Do you shower?

[Keith_Menard]

For us cold weather people...while I am replacing the heater core, I have thought about coming up with a shower...I am curious though...

 

1) Do you use yours?

2) Where did you mount it?

3) Did you buy a kit, or make something up?

[thager]

Had one on my 93 Hydrodyne Comp. Never used it, ever!

[oldjeep]

Not sure I even understand what it is for. We ski into late October most years - some of us in short suits and some in full suits. As long as you leave the suit and jacket on once you are out of the water it has always been fine.

[wawaskr]

Use it all the time in early/late season in PNW. I mounted mixing valve/pump in SN 196 Trunk, but many mount both in engine compartment. Buy kit from heatercraft.com

[MISkier]

I have one and mounted it in the trunk. The pump is mounted behind the side panel of the starboard gunnel. It is a kit (Aquatik from skidim.com). When we are in drysuits, we use it to fill a bucket with hot water for hands, feet, and gloves. When we are in wetsuits, running it into the suit can warm you up and loosen up your muscles.

 

I installed mine with dual switches wired in series. The one on the instrument panel is the master. The one in the trunk allows the skier on the platform to control the shower on demand. My boat is a Malibu and I bought factory switches and a switch bezel from Bakes.

 

I have the heated seat and 4 outlet heater, too. I installed those myself as well. I've been happy with all 3 accessories. I do need to add a filter, as it sometimes gets weed particles blocking the flow of the hot water (there is a screen in the valve that traps them).

[Chef23]

If you ski in a dry suit you really don't need it. If you wear a wet suit in cold water it can be nice.

[ToddL]

If you build one yourself, just remember to tap into the cold water intake, too. You have to mix the cold with the hot to get the right warm temp and not burn yourself.

[gsm_peter]

Have never seen a shower in Sweden.

And we have a lot of experience from cold and bad wheater.

I personally consider that a dry suite, thin neo socs, neo cap and 'nurse gloves' under the waterski gloves is sufficient until the water gets solid....

The dry suite is especially nice between sets.

 

[Skoot1123]

I have heard of putting on your wetsuit and running nice hot water down the back and inside the wetsuit to warm you up before jumping into the cold water. Sounds like a good idea to me.

[BrennanKMN]

Never really understood the showers. I'd like a heater though.

[swc5150]

Showers are nice if you want to pre-heat your wetsuit, however I can live with not having one. A heater, on the other hand, is a must up here in WI.

[JAG]

I have the Aquatek unit on my MB Sports 190. Its invaluable this time of year. Even without a wetsuit, I'll use it to get a little warmer before jumping in. And it's good for rinsing off the boat as well. One issue that I've had though, is that if the shower head valve is open even just a tad, the engine will push water through it, leaving the rear ski locker wet and damp. I pulled the floor cover last year, trying to find a leak, thinking it was the shaft seal, only to find the valve open a 1/2mm. :(

[WIRiverRat]

I have a shower and use it every set in the early spring and late fall. Put it down your wetsuit and you will never get cold. Once your back on the platform after your set rinse down your hands and feet and you never get chilled. Bought mind from discount inboard marine. Hands down the shower keeps you skiing way later in the season than a heater will, and the shower is a lot easier to winterize. I have the shower and my ski partner has a heater, whenever it is cold out we both agree to ski behind my boat. The wife will even ski in sub 50F water and sub 50F air with the shower.

[dvskier]

Shower for the skier, heater for the driver = happy crew.

[mwetskier]

you may not *need* one but they sure can be nice. a small beer cooler filled with hot engine water is a great place to put your gloves and neo beanie a few minutes before getting into cold water. locking on the spray head and placing in your binding goes a long way toward staving off cold feet or making rubber bindings flexible enough to pull on easily. some guys i've seen fill a huge cooler from the engine shower and actual sit in the darn thing. so yeah a boat shower is a good thing if you ski in cold water.

[A_B]

Had one for 15 years in NW Ohio and used it a lot. Good to stick in your wetsuit behind neck at in Neopreme shorts, pre- warm bindings and gloves. A quick warm rinse on the platform is good after a cold water run.

 

Mine was mounted in the back starboard side so you could take out onto the platform.

On really cold days we put hot water in a cooler and kept the gloves hot.

 

 

I have been skiing since 2013 without it, but I didn't ski in the cold weather any more. If I was skiing in cold weather like I use to, I would have one.

 

I think the mfg stopped putting them in because people were getting exposed to exhaust fumes on the platforms. Someone must have passed out and sued one of them.

[Fehlindra]

can u guys take a picture where the hoses are connected to the engine GT40

[rodltg2]

Only used mine on a previous boat to actually shower with warm water when camping.

[LkSamm196]

Use the hot water shower all the time! Fill up the wetsuit on the cold mornings.

Helps to wash out any binding soap.

Heat up gloves.

 

Etc..

[Waternut]

Had one in my boat. Our water gets to low-mid 50's in the winter. I liked shooting warm water into my ski boots before jumping in and warming my feet up after skiing. However, it was too much of a pain to deal with and was time consuming and messy. Put on neoprene socks and pulled it out of the boat. No more waiting for rusty water to come out, no more running the boat while stationery just for warmer water, and no more leaky hoses and nozzles soaking my ski locker all year long.

[wski1831]

We use the shower to fill up a 75(I think) gallon plastic tub on the dock. great to get into right after set.

[slow]

I clean the boat with it and nothing else

[RichardDoane]

I've stopped buying shower kits, much easier to just tap off a heater hose or block/exhaust port to get hot water for the cooler on the dock, and no wiring needed

[OldboyII]

In order not to multiply threads will ask question here:

Would you ski it air/water temp is around 52/52 and you do not have warm place to change ski clothes on/off.

If YES, what kind of solutions could be?

It is a practical question because we have that temps and no warm facility at the spot - it is just rented parking place and nothing else.

[oldjeep]

Sure oldboy, just strip down in the parking lot or in your truck. Once dressed turn on the seat heaters in the truck (if you don't have any the kits are cheap). Been changing in ski area parking lots when it is below zero since high school, 52 sounds tropical.

[OldboyII]

This is the way we do in the hot summer to avoid opposite problems ))

The spot is in the green zone and we walk 500 meters from parking.

Surely we'll got heat stroke if we walk half kilometer in 5mm full neoprene with a ski over shoulder, not to say about the overall picture ))))

[S1Pitts]

On my GT 40 - The hot water comes from the block drain on the passenger side and the cold comes from a fitting in the raw water pick up hose post impeller pump. The mixing taps are attached to the exhaust hose passenger side with the pump mounted on the floor directly below. The pump discharge hose then travels through bilge to stern and comes out at the back seat.

I will post you some pics after work if someone does not beat me to it. I would not have a boat without one but being from the great white north it makes a bit more sense however the cooler summer we had it got used a lot when we had to ski before 6 am to beat the damned surf boats to the water.

KR

[skialex]

@OldboyII changing ponchos, surfers are using them

Try Mystic ponchos.

 

[208skier]

When we skied on public water, we used our shower all the time and it was fantastic. We had the heatercraft kit and mounted mixing valve/pump/shower head in SN 196 trunk. Switch was on the dash. If I were to do it again, I would set up switches like @MISkier so it could be controlled at swim platform. Now that we ski on private water, we never use it.

[DW]

Keith, I have the standard shower kit circa 2000 in my boat which offers a nice splitter manifold & shower head, the rest of the hardware is simple commercial 12v pump and hoses. Buddy's boat is a homemade unit that works just fine. My splitter is located under the engine box, ideally it would be located somewhere on the transom so the user can control the split as it seems to change a lot but I wanted all my hardware as forward as possible. It used to get used a fair amount, much less recently with the installation of a seat heater which now seems to be the option of choice for cool weather skiing sets. If you get one, and operate in a weedy lake, make sure to use a strainer as the lines tend to clog easily due to small ports.

[Fast351]

Shower might be nice. I won't have a heater in a boat again. My 211 has one and you always have to worry about getting it winterized before a real hard freeze.

 

My 196 without a shower and heater on the other hand can be drained in about 5 minutes by pulling 5 plugs. We ski late into the fall, and the boat typically gets drained a handful of times while sitting on the lift. I can't imagine doing that with a heater.

 

[S1Pitts]

@Fehlindra - Shots of shower pick up points on my GT 40.

 

 

[Fehlindra]

thnx

 

[mwetskier]

@S1Pitts -you can thoroughly drain a heater in seconds by pulling the two hoses that run to it and shooting compressed air into one of them. make sure the other hose is not pointed at your face when you do it though.

[oldjeep]

Or just blow through it with your mouth - that's all we ever do.

[MISkier]

@mwetskier, be careful with the amount of PSI, when using a compressor. Too much pressure can cause damage. I seem to recall a dealer telling me that they only use 8-10 PSI to clear out heaters, showers, etc.

[vtjc]

I added a heater and h/c shower to my last boat a 99 MC SportStar. I mounted the shower on the starboard side near the stern. My former ski partner and I would disagree which we preferred the heater or shower. I find the shower is helpful in spring to warm up after cold water and heater is nice in fall to keep crew warm. Many newer heater installs have one vent towards the windshield to ask as a defroster. I will likely add both to my next boat when I buy one.

 

I saw a post on another forum years ago, where the guy used the pump from the shower to quickly winterize the engine and heater for the quick cold weather prep during the shoulder seasons.

[S1Pitts]

@mwetskier - my winterizing trick - I made up some jumper hoses that results in a circuit that starts at the shower pump > to the heater hoses > and back to the shower hose. Add a jug of RV antifreeze and I use the pump to fill the lines so when the pink runs out of the shower head it's done. Uses 1/2 gallon each time so it's cheap insurance that the heater core remains intact for next season. My old ski partner also included his engine block in the circuit after capping off the exhaust hoses. This method was successful for 6 ys when living north of 54 that saw winter temps well below -40 F.

[Keith_Menard]

Does anyone have a pic of how you mounted the actual shower itself?

[MISkier]

I mounted the shower pump on the back of the gunnel side panel next to the speaker.

 

 

 

 

 

In my Malibu, there is a small wedge-shaped block in the trunk that provides an enclosure for the fuel filler neck. I removed that (two screws), mounted the shower valve into it, and reinstalled it.

 

 

 

In the trunk, there are also two pockets that are lined with a vinyl pouch, possibly for gloves. I put a small slit in the top of the starboard side pouch and ran the shower hose through. I coil the shower hose inside the pouch and put the shower head inside as well, when not in use.

 

 

 

 

Here is the switch I mounted inside the trunk. As I mentioned before, there is also a switch on the instrument panel that is wired in series to act as the master for this switch that the skier on the platform uses.

 

 

 

 

 

[Keith_Menard]

VERY clean install!

 

[paco]

Is this a good shower kit? https://goo.gl/B5fGtq

Or is there another option for a 2011 mc 197?

[MISkier]

@paco, that is basically the exact kit I bought (and show in the pictures above), except I bought the version with the chrome shower head.

[paco]

@MISkier thanks, I knew it looked similar to your install.