The sea shower is a common practice on military and some private ships and my roommate Melanie says they were encouraged to do it in Australia when they had a severe drought. The sea shower goes against everything I love about showers. I'm pretty sure I'm responsible for the low water line at the Hoover Dam.
Sea showers are promoted on my ship among the crew for conservation reasons, but for me, it's more a matter of convenience.
During training we were told that the ship picks up water for consumption and technical use two ways: by pumping it in at port or by taking in sea water and desalinating it. We were warned that if we use too much water the ship may run out, but I have trouble believing a ship on which many guests are paying $1k a day or more to cruise would ever run out of water. But I do use the sea shower because it's easier.
A sea shower requires you wet down your body and hair and then turn off the water. You soap yourself up and shampoo and then you turn on the water again and rinse yourself off. Obviously you're saving a lot of water that's normally running down the drain while you're soaping yourself. The reason I use it is because of this:
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| This is my usual position when taking showers. It tapers off to the right and I can't move any further left because of the shower caddy and shower controls. |
The crew showers are tiny. Just an irregularly shaped stall, really. But what makes them tricky to use is that the shower curtain doesn't reach all the way to the floor. I imagine this is for mold reasons but it's very annoying that the hem of the curtain extends just barely beneath the metal lip there. So a gust of air, your elbow, or a jet of the water can all push the curtain over the lip and allow water to cascade onto the floor of the bathroom. Which ship physics demands.
When you take a sea shower you can control the water better since it's a handheld shower unit and the only other way to control the flow if you don't hold it in your hands is to clutch it between your knees or thighs. It's a little awkward and not particularly relaxing. So sea shower it is. Yet even then, some days I'll think I'm master of the shower because I haven't wet the floor, and the very next day it'll be drenched again. I am, apparently, master of nothing.
With all my hair this would not even work for me. The bathroom floor would always be drenched. I might as well not even have a curtain.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that looks like you are showering in one of those capsule hotels.
ReplyDeleteShowering is no longer a pleasure, but only a necessity? I feel your pain. I try and be good, but man, all my best ideas are courtesy of zoning out in the shower.
As long as you have hot water all is well. I've had so many issues with cold showers, space doesn't matter as long as it's WARM! LOL.
ReplyDelete