I Need manly and probably moral advice

[goboatingnow]

when in a marina, unless its very inconvenient, I always use the shower blocks , toilets etc, instead of the boat, I like the extra space. lashings of water etc.

On a boat I shave about every three days. So when I do I like it nice and formal.

Dave

[scgilligan]

Shaving to me is a chore, not an enjoyable ritual. I hate it..so, I have decided not to. Grew a beard and trim once in a while with clippers..about a #8 guard. Tidy up the edges with a Mach 3 razor about once a week. Very little cream required and does not have to be hot.

[Mike Vogdes]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Tacoma, I, for one, perceived your nuanced humor right off, so you can take comfort in the idea that at least someone got it.



As payment for your self-deprecating humor, you have been charged with the following crimes:

• "hogging" a sink in a multiple-sink bathroom while you shower
  
• wasting water in a desert
  
• daring to want to shave with warm water
  
• lying about posting in a humorous vein
  
• possibly being an internet troll
  
• not being a real man because you shave your face
  
• (possibly, we're not quite sure, but we're watching you!) contributing to global warming
  

Cruising Boats, Cruising People, Cruising Answers

Way to go, Cruiser's Forum. This is the warmest, most inviting place on the Internet. (That was sarcasm, for those of you who seem to have difficulty perceiving such).



No doubt there will ensue sentiments of "Oh, we were merely kidding around. It wasn't mean-spirited; it was all in fun. Can't you take a joke," etc.



Notice they all shut down when you revealed you were no ignorant to be beaten about the head and easily shamed, but had considerable practical knowledge of the issue, and then began communicating with you in a noticeably conciliatory manner. So it always goes.



Now that you have endured the knee-jerk responses of the environmentalists, and have been charged, judged guilty and sentenced to the public humiliation of having your personal property confiscated and thrown into the toilet as a a proper sneering disgust for using 2 quarts of (gasp! hot!) water, and publicly humiliated by being the subject of a parodied image of you running around the parking lot naked to suggest that you are ridiculous, we might now be able to get on to offering some useful feedback.



I'll assume that what you mean by "manual 2-blade safety razor" is an actual double-edged safety razor, and not a two-blade disposable-cartridge system. I can see there are other traditional wet shavers responding in this thread, such as Ann T Cate, but here are my bona fides. I've been traditional wet-shaving for two years. My current set-up:

• 1950s-era Gillette Super-Speed Red Tip twist-to-open (TTO) double-edged safety razor
  
• ca. 1960 Schick Hydro-magic Golden 500 injector safety razor
  
• boar hair shaving brush for face-lathering; badger brush for mug-lathering
  
• hard-puck shaving soaps & shaving soap sticks
  

If your brush is soft, instead of stiff, I think it must be made of badger hair. I've never heard of a sable brush.



I fear your shave prep. will continue to be short-circuited by well-meaning intruders, even if you tape a note on the mirror over your sink. Your best bet, as has already been offered, is to bring a container to set in the sink to pre-heat your equipment. Then, you can run hot water into the container, leave your brush to soften and your cream to warm, and adjust the temperature to suit you when you return to shave.



Don't let the environmental police tell you how many ounces the container must be limited to. You are a man, and can make that decision for yourself.

(For those of you who have already demonstrated a dim sense for humor, and are feeling vaguely insulted, imagine a funny emoticon, animated if you fancy, inserted here).



There is one substantial change in your personal routine I might suggest. You are using canned shave cream now, but trying to pre-heat the cream inside the can is inefficient. Since you are already using a brush, you might find that using either a shave cream in a tube or small screw-lid jar, or a puck of shave soap in a ceramic mug completes your wet-shaving experience. After all, the brush is made to work up a lather, not merely apply the lather to your face. There are literally hundreds to choose from, in a wide range of scents/fomulas.



You can easily pre-heat a tube/small jar of cream, or a mug with a soap puck, in the container of hot water that your brush is softening in, and it will be all ready for you when you walk up to the sink. As a matter of fact, the container will help keep your lather warm as you shave if you leave the mug & brush sitting in it.



I have found this community immensely helpful:

Badger & Blade Discussion Forums



Good luck, and smooth shaving,

Jeff

You sir, sound like an enabler.... Best you start looking under your car before starting it.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

I am the OP and I am pretty sure I was indulging in some ironic self deprecating humor. But - as my wife of 39 years keeps telling me - my sense of humor is often:
- warped
- inappropriate
- understood only by me
- not funny

It seems that trying to make fun of myself over such an obviously silly concern as "who turns off my spigot" on this forum is:
- inappropriate
- understood only by me (and a few others here)
- not funny

My apologies to the forum - I will be careful to take my poor choices in humor elsewhere

Whoever is turning of your spigot is trying to send you a message, and you turned to the cruiser community for help in interpreting it. So I'd call this a rousing success, even if you got bruised up a little. And you also now know how manly the community thinks the hot shaving cream requirement is! Clearly, this came as quite a surprise to you...

I think everyone got the humor part. It's just that we've seen more than a fair share of people who either waste resources or require more than a reasonable amount of time and space in public bathrooms/washrooms.
Oh, I get it -- it was just a tiny bit of wasted water and energy, right?

Between all the moral outrage, there were some good suggestions, weren't there? I thought the tube of shaving cream in a bowl of warm water was pretty good.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

... I think everyone got the humor part. It's just that we've seen more than a fair share of people who either waste resources or require more than a reasonable amount of time and space in public bathrooms/washrooms.

Yepper. Men don't ask for manly/moral advice publically or even willingly.

Dunno about women. No one does.

And I guess the women's showers are different because I don't even want the bottoms of my dedicated shower flip flops to touch the shower floor, let alone a can of shaving cream or the mirror when you need two hands. I use Dr. Bronners for most cleaning/laundry needs. KISS. Fine to shave in shower with and smells good to me. I don't think it's harmful in any way. Certainly not as harmful as that vile-smelling Irish Spring or those anti-bacterial snake oils.

Bottom line is the lowest paid person on the marina staff cleans the toilets. And they are probably young people and it's the rare young person who has a work ethic at all, let alone any integrity when cleaning heads. That's mom's job. (For the humor-impaired, please note last comment was not serious.)

Soon as I get off my lazy bum and do some plumbing, I'll do my cold weather showering on the boat. Cannot imagine using marina facilities when they're optional.

I loved the above comment about the wife inspecting the shower!

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

I am the OP and I am pretty sure I was indulging in some ironic self deprecating humor. But - as my wife of 39 years keeps telling me - my sense of humor is often:
- warped
- inappropriate
- understood only by me
- not funny...

...and more importantly - My wife insists that I squeegee the shower stall dry when I use it - then wipe it down with a towel. She does not like dampness in the boat. And she inspects after I shower....

Tacoma I also noticed the humour, because of the nature of your post, I mean, life cannot be that serious! I could not respond quick enough - when I did I saw over 45 responses and I dropped it.

In any event, you got several responses but not a solution to your problem. Using the Saab exhaust manifold is a bad idea - you don't want to go back there and find your can blown to smithereens and god forbid, miss your shave. The Thermos idea with 1.3 quarts of warm water was the best solution.

Now, I do have to make a comment, this time to Mrs. Tacoma:
Please Mrs., after 39 years, give your man some room! His sense of humour is there, regardless of how it is, which is very important at 67. Also, keeping the head clean is one thing but have him wipe it dry and inspecting afterwards? Come on!.
Maybe be you should try posting here for advice....

[TacomaSailor]

I have tried, many times over many years, to grow a manly beard. Lord knows, now that I am on Social Security and Medicare, a beard is about all I can grow. But, Mrs. Tacoma has always found my beards unpleasant and uncouth!

She expresses her displeasure in an unspoken but increasingly effective manner - the longer I maintain the beard - the further down the list she travels:

- it takes a little longer for her to bring me a cup of coffee
- the meals she prepares for me are not as interesting
- the meals she prepares for me are less frequent
- the meals she prepares for me are non-existent
- she refuses to wash the dishes I dirty when I have to cook for myself
- her company is less enjoyable
- her company is non-existent
- the padlock on the companionway hasp is one that I've never seen

BUT - this tread solves my problem - I will just forward to her all the positive comments my friends here made about manly beards and the need to save the environment by refusing to shave.

I regain 10 minutes every other day that I might waste shaving and I get to reassert my manliness by growing the beard that this forum has authorized.

Now - does anyone in San Diego know a good locksmith?

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

I have tried, many times over many years, to grow a manly beard. Lord knows, now that I am on Social Security and Medicare, a beard is about all I can grow. But, Mrs. Tacoma has always found my beards unpleasant and uncouth!

She expresses her displeasure in an unspoken but increasingly effective manner - the longer I maintain the beard - the further down the list she travels:

- it takes a little longer for her to bring me a cup of coffee
- the meals she prepares for me are not as interesting
- the meals she prepares for me are less frequent
- the meals she prepares for me are non-existent
- she refuses to wash the dishes I dirty when I have to cook for myself
- her company is less enjoyable
- her company is non-existent
- the padlock on the companionway hasp is one that I've never seen

BUT - this tread solves my problem - I will just forward to her all the positive comments my friends here made about manly beards and the need to save the environment by refusing to shave.

I regain 10 minutes every other day that I might waste shaving and I get to reassert my manliness by growing the beard that this forum has authorized.

Now - does anyone in San Diego know a good locksmith?

Tcoma

This happens because you are not treating your wife correctly. Here's the secret

chain her to the galley stove with a couple of meters of anchor chain. If you find her further away from the stove than those couple of meters - it is an escape attempt and should be punished accordingly.

buy, and wax regularly, a cat-o-nine tails. to be used if escape is attempted.

A sound thrashing once per day and twice per sunday will almost certainly make her see the error of her ways.

Assuming I survive the flaming I will incur for the above poverty-stricken attempts at humor - I will show this reply to my wife, who will certainly laugh herself to death reading it.

But good advice - you should try it

[boatman61]

Well.. so far I've seen a fair bit of selfishness.. and worse than the OP... though that's a bit 'gay'..
On the shaving side I prefer cold water and shampoo.. not as much hair on the head these days but chest, legs etc still well stocked so use just shampoo all over..
I think its the guys who use 'Lashings of Hot Water' in the shower who piss me off most with their lack of consideration... the 10-15 mins you spend wallowing results in me.. or someone else having to suffer a cold shower... no worries in the Tropic's.. but Brixham or Poole mid winter is another story..
Lotsa Flock u Jack I'm Fireproof demonstrated..

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

I...
- it takes a little longer for her to bring me a cup of coffee
- the meals she prepares for me are not as interesting
- the meals she prepares for me are less frequent
- the meals she prepares for me are non-existent
- she refuses to wash the dishes I dirty when I have to cook for myself
- her company is less enjoyable
- her company is non-existent
- the padlock on the companionway hasp is one that I've never seen

BUT - this tread solves my problem - I will just forward to her all the positive comments my friends here made about manly beards and the need to save the environment by refusing to shave.

I regain 10 minutes every other day that I might waste shaving and I get to reassert my manliness by growing the beard that this forum has authorized.

Now - does anyone in San Diego know a good locksmith?

Now I am beginning to feel for you. Not only you'll be walking out to shower and shave with cold foam, but failing to do so will required a walk to a food place to get a bite to eat. Don't know, but with all due respect, I think that small trickle of hot water on a shaving can is leading to the need of some kind of therapy for Mrs Tacoma. And I disagree with Carstenb, tying her up will not work. I thought sailing was a terrific life style for everyone, but not any more?

Now, as for the locksmith, rig the forward hatch dogs so that they will not lock from inside and you are safe.

[TacomaSailor]

"Now, as for the locksmith, rig the forward hatch dogs so that they will not lock from inside and you are safe."

39+ years with the same woman and 19 years with the same boat (pretty much the same thing - eh?) means there are few tricks that have not been tried and discarded.

And it is a good thing that the forward hatch dogs do not get locked!

Anchored on the West side of Catalina Island in late May with few boats near by and none apparently occupied. I was single handing at the time. I returned from a day trip ashore and found that the 17 year old very heavy duty combination lock I use on the companionway hasp would not open.

I spent an hour trying to open it but no luck.

Fortunately the forward hatch was not locked - I climbed in - got the hacksaw out - climbed out and then sawed the lock off.

[MAP Waves]

My wife says use an epilator. Just once. She says that'll each you to quit whining and start using cold water instead.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by MAP Waves

My wife says use an epilator....

You got me there and sent me straight to Google as I thought there was a "D" missing there, but not.
Why would somebody suffer thru that is beyond whatever brains I have left, but hey, learning something everyday...

[TacomaSailor]

There is a reason women claim to be tuffer than men and better able to endure pain!

But would you want that experience?

[cburger]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

... same sentence.

What might I do to stop this outrage?

Thanks for any advice or insight you liveaboards might offer.

Learned years ago how to shave in the hot shower, with no shaving cream or mirror and have never looked back.