Hot showers are now possible on Obelix! But, beware, far from a modern life entitlement, taking a hot shower on our boat is a well deserved reward that comes only after following a precise protocol, involving lots of steps, and a fair amount of pumping, which has, let it be said, the side benefits of exercising both arms and legs, as well as limiting the water usage; to roughly 4 litres, i.e. ten times less than the average 4-minute conventional shower.
Process steps:
- Pump water to fill the kettle (foot pump under the sink, approx. 15 up and down foot actions required)
- Put the kettle to boil (manually switch on the gas with a long neck lighter)
- Poor hot water in the garden sprayer
- Pump water to fill the kettle (15 more up and down foot actions)
- Poor cold water in the garden sprayer
- Pump water to fill the kettle (15 more up and down foot actions)
- Poor cold water in garden sprayer – you read correctly, one has to repeat the operation to get the proper temperature, and it’d better be right because there is no way to adjust it once in the shower 😅
- Remove the carpet in the head (bathroom)
- Pump to pressurise the garden sprayer (approx. 10 manual actions required)
- Pull the curtains around you to protect the bathroom (the shower is between the toilet and the sink)
- Press the spray (shower position) to get the water flowing
- Wash
- Press the spray to rinse (you might have to pump again to get more pressure at this stage)
- Clean up the floor with the shower squeegee to get most of the water down to the bilge
- Switch on the electric pump to get the water from the bilge to the bathroom sink
- Switch off the pump
- Put the dehumidifer on as the bathroom is probably by now full of steam and there is no window!
DONE!
A ceremony we don’t indulge in daily (we have our french reputation to uphold after all!) but a luxury we really do enjoy when the weather is bad (or we’re lazy) and the stroll to the marina ablution block just feels too much of a hassle. It is also a lot more convincing for the young Padawans, who, at this stage, are not asked to prepare their shower themselves, and we don’t need to look for $2 coins!!!
