Pumpout Facilities

[Blue Crab]

An interesting tidbit. My little marina on the ICW in North Carolina has a portable pumpout that the diaphram has worn and checked and doesn't have enough suction to suck up the soup. Spoke to a trawler boater today who came in to use the pumpout. I started it for him and he was disgusted when he found that it didn't actually work. The boatless marina honchos haven't taken my word for it for the last month. I don't need it myself as a composter but I know what will happen and is doubtless happening when boaters can't find a facility.

Point is tho, the boater had been unable to find a working pumpout on his way south from Annapolis. I don't think this bodes well for the future.

[rwidman]

Report it to the marina management.

[Stu Jackson]

The idiocy that promotes holding tanks without free pumpouts is madness.

[Orion Jim]

Sounds to me like someone promoting composting

[markpierce]

Most marinas in the San Francisco estuary (bay and delta) have free pumpouts. Nevertheless, I have a private company pump out the blackwater tank once a month. They use a small, open boat with tank, pump and hose.

[Kenomac]

What's a pump out station?

[accomplice]

After struggling with a barely working pump-out last weekend, I swore I would just head out to sea the next time it needed emptying. I'm beyond the 3 miles line almost every week, but I suspect most of the boats in the harbor are not.

To make matters worse, there was a powerboat tied up to the (temporary) pump-out dock for an hour while they went ashore to get lunch. To wait so long and work so hard for such little joy...

[IdoraKeeper]

Oh! The humanity! Crab, you are in a fine mess there. The floaters will be floating and your sea strainer will be full of TP. I would tell you to evacuate and head south but Florida won't let you anchor and Carolina is still recovering from dishonest Frenchmen who abandoned their boat in the Bahamas. Getting the pump out fixed will be a dirty job but someone has to do it. Its the only answer.

[onestepcsy37]

Florida won't let you anchor? Florida may be the easiest state to anchor in!

[Blue Crab]

Jim Walsh Re: Pumpout Facilities
Sounds to me like someone promoting composting

Nah, I could not care less what the rest of the world does. I choose not to dump poop where I swim. My point was that the guy traveled from Annapolis to Oriental without finding a working pumpout. That's a pretty good piece for those of you not scoring at home, or live in Montana.

I can see how marina dockhands are loathe to do the pumpout, and likely to say it's busted when it's not. And the gods know it should always be free. Wonder how many boats dumped their tanks illegally over the Labor Day Weekend knowing there was no working pumpouts within range. Surely thousands.

rwidman Re: Pumpout Facilities
Report it to the marina management.

Good one Cap! Never woulda thought of that. Thank you.

[thinwater]

Just chatter.

There are many working pump-outs in that range of the Bay. Many are free if you buy fuel, and we were talking about a trawler. There are 2 in Herring bay alone, one of which is free. Cape Charles has a good one. Several in Solomons Island. He didn't try or didn't keep track. I've never been in a signifigant harbor on the Chesapeake that did not have one.

A small charge doesn't bother me, if it keeps the equipment in good repair. <$5. That said, some marinas have gone to free just for the good PR. And their systems are better than the state systems!

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

..........
rwidman Re: Pumpout Facilities
Report it to the marina management.

Good one Cap! Never woulda thought of that. Thank you.

Sometimes management isn't aware of a problem until someone reports it to them. Sometimes you have to report it more than once because they might have had something else on their mind at the time.

[a64pilot]

So far, knock on wood I've been from Daytona FL to the Gulf Coast of Fl and have always been able to find a pump out, easily. Good thing too because the only way I can empty my black water tank is through the deck fitting.
Now of course that's just Fl, but I can assure you many boats do not pump out. There is a house boat on my dock with a live aboard couple in it. I've never seen it move and find it hard to believe that they always walk the dock and down the road to the marina bathroom, and this is in a marina with an outstanding pump out, and its free too.

[Helbent]

The dude must not have been trying too hard. I just went through that stretch of water. Got a free one at the town station in Solomons, another at the state marina in crisfield, and another free one at the city dock in Portsmouth. And I imagine there were dozens (hundreds?) of other options.

[CaptTom]

My understanding is that, in order to be listed as a "no discharge zone", the state or region must first prove that there are sufficient pump-out facilities such that this won't cause a hardship to boaters.

I've also heard that, before the NDZ is established, money is frequently available to install new pump-out stations to meet this requirement.

However, once the NDZ is in place, nobody seems to check that those facilities are still available to the boating public, and there's no money available to maintain or staff them.

Most marinas accept the free equipment. But it's not their core business, and many avoid putting it in a prime location at their facility. Others see no value in maintaining it, or even having staff leave their other duties to help boaters pump out. Over time they break down or pieces get "lost" or forgotten. Even the working ones are sometimes only offered to paying fuel customers.