General question about heads on a sailboat

[jleonar]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Go composting. Those of us that have them , love them . Those that don't , hate them!

I would have a harder time convincing her to do composting than pooping in a bucket and throwing it overboard full time.

Logic won’t apply here

[Mike OReilly]

Seriously... unless you're chartering or routinely travelling with multiple couples, why would anyone need more than one head? Takes up space, doubles the number of systems, makes it a lot more complex. And for what? Having to save a couple of minutes? Makes no sense.

The proliferations of heads on a boat seems to parallel the number of bathrooms in the typical land house these days. This makes little sense to me as well.

ADD: Actually, I think NorthCoastJoe has it right if you're going to go with two heads. Having two with distinct functionality makes sense. And yes, a composter is the best solution... but as I said, it requires a different mindset. Some people just can't do it, for reasons I can't grasp. But to each his/her own.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by jleonar

I would have a harder time convincing her to do composting than pooping in a bucket and throwing it overboard full time.

Logic won’t apply here

Too bad. They are SO much easier and more reliable!

[MicHughV]

In the 35 odd years that I've owned sailboats, I've had numerous occasions to fix, repair, replace heads of every description from manual to electric.

Actual repair time won't be known until you start dismantling the various odds and ends to make up a marine head. Could be an hour, could be all day.
It is likely to be the least favorite boat maintenance project on any boat. You will be working in a very confined space, with various valves, etc, requiring rubber arms to reach, while you, yourself, will be doing contortions whilst laying on your back, etc.

I think an important thing to note here, that to have a reasonably peaceful co-existence with your marine head, begins with what you put in it.

#1. Toilet paper. I have found tp that is impregnated with aloe is more easily digestible than your standard tp by your marine head. Marine stores also sell a tp for marine toilets that is thinner than the standard variety tp, but I've never tried it, so can't speak to it's effectiveness.
Volume of tp is also important. While this is a personal preference, be cognizant of overloading your marine head with tp. If vast amounts of tp is to be expected, you might want to consider doing this in stages.
Yes, it will require some acrobatics.

#2. A golden rule is that don't put anything into a marine head, unless it has first passed thru' your body. "nuff said.
#3. Going along with #2, do not, under any circumstances, flush feminine products down the marine head....ever !! This needs to be made abundantly clear to feminine guests prior to using the marine head. Provide an appropriate receptacle for this purpose in close vicinity

#4. A good " flush" is a long flush, the aim being to clear the pipes for the next visit.

For many people, usually first timers or guests, using the marine head, can lead to "unexpected" problems....this is where you....the captain....need to spring into action to fix, repair or address the problem caused by someone else. This can be a delicate situation requiring tack and a sense of humor.

For this reason, I like a boat with two heads, so that if an occasion arises where one head is out of commission for any reason, a back up is available.

Buying a used boat is a crapshoot regarding the head, as you you will not know, nor be told, if the boat's head has been serviced, fixed, repaired, recently. It's a 50/50 shot at best.

As this thread has pointed out, there are many types of marine heads. Which is best ??
Ha ha, this is something you will only learn the hard way.

My personal favorite is a unit no longer made. It was an antique Wilcox-Crittenden bronze and teak marine head, teak seat, with numerous flaps, levers and and flushing arm that was at least two feet long. It was truly a throne fit for a king. It performed flawlessly for many years, until parts for it were no longer to be found. No replacement marine head I've ever owned worked as flawlessly as that unit.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by jleonar

I would have a harder time convincing her to do composting than pooping in a bucket and throwing it overboard full time.



Logic won’t apply here

Then go with a Raritan Marine Elegance. Similar to a household toilet, can be had with both fresh and raw water flush for water savings, is fairly miserly with flush water to extend holding tank capacity, and is incredibly reliable. With a single head boat, have the surveyor spend quality time evaluating the holding tank and hoses. Also make sure you understand the system as a whole. Some holding tanks can only be emptied by pumping out.

Bottom line is you're fine with a single head boat, but it creates more dependence on the design and quality.

A wet head shower is more of an issue in my opinion. But it depends a bit on where you plan to use the boat.

BTW - for the folks who wax poetically about the Skipper head and it's close relative Groco Model K, nobody wants them anymore. I was at Minnie's Marine Salvage in Newport Beach CA to see if I could unload my Groco Model K. He laughed and said he had over a half dozen that have gone unsold for years. Given rebuild kits for thr Skipper are extremely difficult to source these days, my guess is it's even worse.

[malbert73]

Everyone- I actually think all essential systems should be replaced on a schedule rather than waiting for breakdowns. Especially heads!

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by jleonar

' our two cats are moving on with us.

See now that's going to be more of a problem than how many heads you have.

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by jleonar

I didn’t want to get into arguments or discussions about preferences on boats.



But since people are asking, we are looking at 38-45ft multihull boats. My preferences fall more on the performance side so the boat I am seriously considering is the Neel 43. We both enjoy sailing monohulls(obviously) but my wife gets way more sick when down in a monohull and none when in the salon on a multihull.



For the price we are looking at, Neel 43 seems to have everything I want but my wife doesn’t like the idea of being stuck with a single head.



No knock on lagoons but I would rather not buy a beast like that. There are other factors like helm position but Neel 43 checks the boxes even with questionable fit an finish.

Look at sea winds. Had a lagoon, sail on buddy’s sea wind. Sea wind sails very well. Has two heads

[jleonar]

Seawind 1260 is on our list. Used are just super rare on the east coast, Europe, or Caribbean.

[Fore and Aft]

jleonar why not just tuck a small chemical toilet and some chemicals in a locker onboard the boat? That way you are not completely stuck and it's a bit classier than a bucket and chuck it situation.
I doubt you will ever use it as a good toilet should give years of service. We have always had Jabsco electric or manual toilets The one problem we did have was a wet wipe bent the macerator shaft and caused a small leak. But in 30 years of owning our own boats that is the one incident I can recall. The other incident was caused from fatigue, and I manually emptied the toilet bowl then checked to make sure the seacocks were closed before disassembling the toilet and realised the discharge seacock had never been opened in the first place!
Cheers

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by JBP

Virtually everyone carries an emergency backup head, aka bucket. You can upgrade to a 5 gallon bucket with a seat if you think that would be better, or even a portable.

In my parents generation, nearly all homes had one bathroom. No problem. We had one, and it was more than enough.


I can't imagine bothering with 2 heads and the maintenance on a cruising boat, not unless I was paid to maintain the boat. A total waste of space IMO. A bigger shower, storage space, or a bigger berth would be better.

[chrisr]

we've been living aboard for last 6 years or so. 2 heads on last cat...3 on this present cat.

all with macerators

in answer to the question : how long does it take to repair a head : i honestly cannot say, as we've never had a problem with any of them. not once. not even a hiccup

cannot but wonder what on earth the folk who have problems are doing to the poor
things !

must confess that 3 on the present boat is a little overkill, as we rarely have more than 2 couples onboard for any length of time.

but more heads doesn't mean you use them more often, does it ? i mean, you can only 'go' some many times a day can't you ? so more heads mean each one gets used less often = last longer

share the load as it were...

cheers,

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by cr180

The wet head. Now we’re talking shower. For a live aboard, agree with your wife. Drying up the head area every time take a shower will get old fast. If you’re like me, don’t want to go by myself. Get the wife a separate stand up shower.

I agree.
We lived only part-time with a wet head for 21 years On several Dragonfly trimarans. We had a nylon curtain that wrapped around the shower area and I would shower last, to do cleanup. I would take the wet curtain out to the cockpit where I would drape it loosely over the steering pedestal to dry overnight. We had a bimini over the helm, so it could dry even in the rain, except in very windy rain or misty fog conditions. Then I would go back in and use a terry cloth towel to dry the head floor and lower walls of the head, and put that out to dry too. All this was perfectly fine for just the two of us and living aboard weeks at a time.
It was not ideal, and even less so to clutter the cockpit with the centrally located wet shower curtain when we had guests or additional family aboard. It also meant that with the single wet head, everyone aboard would need to take care of essential bathroom breaks before anyone started the shower routines - which are awkward to disrupt for anyone’s bathroom emergency (including for the person showering).
We eventually were spending more time aboard and decided we wanted more room than we had with the tri. One of our requirements was at least one dry head with dedicated shower space, with 2 heads a “nice to have”. Since you mentioned living aboard, you too may eventually find this compromise worth it, and you may find the Neel short on storage space.

[svtickles]

Originally Posted by NYSail

Also have two electric heads which we also have grown to love.

Which model do you have?

[svtickles]

Originally Posted by chrisr

all with macerators

Like this?

link