Dump Airhead urine in galley sink?

[ElGatoGordo]

Originally Posted by boatsail

There are other forums for that kind of stuff:-)

Best ever!

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

That's a silly comparison--dump the shot glass in an Olympic swimming pool and see what you think. I bet every time it rains wherever you are a lot more dog piss and poop runs into the harbor than could possibly be discharged by every cruising boat in the area if people lived aboard full time and never used the holding tanks. Plus oil, asbestos, chemicals of all sorts, etc. My suggestion is not to pollute, but we really have to keep things in perspective.

Silly to you because nobody is using your office as a toilet. I have a different take on the subject. You can rationalize it all you like. The point is- when boaters break the law and discharge waste into the marina, I'm the one who gets to swim in it.

[Kettlewell]

The point is- when boaters break the law and discharge waste into the marina, I'm the one who gets to swim in it.

In a large marina I know with no pumpout system located in a very clean river a local environmental group made measurements both before and during the July 4th weekend, probably the busiest boating day of the year there, and they were unable to detect any coliform or other pollutants connected to boats. I suspect it is the same where you are--the base water level is essentially unaffected by whatever the local boaters are doing--it is too small to measure their impact. On the other hand, do a Google search for all the unintended shoreside sewage overflows when something breaks or there is a big storm that overwhelms the system.

[Pelagic]

Fast....What is the tidal range in SF?..... should be a pretty good flushing agent for pee in marinas

As a commercial diver at one time, I had to dive in some pretty disgusting stuff to clean out the effluent and growth.

If it bothers you that much, perhaps time to change your profession

[Blue Crab]

As you will all eventually realize, one can't win an argument with Fastbttms. At least I cannot. I have cleaned MANY MANY MANY bottoms. The couple of times I worked with liveaboards cured me. I made a ton of money without those jobs. Let the marina liveaboards clean their own bottoms. Wouldn't take long to solve this problem.

[micah719]

Originally Posted by ElGatoGordo

I never would have been first to admit it, but I'll come on out! Yes, the head sink on our production boat was also known by my son and I as the urinal. But ONLY on a stb tack!!! Other wise it went into the porta-poti...which is only slightly less disgusting than a traditional holding tank!

My new boat has a self built composter with a much greater volume than the comecial units (crew of 5) and the urine diverter has a Y valve so I can send the pee straight overboard...when offshore...of course!

Say, would you be interested to post a short description of the details of your composter? I'll give you some of my seashell collection in return. Let me know what kind of shell you'd like. My collection is somewhat extensive, so I keep it sorted by geographical origin. You may have seen some of it artfully displayed on a beach somewhere. I keep track of the thieves and revenge myself by cable-tying halyards to masts. All the way up.

In case I acquire a UK canal narrowboat, I'll add this modification; to prevent graffiti yobs defacing my vessel, I'll run a pipe from the liquids-only tank through a spare bilge pump and exiting via a lawn sprinkler mounted on the roof. If I hear the dreaded rattling and pssssht signalling an amateur signwriter, he will be rewarded with another psssht sound. Surprise! Hmmm, might patent that....

[fstbttms]

This thread has run it's typical course- a bunch of you arguing a morally and legally indefensible position. The usual rationalizations (since municipalities pollute, boaters should be allowed to as well) and a new one- boaters do not produce measurable pollution! Brilliant!

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

This thread has run it's typical course- a bunch of you arguing a morally and legally indefensible position. The usual rationalizations (since municipalities pollute, boaters should be allowed to as well) and a new one- boaters do not produce measurable pollution! Brilliant!

So fstbttms, tell us, what do you do when you clean a bottom and a fish comes along and puts a poop in your face? Remember, it -is- their living room, not yours

[cszosler]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

How 'bout next time you take a bath, you let me pour, say, a shot glass of someone else's pee into the tub with you? Hey, it's only pee. Is it really all that bad?

When kids were younger many weekends we spend swimming in Awonga dam. I don't recall seeing any body going for leak and returning back to swimming, neither did we. Tap water in town was better than it is here in Brisbane. How it could be?

[Kettlewell]

The usual rationalizations (since municipalities pollute, boaters should be allowed to as well) and a new one- boaters do not produce measurable pollution! Brilliant!

No, we are just pointing out that you are worried someone will dump a gallon of pee into the marina water which would be undetectable because of all the pollution flowing into the harbor from land and from your bottom scraping activities. Are there any beaches nearby? Do you think all those bathers are holding it until they get out of the water?

[s/v Jedi]

Bathroom Break! - YouTube

[ElGatoGordo]

Originally Posted by micah719

Say, would you be interested to post a short description of the details of your composter? ....

I will be doing just that. I'm working up some pics and an article for an online mag, I'll post a short write-up here when I'm happy with the pictures.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

The point is- when boaters break the law and discharge waste into the marina, I'm the one who gets to swim in it.

it's kinda your choice. i went in the marina water once to retrieve a strainer filter i dropped. i climbed out and hosed down then used soap and water. i will not go in that water again. but there are much worse things than a cup of urine in there.

[ElGatoGordo]

Originally Posted by gonesail

... but there are much worse things than a cup of urine in there.

That really is the point too! I wouldn't care to swin in the pool unchlorinated but a REFUSE to get in the marina water! I take my boat out into the bay to scrub the bottom.

[Teknav]

One should not be swimming in a marina for several reasons. First and foremost is the risk of being electrocuted by power lines with poor grounding. Then there's the high bacterial contents; enough said! As for fish waste versus human waste...fishes' is biodegradable and does not have the same composition found in humans. Urea is not water soluble, is found in human waste and kills/bleach the corals. Mauritz