How many heads on a mono for couple?

[Suijin]

I don't think I've ever been on a boat shorter than 50' with two heads where one of them didn't end up being storage/wet locker.

I do think there are some people who find the idea of sharing a cramped head with the boat's owners to be an unattractive prospect. I submit that only having one head is an excellent way of weeding out these sorts of people. If they can't share a head with you, the trip is guaranteed to be a nightmare in other, unforeseen respects as well.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I don't think I've ever been on a boat shorter than 50' with two heads where one of them didn't end up being storage/wet locker.

I do think there are some people who find the idea of sharing a cramped head with the boat's owners to be an unattractive prospect. I submit that only having one head is an excellent way of weeding out these sorts of people. If they can't share a head with you, the trip is guaranteed to be a nightmare in other, unforeseen respects as well.

Agreed on both counts. Our previous boat was a 34 ketch that came with two heads (it had a separate aft cabin). First project I did was rip out the one head and convert it to far more useful storage.

I get having multi-heads on large vessels, especially if the intention is for group chartering or teaching. But on modest-sized sailboats meant to be cruised by a couple, it seems a waste of space.

And the guest thing … my take is, I don’t design my boat life around the occasional guest. And any guest that gets invited are good friends/family who well understand the reality of our 37-foot space. We’ve had five on board for weekend stints, and four (one other couple) for over a week. One head did just fine.

[Hudson Force]

We've kept the two heads on our 41' ketch operational without use for storage for 32 years. For the times that our children shard two small cabins aft, they had this aft cabin head and we were at the bow with our own head. Maybe our comfort and use of the two heads was related to not having a walk-through connection between our forward and aft cabin areas.

After our children moved away we still maintained the separate functional heads with their separate holding tanks for guests.

Many seem to prefer the "hallway" connecting the forward and aft cabins of a center cockpit boat, but after nine years on a 33' boat with children, we liked the private separate cabins.

[johnnybago]

Thanks for all your great wisdom. We are in the beginning stages of boat shopping.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by johnnybago

Can a couple cruising on a monohull with occasional guests be comfortable with only one head onboard?

I would suggest that you would be far more comfortable with one head than with none...

[jcapo]

One has sufficed for 37 years living aboard and now its a C-head.

[a64pilot]

Just curious, why does number of hulls matter with number of heads?

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

But occasional guests? They are prone to:

* general fear of doing the wrong thing;

* constipation, the brick-like results of which can destroy a joker valve; and

* not following the right flushing procedure, including depositing things (e.g. 'disposable wipes') that should not be deposited into your marine toilet.

Briefing a guest on procedures yesterday prompted me to return to this thread and add:


Landlubbers, as occasional guests, are prone to:


* not understanding marine toilets require use of (a) only a few squares of (b) toilet paper with little wet strength. My guest referred me to a blog entry he had recently read. I could only suggest in reply that the author of 'Adequate Man' has an inadequate lifestyle not compatible with life aboard - check your perception at: Adequate Man on how many squares of tp to use


* not being aware of the Bristol Stool Scale and not understanding definition of constipation (and need to drink adequate water to balance amount of dietary fibre). See the Bristol Stool Scale (Wikipedia) and aim to produce No. 4.

[thinwater]

When I start worrying about separate heads, I need different friends.

If you have guests, aren't their better uses for the space (bigger cabins)?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Briefing a guest on procedures yesterday prompted me to return to this thread and add:


Landlubbers, as occasional guests, are prone to:


* not understanding marine toilets require use of (a) only a few squares of (b) toilet paper with little wet strength. My guest referred me to a blog entry he had recently read. I could only suggest in reply that the author of 'Adequate Man' has an inadequate lifestyle not compatible with life aboard - check your perception at: Adequate Man on how many squares of tp to use


* not being aware of the Bristol Stool Scale and not understanding definition of constipation (and need to drink adequate water to balance amount of dietary fibre). See the Bristol Stool Scale (Wikipedia) and aim to produce No. 4.

26 sheets? Holy *******, batman! I thought my wife and daughter were bad until I got them trained, but that's just crazy.


And how have I got to this age without being aware of the Bristol stool scale!
BSS 5,6 and 7 would have been very useful in rating the effects of a good curry over the years.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by StuM

BSS 5,6 and 7 would have been very useful in rating the effects of a good curry over the years.

Some versions of the Bristol Stool Scale extend further, to 8, 9 & 10, with the latter three scale points to deal with the products of diets that include significant intake of (ethyl) alcohol, certain chemicals classified as illegal drugs by some, and pesticide formulations (used in some jurisdictions as poisons, including for suicide).

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Some versions of the Bristol Stool Scale extend further, to 8, 9 & 10, with the latter three scale points to deal with the products of diets that include significant intake of (ethyl) alcohol, certain chemicals classified as illegal drugs by some, and pesticide formulations (used in some jurisdictions as poisons, including for suicide).

This puts a new slant upon the old saying " shipshape and Bristol fashion"!

Jim

[daletournier]

I have two heads and two showers, its ridiculous! One shower is getting turned into a dive stuff room and one head (forward) is becoming a sail locker. My house dosent have two heads, why does my boat need two? I survived quite well for seven years with one head and one shower.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[johnnybago]

I appreciate all the great responses and wisdom concerning number of heads needed on a sailboat. Very helpful but with the addition of Bristol Scale we have dug a little deeper than I anticipated. Thanks to all. We ended purchasing a Catalina 42 with 2 heads but our choice was not built on the number of heads onboard.

[Dockhead]

I'd much rather have one heads compartment which is properly sized with a comfortable separate shower and enough room, than two (or three, or like on one ridiculous catamaran I chartered once, even four) tiny, nasty cramped ones like you find on some boats, especially, charter boats.

That being said, two heads are nice if you have enough space on board. I am really glad that I have heads en suite on my boat, with separate (comfortable sized) heads forward for everyone occupying the two cabins forward. I often have 4 or 5 or 6 people on board, and it's really nice not to have to stand in line, wake each other up going to the heads at night, etc.. Also the redundancy is really good to have. I certainly don't make my forward heads into storage or a wet locker (I do have a separate wet locker, however).