Staying on the Hook in So Cal - Insiders Tip

[jordansname]

Originally Posted by Minggat

Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro has an anchorage where you can spend a few days after checking in with the Port Police. I don't have any more details than that so you'll need to dig a little deeper.

Also, I see no mention of the free anchorage at the Istumus (Two Harbors) at the west end of Catalina.

Istumus is high on my list, been on a mooring there before and enjoyed it, the only downside is that the all weather anchorage is on the backside making it one of the longer sails from the mainland

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by doug86

Porta potti might fly, but don't count on it. Avalon Harbor Patrol boards your boat when you arrive and puts a dye tablet in the toilet, then flushes it. A real holding tank and an ondeck pump out fitting is the best bet.

Orange County will not welcome you if you don't have proper waste system, and San Diego doesn't waste time with warnings: if you don't have all the required stuff, expect a ticket down there.

Things may have changed, but a Pota Potti was still legal last time I checked. Avalon Harbor Patrol had no problem with mine. They did come aboard with the dye tab ready to put in the tank. Just didn't need it.

[Charlie]

Porta Potti works as a self contained unit. I don't think that the potty police can complain about it. The problem that you would have is emptying it will be difficult at best. Another solution is this Reliance Luggable Loo at REI.com and this Reliance Double Doodie Waste Bags at REI.com I imagine that the potty police might get mad abut this so if you can find a used porta potti to keep in place and then use the bucket and bag method so that you can dump it in a garbage can that may work. Also I have been told that if you get regular garbage bags and add a little kitty litter that works as well but I have never tried it.

[jordansname]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Porta Potti works as a self contained unit. I don't think that the potty police can complain about it. The problem that you would have is emptying it will be difficult at best. Another solution is this Reliance Luggable Loo at REI.com and this Reliance Double Doodie Waste Bags at REI.com I imagine that the potty police might get mad abut this so if you can find a used porta potti to keep in place and then use the bucket and bag method so that you can dump it in a garbage can that may work. Also I have been told that if you get regular garbage bags and add a little kitty litter that works as well but I have never tried it.

Luggable Loo looks like an expensive bucket to me I like the plastic bag idea. I already save my plastic bottles for the yellow stuff, recycling 101. I have this crazy notion that I could take the lid off a water cooler, adapt a pump out hose to the lid, then run the hose to the deck fitting that already exist on my boat. This would save me from lugging around a porta potti waste container. It's amazing how many decisions one must make before setting out to float in the ocean.

[Minggat]

Thread drift alert.

I removed my marine head and replaced it with a porta potty because I wasn't willing to put up with all that goes along with the conventional marine toilets. That was 12 years ago, with two of us living aboard full time for 4 years of that. My point is, you can get along pretty well with a porta potty. Secret is, use shoreside facilities as much as possible. You'd be surprised how seldom you need to empty the little holding tank.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by jordansname

if i'm holding it onboard for pump out, does the holding vessel matter?

Don't try and get cute and split hairs with the regulations. No one is going to believe that a full time liveaboard is in full compliance of the holding tank rules by using a porta-potty. Doing so will only peak the suspicions of the local authorities, and make your stay miserable. Besides, You would be making a trip to shore once per day just to dump the thing. And, where are you going to dump it? The pump out docks don't have any facility to dump the contents of your porta potty.


If you are going to live aboard, get a real toilet and a real holding tank with proper valves and fittings to comply with the rules.

Most Harbors in SoCal are No Discharge Zones.

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by doug86

Don't try and get cute and split hairs with the regulations. No one is going to believe that a full time liveaboard is in full compliance of the holding tank rules by using a porta-potty. Doing so will only peak the suspicions of the local authorities, and make your stay miserable. Besides, You would be making a trip to shore once per day just to dump the thing. And, where are you going to dump it? The pump out docks don't have any facility to dump the contents of your porta potty.


If you are going to live aboard, get a real toilet and a real holding tank with proper valves and fittings to comply with the rules.

Most Harbors in SoCal are No Discharge Zones.

?????

uhhh... I do believe my post above covered that.

At the risk of sounding indignant, there's room to think outside of the box here. And human waste can go in the human waste receptacle (toilet).

I removed my "real toilet" by choice and I've never regretted it. When time allows, I will be installing a composting head because I will never tolerate a "real toilet" again.

Even with 3 aboard sailing for 12 days on the passage to the Sea of Cortez, we didn't need to empty the holding tank every day. Maybe twice the whole trip if I remember. And it wasn't full when we did empty it.

[jordansname]

Originally Posted by doug86

Don't try and get cute and split hairs with the regulations. No one is going to believe that a full time liveaboard is in full compliance of the holding tank rules by using a porta-potty. Doing so will only peak the suspicions of the local authorities, and make your stay miserable. Besides, You would be making a trip to shore once per day just to dump the thing. And, where are you going to dump it? The pump out docks don't have any facility to dump the contents of your porta potty.


If you are going to live aboard, get a real toilet and a real holding tank with proper valves and fittings to comply with the rules.

Most Harbors in SoCal are No Discharge Zones.

Regulations are part of the deal, and I'm doing whatever is necessary to make my budget and dreams fit within those regulations. The laws are clear that dumping sewage overboard within a US Harbor is illegal, however trying not to spend a few hundred dollars on a marine head and holding tank setup is still legal. Making a shore trip once a day sounds great to me, and I doubt I'll need to take my porta potti tank with me each time... morning visits to the coffee shop for some internet and a bathroom visit should go a long ways towards making my dream a reality.

[doug86]

Sorry Minggat, our posts passed in the night and I hadn't seen your when I clicked Post.

Wouldn't it be great if there was room to think outside the box in the USA? I see your boat is in Mexico, where the choices of waste disposal are so much more than they are in the harbors of Southern Calif; the topic of this thread.

I lived and worked in SoCal harbors (including two summers as a harbor patrol at the Isthmus of Catalina) and the officials aren't real tolerant of "outside the box" solutions. There is no where on Catalina that you can dump a porta potty (or there wasn't), nor are there facilities to do that at most mainland pump-out docks.

While the porta potty is technically within the Federal holding tank rules, the issue is how does one empty it? You see, the Federal rules also dictate what happens to the contents of the tank, not just its construction. Instead of exploiting a loophole in the onboard equipment standards, the porta potty creates a disposal nightmare for it's user in Southern California.

[Minggat]

OK.

As I said in post 17, Avalon Harbor Patrol had no problem with mine. I guess I'm stuck at why someone would be looking for a porta potty dumping facility. That's a toilet, not a sucker hose, or a concrete pit with a big drain.

yes, my boat is in Mexico, now. It wasn't always.

[zeehag]

in san diego bay, one is allowed to remain on hook in anchorage 9, used to be known as cruisers anchorage, for 90 days MAX only if from out of san diego county. see the police at the cop dock for permit-- 30 days, renewable 2 more times. goood luck. after that-- go to mexico-- there is NO anchoring in ensenada. yo MAY anchor in todos los santos or any other place in mexico, but not in enseanda.
smooth sailing and fair winds.
dump your porta potti in any public toilet... is legal . as long as ye dont
perv a kid, public toilets are fair game.

i made it from san diego to mazatlan..LOL......

[Minggat]

How to empty a porta potty holding tank.

Remove it from the head and place in black trash bag so you won't have to answer questions on your way to the restrooms.

Take it to shoreside restrooms and deposit contents in human waste receptacle.

Return to boat and reinstall.

[jordansname]

Originally Posted by zeehag

in san diego bay, one is allowed to remain on hook in anchorage 9, used to be known as cruisers anchorage, for 90 days MAX only if from out of san diego county. see the police at the cop dock for permit-- 30 days, renewable 2 more times. goood luck. after that-- go to mexico-- there is NO anchoring in ensenada. yo MAY anchor in todos los santos or any other place in mexico, but not in enseanda.
smooth sailing and fair winds.
dump your porta potti in any public toilet... is legal . as long as ye dont
perv a kid, public toilets are fair game.

I figure anchorage 9 will be my last anchorage before leaving for mexico, somewhere around aug, sept, oct. Do you have any knowledge of how fast this anchorage fills up during those months? I read it has a 20 vessel capacity.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Minggat

How to empty a porta potty holding tank.

Remove it from the head and place in black trash bag so you won't have to answer questions on your way to the restrooms.

Take it to shoreside restrooms and deposit contents in human waste receptacle.

Return to boat and reinstall.

Don't forget clothes peg for nose.... they really do guff after a coupla days...

[zeehag]

as for incoming into a-9--- i would get ther ewhen i can and go for it---it is during the cruising season when the place fills to capacity, and most snotties dislike the currents therw, s 2 anchors are recommended-- before the nazi bs, i spent 4 yrs there boatsitting--lol--- ask away-- goood luck for getting a place-- the favor is to the cruiser, so that be you--- fair winds....
btw-- make the 2 anchors-- one from s and one nw so all wind directions of import are covered-- might be able to get away with only one is set from NW for until windy season in dec-feb. make a V shape from bow, and donot allow to swing in full circle-- i swung in a vee shape for a long time sans dragging-- many do drag there--is a currnt thing. watch and be aware.