Ryk wrote:
I'll be doing some extended cruising next year in places remote enough
that shoreside shower opportunities may be few and far between, and
the water pretty cold in August, let alone October, so I am
considering an engine heated hot water system.

The dumb idea is: "How about just diverting some engine jacket water
straight to my cold water shower fixture." I'm in fresh water, and
anywhere I would want to use it would be pretty clean fresh water.
Even with a heater tank I would probably use lake water in the system.
Comments?

Doesn't that get mixed with the exhaust? ANd isn't the volume pretty
small at low rpm?


Assuming that really is a dumb idea, how about recommendations and
caveats for installing a hot water system? How big a tank do you need
to get a satisfactory shower? Does running the engine while showering
extend that capacity a lot?

Our boat normally comes with a 5 or 6 gallon tank; we opted for the 11.
THe month after it was "sealed in" practical Sailor did a review
which said that ours (Sealand?) was so bad at retaining heat they
couldn't even show it on the chart. However, it will take some major
work to get it out, so we're stuck with it for a while.

Even so, it holds enough heat for 24 hours so we can still take two
showers a day after running the engines, though they will be getting
down towards luke warn rather than hot. When we're sitting at anchor
for a long time I often take a shower while charging the batteries.
That way I'll have all the heat I need, and the heater ends up fully
charged. Running the engine for about 20 minutes is enough to generate
hot water. Running under low load, such has charging batteries, will
take a bit longer and doesn't get it quite as hot as powering at WOT,
which will generate the most heat.

Of course, we're talking about "navy showers" here. You get a little
wet, turn off the water, use a little soap, then try to rinse with a
pint of water. We probably use more like a gallon or so, but you can't
take a 20 minute steaming hot shower on a small boat.




Thanks,

Rick