Living in a boat and especially cruising demands a lot of resourcefulness. If something breaks or required too much electricity, it can be a frustrating situation or a puzzle. On the way down the ICW, our water heater broke and we were unable to take hot showers. This wasn't a problem at the time because it was summer, but as the weather got colder and we crossed the Atlantic, nothing felt better than a soothing hot shower. In order to make this possible, I simply boiled water in a teapot and poured it into our insecticide sprayer shower! Normally, we would leave this shower out in the sun and it would heat the water since we had covered it in black tape. This wasn't an option when we were underway because the sun wasn't hot enough and there was a lot of salty sea spray. The teapot worked so well even though it was a silly concept.
Moral of the story: don't deny yourself simple pleasures when at sea. If you need something like a hot shower, make it happen with whatever means you have!
