New Shower

Somewhere in a previous post we spoke of Circe's interior cosmetics suffering from 'benign neglect' so, in keeping with our plans to reverse that situation, we decided to start our refurbishment with the shower & head area. In another post we also described the first part of the process, which was installation of a Tecma electric head with macerator, new holding tank and new plumbing.  This post describes the installation of new shower head and mixer plus new shower curtain and track. 

The original shower head and hose were dirty, clogged and generally ugly. They were first into the trash. 

The mixer was also the 1982 original, a Price-Pfister unit with major corrosion and missing knobs. It went into the trash right behind the shower head and hose!

We checked out all the usual suspects for a replacement shower head and mixer and looked at literally hundreds of different designs. There were lots of really fancy units at some of the home improvement stores but we decided their prices were crazy for what we needed. So, our next resource was the major RV parts suppliers where we found a great, direct replacement for the mixer together with a high efficiency, low consumption shower head at PPL, for less than a third the price of a comparable household or 'marine' unit.

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com

Oxygenics low-flow, high pressure shower head and Utopia bulkhead mount mixer.

The new shower assembly was almost a direct swap for the original but with better much performance and reduced water consumption. We had a bit of a struggle hooking up the water supply lines to the half-inch NPS threads on the mixer unit, which were molded nylon rather than machined metal, but after a bit of 'encouragement' everything went together correctly.

The only big problem we had was with the shower head holder. It was a suction pad deal, which was good because it could be moved around to suit different height people, but it wasn't solid on the hull liner and kept coming loose or falling off! It will be replaced by a screw-on version.

The shower curtain was shot and the curtain rail was rough so.....into the dumpster they went. We found a good replacement shower rail at Recmar. It was cheap and can be bent to almost any shape you want.

http://www.recmar.com/

We went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a new curtain, a squeegee and a toilet roll holder to keep the curtain out of the way. Simple idea and it works well.

New shower head, squeegee and toilet roll holder adapted to keep the shower curtain tidy.

We also fitted a 'soap-up' valve which will help save water and add to the overall economy of the unit.

The new shower works really well and the venturi design really does seem to do more with less water. The jet is quite powerful with low consumption, very economical. We think it also looks pretty sharp too!

An old friend, with the emphasis on Old, remarked how it was reminiscent of the heat ray head on the Martian War Machines in the 1953 War of The Worlds movie.......anyone else remember back that far?

Port-light Shades

When we started staying overnight on Circe we quickly discovered a lack of privacy in the head and berth area due to the absence of any shutters or blinds on the port-lights. On the hook this wouldn't be an issue but in the slip at the marina it is another matter. We are fortunate in that our slip location means we don't get a lot of foot traffic on the dock but people do come and go and, at night when we are bow-in, it is easy for a passer-by to see through the head ports when the lights are on.  Evidently our modesty threshold is somewhat lower than the PO's!

The PO had replaced all 6 of the Beckson 414 self draining ports a couple of years ago so they were in excellent shape. We had originally considered fitting the popular stainless ports from Newfound Metals but we couldn't justify such a big expense to replace essentially new ports! Either way, the absence of blinds had to be addressed.

We did a bit of research through the usual tried and true resources and quickly found a huge selection of marine blind and shade designs from the simple, cheap and cheerful to the complex, with a big price spread! We didn't want to spend a lot on what was a simple issue so we eventually found a solution at Zarcor in Texas.

http://www.zarcor.com/

Zarcor has a nice product line and we were particularly interested in their 'Peek-a Booo' sliding shutters. They are a simple design of two overlapping, slotted acrylic sheets with matching patterns of opaque strips printed on each sheet. The outer sheet attaches to the inside face of the port-light lens using self-adhesive velcro pads and the inner sheet slides on the outer sheet. When the opaque strips align, the shutter is 'open' and light comes through the clear areas. Moved to the 'closed' position, the opaque strips are misaligned and block the clear areas across the whole lens. The assembled shutter fits neatly and unobtrusively to the port lenses. They can be quickly and easily removed and replaced for cleaning and, most importantly, the price is right.

The biggest downside is that the Peek-a-Booo design blocks almost 50% of the surface of the lens, even when the shutter is open. Fortunately, we don't depend on the port-lights as much for light as for ventilation, so the reduction in light isn't a problem for us. The Zarcor promo pictures show the Peek-a-Booo being used on small ports and much larger windows and hatches where, in our opinion, the reduction in light would be much more of a problem.

Here the shutter is open

Here the shutter is closed.

The Peek-a-Booo can be custom made to suit any particular port or hatch shape but, if the port is symmetrical like the Beckson, the shutter can be reversed to offer either L to R open or L to R close.