Composting Head: Plus or Minus on resale

[jcdexter]

I realize I didn't answer your question. We sold the boat last March in about two weeks. We've kept in touch with the new owner. He's undecided if he'll keep the composting head. If he decides to pull it all the old plumbing is still there so converting back would be easy

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

How about living with liquidized rotting poop? I guess the girls think that is OK, especially when it's time to change a leaking hose. Women!

I prefer to not live with waste whether solids or liquids are separated or not. I also prefer not to dispose of it by hand. I prefer to simply open a valve and let it drain out and be gone without handling it, seeing it or smelling it. I know others enjoy hauling it topside to dump manually and watch if float about. Each too their own.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

...Suspect they'll become commonplace for cruisers. The high end charter market probably expects pushbutton and someone else can deal with it after the charter is over.

This is my hypothesis as well. And the poll I set up seem to bear this out. So far composter use is running between 20% and 25% of the types of heads in use amongst CFers.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ve-184086.html

I realize this isn’t particularly scientific or definitive, but even if the number is 1/2 that, it shows a significant level of use. At these levels it seems unlikely that composters would be a major negative, or positive, factor in the resale of a boat.

[Matt Johnson]

Look at the boat the OP has (Catalina 400).... this isn't an old small cruiser. Odds are, the next owner wil likely treat it as a weekend toy. Majority of the marina crowd will want a traditional marine head. If not, you'd see some manufacture offering a composting toilet as an option.

Matt

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by nautical62

I prefer to not live with waste whether solids or liquids are separated or not. I also prefer not to dispose of it by hand. I prefer to simply open a valve and let it drain out and be gone without handling it, seeing it or smelling it. I know others enjoy hauling it topside to dump manually and watch if float about. Each too their own.

Oh I think there will come a day when you at least will be smelling it, if not handling it. Or someone will.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

This is my hypothesis as well. And the poll I set up seem to bear this out. So far composter use is running between 20% and 25% of the types of heads in use amongst CFers.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ve-184086.html

I realize this isn’t particularly scientific or definitive, but even if the number is 1/2 that, it shows a significant level of use. At these levels it seems unlikely that composters would be a major negative, or positive, factor in the resale of a boat.

I believe the actual use is far lower than you estimate. CF is primarily made up of folks with sailboats smaller than 40ft with a small percentage of people opting for composters.

Survey larger boats, power and sail and you probably won't find any (as in not a single one) using or even considering composting head. I seriously doubt if you can find even one in use on a yacht larger than 70ft.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I believe the actual use is far lower than you estimate. CF is primarily made up of folks with sailboats smaller than 40ft with a small percentage of people opting for composters.



Survey larger boats, power and sail and you probably won't find any (as in not a single one) using or even considering composting head. I seriously doubt if you can find even one in use on a yacht larger than 70ft.

I'm guessing 99% of the people who own a yacht over 70' never work on their head let alone even know what type it is.[emoji38]

[wsmac]

Being a new boat owner myself, I was so open-minded about my boat not even having an inboard motor... just a couple boxes of parts for an electric propulsion motor system yet to be installed... that a composting toilet would have been a plus in my case.
It would have mattered if it was home-made or commercial, the installation, it's overall condition...
.
My first boat is my experiment to see how I take to sailing... so whatever work I need to do on it is part of my learning curve for the future.
.
Another reason I would have liked to have a composting toilet right now... the current toilet and lines need work.
I need to pump out the holding tank (I figured the PO would want all his old sh!t back but he ain't takin' it!), repair the bladder on the manual whale gusher pump out in the cockpit locker, and I figure I should check everything else about the head while I'm at it.
.
Sure would be nice to be dealing with just a bucket and bottle for now...

Understanding there could be an issue with resale, I'd suggest you leave whatever you are comfortable with leaving of the old system and go the composting route. If you have a place to keep the standard head then clean/service it and store it.
When the time comes to sell the boat you can offer it up as is or with the parts to return to a more conventional setup.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by smj

I'm guessing 99% of the people who own a yacht over 70' never work on their head let alone even know what type it is.[emoji38]

You're absolutely right, that's how they were able to buy such a large expensive boat... by being totally clueless.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

You're absolutely right, that's how they were able to buy such a large boat... by being totally clueless.

We finally agree on something[emoji106]🏻

[sesmith]

The real turnoff for me, when looking at boats, is stink from a marine head. You won't believe how many used brokerage boats had head smell when we went in them at the Annapolis show a couple of years ago. That, right off the bat, is way more important than the type of head installed. When the scent hits you in the face when entering the boat, you don't know if it is a simple (or not so simple) hose replacement, tank leak etc.

So, a composter would be a plus for me. You see what you get, and there's nothing hidden to fix later.

But full disclosure...we have a composter on our boat. I didn't pull the tank, thru hull or hoses (hoses were new when I put the composter in, so no smell). We left tank hoses in and saved the head...in case of resale issues later.

Most compost head haters have never had one. Most boat shoppers have never used one. Easy to do the math on resale concerns.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I believe the actual use is far lower than you estimate. CF is primarily made up of folks with sailboats smaller than 40ft with a small percentage of people opting for composters.

Survey larger boats, power and sail and you probably won't find any (as in not a single one) using or even considering composting head. I seriously doubt if you can find even one in use on a yacht larger than 70ft.

It’s not my estimate. It’s the data coming from real cruisers here on CF.

You’re likely right; those with yachts over 70 ft probably won’t have composting heads, and probably aren’t hanging out here. Since composters are designed for two to three crew members in mind, this makes perfect sense. So I not sure what your point is.

So far the numbers are confirming that composing heads make up a significant number of CFers. It’s interesting that the number of composters are almost the same as you direct dischargers (no treatment). I guess this means we are equal odd-balls .

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the data so far are the small numbers of Type II heads. Not sure what to make of this.

[Jim Cate]

Acceptance of a composter may be influenced by the location of the cruising grounds that are anticipated. If one is in a strict no discharge zone (Great Lakes for instance), the composter would be attractive. In overseas long distance cruising, direct overboard discharge is the norm, perhaps with a y-valve and tank for inshore and harbour use.

Folks who have grown up with discharge controls may find this distasteful, but direct discharge is in common usage in much of the world. In those locations, a composter might be less than desirable to a purchaser.

And to base arguments on the world of 70+foot boats is kinda silly IMO. We see few such boats actually doing long term cruising in remote areas. They tend to be concentrated around population centers, marinas and resort areas, as well as having professional crews to do unpleasant maintenance jobs.... not relevant to most CF cruisers.

Jim

[mogulskibum]

If you are confident in your seacocks, there's almost no reason to remove them and glass over the holes.

If you have a place to easily store the old holding tank (after it's washed and dried out), then do that.

Remove all the rest of the plumbing. If potential new owners want to remove the composting head and go back to a traditional marine head - you've made it both easy and relatively inexpensive to convert back.

If you're not confident in the seacocks, and you have no easy (free) place to store the tank, then get rid of them.

Basically if there's no cost to you of preserving a future owners ability to easily convert back, then why not do it?

[Miz Pea]

My wife has talked with enough women who live/cruise on boats with composting heads (and hate them) that she is determined we are not going to get one at their current technology.

Well, I'm one woman who disagrees with "enough women who live/cruise on boats" about composting toilets. Composting toilets offer simplicity (see below), time-saving (no searching for pump-out stations), safety (no thru-hulls), and far less maintenance than our old vacu-flush.

Since there is so much other inescapable and necessary maintenance on any cruising boat, eliminating one of the major maintenance headaches (and godawful smelly maintenance at that) is a win-win for us. And any hour saved is one more hour spent enjoying the boat.

Here's a composting toilet secret for coastal cruisers. You don't really have to stop in a marina to empty the urine container in a marina bathroom every two-three days. Think shower drain.

Diagram of the complexity of a vacu-flush system, and then "All you need is one hose (a vent hose) for the Nature's Head" illustration....