie had an outdoor showering streak of over a year at one point. He was quite proud of it.

Finally... Do Sailors Smell?

Depends, honestly.

It's like asking, "Do land people smell?"

Well, yes. Some do, and some don't.

Though I have to admit there are definitely some people out here who don't really care how they smell because they spend so much time alone on the ocean without anyone telling them how bad their BO is...

But there are six of us onboard this boat, and we make sure not to be part of the smelly sailor group. :)

Summary

There we have it—the answers to your questions about how showering works on a boat!

I really hope this has cleared things up, and you can now jump on a friend's boat and surprise them by knowing the boat showering process perfectly.

If you have any more questions or thoughts, leave a comment and let me know!