My 1961 35' Roamer did not come equipped with a shower and I plan on changing that. The wife says she wants a shower aboard if she is going to spend any time aboard. Can some of you guys with a combo head/shower give me some ideas to work with? Pictures would be greatly appreciated.
Sure, I will take some pics for you and post them tomorrow. I have a 38' Regal, and boy does it have a nice setup for the head. One of the largest I've ever seen in a boat of that size, and very well laid out. The shower is about the size of a normal house shower, maybe a tad smaller, with a fiberglass liner and even has a bench seat in it. It appears to be all original. Not sure if you have the space for that, though. The only reason I do is because, with the Regal, you get the whole upper salon/enclosed pilothouse deal, so Chris Craft eliminated the couch down below in favor of the gigantic head instead.
Chriswufgator looking at the drawings of the 38' Regal you do have a large head on your Regal. I plan to change my cabin some but I don't plan on moving or enlarging the head on my Riviera. The shower needs to go into the space of the existing head. What I’m concerned about is the walls, the floor, draining, and ventilation. The previous owner suggested having it drain into the engine room bilge where that bilge pump would pump it out. Hopefully I’ll be looking at a 35' Roamer for sale in Texas next week that has a shower in the head.
suggestion I wouldn't drain the shower into the bilge, messy, smelly and some states illegal. Most chandlers sell a shower pump, it basically a box with a strainer and a pump in it. REALLY easy to fit!!! Works great!!! Very Nice Chris Craft you have there.
The previous owner always looked for the cheapest way of doing things and in the long run it always cost him more. The shower sump would be the best way to pump it off the boat and that's what I wanted to do. Do the heads with a combo shower have a shower pan of some sort? I once had a small motorhome that had a combo shower/toilet in it but everything was fiberglass so I didn't have a problem with shower water going where you didn't want it.
In the past I have built fibreglass showers (for crew areas on large yachts) and it is fairly easy to do, but you need to make it look really nice to prevent it killing the value of your Chris-Craft. What type of toilet do you have now and where does it go?
I did that on my 1960 35'. Used West System Epoxy and light matting on floor and up about 4". Couple extra layers closer to the walls so it drained to the middle. Put a floor drain fitting in and secured a hose to it and ran it to a shower drain unit, basically a plastic box with a small bilge pump and a float switch in it that you can buy at any marine store, then run your hose to a thru hull fitting that you will need to install next to the one for the sink. Put a track up with a curtain that will keep the water off everything except the wall between the head and the galley, and the floor. Prep the floor good before laminating it or it will loose the bond. Get down to bare wood where you are laminating. Then use a quality 2 part polyurethane coating over the epoxy floor and she will love you forever!!!
Sounds good... except, I'd run the sink to the shower pump and then the shower and sink can share the same existing overboard. One less hole in the boat!!!
I agree with the pan and pump. I'm still learning the way around my 32 ft, but the shower is a nice feature, and it has a diamond plate floor ( is that normal ?) It does have a separate sump pump as noted all ready. In addition, I have a switch to turn the water pump on ( just incase it isn't on all ready ). I plan on back flushing RV anitfreeze through the shower head after installing a simple cutoff to stop it from going into the hot water tank. Another nice use for a shower. Good luck !
We looked at a 1960 35' Roamer yesterday in Texas with a unique idea. This one had a shower pan that folded down in front of the toilet. It was basically a medal lined mahogany box hinged to the bulkhead in front of the toilet. When it was folded down the drain in the box fit into a drain in the floor then a shower curtain went around the box from the ceiling. The wife said she liked that idea.
My cousin's '60 35' Roamer (later sold to my brother) had a shower like described by Barbie & Ken (they must be a couple of dolls!) and appeared to have been a factory option. A shower curtain hung from the ceiling wrapped all the way around to contain the water. Or, with some ingenuity, could "waterproof" the entire head compartment. And yes, do use a separate sump, don't drain into bilge. Whether it goes into holding tank or overboard depends upon local ordinances,, including the enforcement or lack thereof. The water supply plumbing issue is a no brainer, other than you may need to increase the size of water heater, a 5 gallon just will not last long. If you intend to do a major cabin remodeling, and lose a lot of the originality of the boat, could make the head compartment larger, with a devoted shower area, but obviously lose in the dinette area. With creativity, create a "rollout" like on RV's, roll it into the dinette area during shower time, back when done.
