When we first lived full time on Odessa we had to take showers in the cockpit on the back of the boat with a garden hose. At first it was lots of fun, and even kinda cool. But, after six months it seemed to lose it’s luster. On sunny days it was nice, looking down at the fish swimming around the boat in crystal clear water. But on windy days it can be cold, and forget rainy days, way to cold. I remember there were times when it would rain for a week or more and the kids would not go out and spray themselves down with the cold hose. Three teens with out showers for more then a week, stuck on a boat with the hatches closed... not nice. Allan says we should just strip down and use the rain water and a bar of soap. But, that's men for ya and not feasible when you share a dock with others.
Showering outside does have it’s up side. On hot days it’s refreshing and it feels good to have a light breeze on your hot skin. The sunset and star filled skies at night can be so pleasing to the eye and soul, and getting clean in the open skies gives you that, "Cleanliness is close to Godliness feeling".
When we went to Paris we had a “fancy-smancy” shower with “rain shower” heads and all the hot water you could wish for. It was very modern and looked like it came from the pages of a luxury home decor magazine. But, the picky seamen that we are, we missed the sun set and the starry night showers and couldn't wait to get back to them.
Now we're docked in a very luxurious, swanky dock were we cannot uses our outdoor on-deck shower. We must use the pool to get wet and then come into the boat and wash our hair and body in the galley sink. Shaving for girls and boys was a challenge but a small bowl is working just fine for now.
I think in the near future I will be telling you how showering in the rain is working out and what type of soap works best. We can’t wait to be anchored off some quite beach with only the moonlight gazing at our nudeness as we bare all in the pursuit of cleanliness.
