Cruiser’s Carol & An Ode to Rodney Bay Marina

All I Want for Christmas Is A Long, Hot Shower

(Sung to the tune of “All I Want for Christmas” – music clip coming soon!  Seriously!)

Landlubbers stop 

And glare at me 

 ‘Cause my body’s

Stinky as can be

I know just who 

To blame for this catastrophe -- me! 

But my one wish on Christmas Eve 

Is not to be dirty! 

All I want for Christmas 

Is a long hot shower

A long hot shower

Ahhhh… a long hot shower! 

Gee if I could only 

Take a long hot shower

Then we could cuddle

On Christmas." 

Seems so long since I could wash well, 

Locals would say, “You showered… I can tell!" 

With soapy hot water… Oh my! Oh me!

If I could only smell swell

All I want for Christmas 

Is a long hot shower

A long hot shower

Yes, a long hot shower! 

Hot soapy water… Oh my! Oh me!

Take a long hot shower, 

Then we could cuddle

On Christmas."

Corian counters.  Tile walls, floors and shower stalls.  Clean,
well-maintained flush toilets.  Several shower stall with
plenty of hot water, with adequate water pressure.  Best
of all on a hot muggy day?  Rodney Bay Marina’s
bathrooms are air-conditioned!

An Ode to Rodney Bay Marina (background inspiration for the this carol...)

 It was time to move on, but it was a bittersweet goodbye 6 weeks ago, on October 21^st.  Sometimes you do know what you’ll miss even before you’ll miss it.  In my case, that would be Rodney Bay Marina’s (RBM’s) showers and Ocean’s Club pool. I also miss RBM’s relatively easy internet access, quite fast at several marina businesses… Elena’s and Ocean Club especially. 

Sweet pool, maintained by RBM and Ocean’s Club.  We took a
blissful dip nearly every hot, sweaty afternoon we were
in Rodney Bay, and watched the sun set.

But mostly, I really, really miss the shower and the opportunity to use hot water with impunity for a really good scrub, shampoo, conditioner and rinse. 

Honestly, I have no right to complain; our O’Day sailboat had no shower, and we spent 3 weeks on it, though in addition to sponge baths, we swam in warm, freshwater lakes, and stopped periodically at marinas to use their showers.

Our Pearson sailboat boasts not just one, but two showers, counting the cockpit shower. But it’s hard to get a decent shower in public view, when it’s windy, tightly boxed with only a few inches to spare between lazerettes on 3 sides and the steering wheel and binnacle on the 4^th side.  And the water pressure sucks.

The head (bathroom) shower even has a proper stall – with a hot water heater.  We don’t use the water heater as it would burn through too much water before it got hot.  And we don’t use much water in that shower as once more than a trickle is used, our cantankerous sump pump threatens to overflow.

For better or worse, this is how we average using only 2 gallons of water a day for everything we wash… us, our clothes, the dishes... (drinking and cooking water comes from our 1 gal/hour watermaker and our head uses raw water to flush).

But my husband’s promised me a marina shower… even before Christmas, and he’s a man who keeps his promises.

Wishes do come true!

Check back for the Cruiser’s Carol put to music, and several other Caribbean Carols – all original take-offs from classic Christmas ditties, in the works and posting soon.