Shower removed- should I put it back in?

[jpendoley]

Hello group, yet another newbie question. TropicBirds shower was removed to facilitate repairs and never reinstalled. I can see where it was by the channels in the over head liner. I can just barely shower in the head, but being a bachelor I KNOW any woman who visits will appreciate a full shower and
Being a live aboard I would too.
Two questions: are there pictures somewhere of the shower
Compartment and am I crazy to contemplate
Re installation? I'm handy, ok with glass work and a
Good boat wright. Was the shower a one off or an adaptation of a stock fiberglass shower stall  (I Know that's three questions).
I appreciate your feed back.
Jim

[Della and Dave]

Personally, I like having the shower.  We have a water heater that heats from either engine heat or shore power.  It's nice to have a hot shower on a cold day.  It's also nice as a big wet locker for hanging wet foul weather gear.  We have a removable closet rod in ours.  I think the 365 shower stall was built as part of the boat.  Ours has a shower seat outboard, with under seat storage that drains into the pan.  Currently we have a clog in the drain that is on my to do list to fix. The pan drains into the sump.  There is a little soap dish recess as well.  I could take some pictures the next time we are at the boat, hopefully next weekend if you want.   

[jpendoley]

Della and Dave,
Thanks for your offer, I'd be very grateful if you did take pictures. I'm trying to mock something up by adapting a shower from a big box store and trimming it to fit. So far, all the stock showers I have seen appear to be too big, but might be able to be trimmed to fudge/fit. It seems to me that the stall its self is not a structural support for the deck or hull, but I am a little puzzled about the layout of the original unit. And I too would justify it as a great wet locker during wet passages.
Jim

[Dale Tanski]

The stock shower was indeed a custom built, installed before the deck went on arrangement.  Recreating it nicely out of fiberglass would be a major undertaking.  It does have the "seat" or "soaking tub" against the outside of the hull.  I suspect that part of the idea of the "tub" was to allow sitting, the soaking of feet, a small child or even the soaking/washing of clothes.

I visited the Bennet Yacht yard many years ago and they built a standup shower stall in a Bennet 43 by covering the bulkheads with sheets of Formica and then applying a radius at all of the corners with thickened epoxy.  Once the radius were sanded smooth the entire shower stall was sprayed with Awlgrip and the end result was outstanding. 

You have not elaborated if the shower base or floor was still in your boat.  Either way this would be a rather involved project but a worth while one.  We love our shower and it was a consideration while looking at the boat.  We use it as a shower as well as a fantastic storage area for the cockpit cushions. 

Dale

[jpendoley]

Dale,
The Bennet process you describe is similar to what I had in mind. Given the formed slots in the over head liner, it would not be that formidable a project if well thought out. The shower pan is gone, so it will need to be created. Formica over marine ply or possibly AC grade ply all edges encapsulated in epoxy would be my preferred approach-unless I can trim down a stock shower stall (which seems pretty unlikely at this point.
I just need a visual reference to the original so I can plan my approach.
Jim

[Dale Tanski]

Jim,
Unfortunately because we have been so involved in the business this year again, the boat never went in.  So... 200 feet or so from our front door is the boat barn, and inside is the boat.  I will venture out there this evening and shoot some pictures and perhaps some dimensions if they are relevant. 

It would be great to flash a mold off of an existing shower base. I will look at my base and see if that is possible. Then you could just add a vertical flange and tie in your walls easily. 

The moral of the story is... don't buy a marine retail business and ever expect to sail again!

Dale

[PeteW]

Jim,
You do know the shower compartment is a double wall. The outside wall is flat and square with wood trim on the outside corner. The inside wall consists of the pan, headliner and 2 sides (the back wall and RH wall as you look in) I think there is a seam on the starboard (LH)  side piece. Could not  be molded up any other way other than those 2 pieces minimum. And they were dropped  in before the deck went on. Can't image what sort of repair warranted cutting those pieces out. Sounds like a crime scene.

I've seen a shower/tub combo glassed up from matt over plywood in a powerboat. It was a horrible job. Required grinding fiberglass from inside an air tight closet. I'd look into those companies that offer to refinish you bath in a day. They use fiberglass molded panels that look like 4" tile. They cut it and stick it over the old surface. Would work on your plywood flat surfaces pretty well. Shower Enclosure companies sell molded pans. The smallest dimension is usually 34- 36" unfortunately. The pan on the Pearson is a 6" step down from the head but even after that there is 4" clearance on the underside for the drain.

[jpendoley]

Pete and Dale,
I really appreciate the input. My understanding is Tropicbird was damaged in a storm and repairs necessitated removal of the shower and replacement of the starboard bulkhead among other alterations.  Once I figure out how to load pictures, I'll post and you can all give me your thoughts. I bought her from Jay Stormer who really did a great job putting her back together and optimizing storage space.  I don't believe he felt the shower was worth the effort to replace, but in my case it very well may be (bachelor hoping to have company).  There is a very basic cramped shower arrangement in the head, but it's tighter then the arrangement I had on my previous boat. So, yes, I am actively researching the project and anticipate a fall, winter or spring effort.  First, I need to install my Kato davits and solar panels which arrive tomorrow! Again, I appreciate all the feedback-I intend to do a first class job-I'm not a hack!

[Della and Dave]

Here are some pictures to see what the original looked like, pardon the dirty shower pan. The base and the back wall are all molded as one unit along with the seat/tub.  The seat essentially has a little wash tub under a Plexiglas seat.  It drains into the shower pan. In the corner.  There is a dorade vent in the ceiling and a soap dish nook molded in next to the sprayer.  The hose on ours can be turned on and off at the shower head.  Flip forward on the picturesque photobucket, you should be able to see several, but may have to double click of the like to get it.

[jpendoley]

Dave, Thank you for going to the trouble-very thoughtful of you.  I'm convinced that putting the shower back in is a good move, it will double as a large wet locker when not in port.  Your photos convinced me it won't be that hard to reinstall at all.  Big thing is intelligent selection of materials
Jim

[TheIntern36]

Any chance we could see what the boat looks like without a shower?  I'm not interested in taking mine out, but I am in the middle of replacing all the fresh water plumbing and things tend to get lost back there.

Thanks!

Sam