WASHING MACHINE
What were we thinking? Where are we going to put this monster?
Now what do we do?!! Measure and design the new tank, figure out how to get it in and plumb it in place, discover that the deck fitting for emptying has to be moved, add a macerator pump between the head and the tank, install access ports to make future plumbing checks or hose replacement, only difficult, not impossible… Move all the shower plumbing, reroute the heating ducting.
All the cosmetic bits had to be both water tight, since this was to remain a usable shower, and removable to allow service of the machine and the holding bolts substantial. This thing weighed 30 kilos. A formidable load if the boat was being tossed around at sea.
Being able to do laundry in our own machine instead of random laundromats has been a great luxury!
We decided that we were getting too old to be dancing on laundry in a bucket to get it clean but there was hardly room in the boat to install a washing machine. Placing the washing machine in one of the aft cabins was an option but this was hardly an elegant solution.
Since we do a lot of boat projects that require turning the boat inside out we realized that we could fit a small washing machine in the aft head, where the holding tank is. Since we could not totally remove the holding tank we decided to replace the original holding tank with a custom built one that could be placed lower than the original but still have the same capacity. This would clear up sufficient space for the washer.
Projects always seem easier before you start them. When the washing machine was delivered and lowered into the cabin we realized that it didn’t fit through the forward door of the head. Now the door-frame had to come off to get the machine in! We also removed the plastic shower stall doors during installation and had easy access to the shower area in the head.