toilet talk

[Chinook92]

i just bought a 50 foot Ed Monk schooner rigged for commercial fishing in southeast alaska, and am starting out on my own fishing enterprise... but there are a few things on the boat that need updating.

the head situation is that there isnt one, you get a 5 gallon bucket on deck, and my crew is all female, so you see where this one is going

now being an inspected vessel, i get to have the lovely visits from the coast guard every so often and they are very particular about the way things need to be done as far as marine sanitation.

the boat doesnt have a holding tank, no head plumbing whatsoever, the head is just a shower stall at this rate, but id like to actually have it function as a bathroom.

my first thoughts is a composting toilet, and then next an electric incinerator but being in the shower im not sure how well that would work. i have an 8kw generator down below so i can make plenty of power, but not sure if this is the right application for an incinerator

the advantage to the composting heads is that there isnt a holding tank or overboard valves to get harassed by the coastguard about, cuz theyll ding ya if theye even think youre pumping overboard, even though everybody does, i feel like putting in an actual marine toilet is just asking to be harassed, plus i dont have space for a holding tank. under the head is the downstairs stateroom, or the 'basement" as i call it and i dont want a tank next to my bed

id love to hear some input on this subject.

[Chotu]

I’d run these ideas pro/con past the ladies.

No matter what we discuss here, it’s what they want ultimately that you’ll need to do.

Mine didn’t enjoy the composting head much due to having to separate #1 and #2.

I thought it was great, however.

There is always also the option of a simple porta potty. A little more work for you, but they might like it better.

Definitely present them with all of the options. And make sure you stress how stinky that tank might be by the sleeping area.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Chotu

There is always also the option of a simple porta potty. A little more work for you, but they might like it better.

There's another system, I think still called a "Traveler" or some such -- possibly acquired by Dometic along with everything else they've grabbed...

Imagine it as a large (9-gal) not-really-portable version of a porta-potty. Bombsight. Plumb it to a dockside pump-out fitting on deck. No additional holding tank required. Since there's no water added during flushes, the 9-gal capacity is actually quite decent.

They can also be plumbed for overboard pump-out for use in water where legal...

-Chris

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by ranger58sb

There's another system, I think still called a "Traveler" or some such -- possibly acquired by Dometic along with everything else they've grabbed...

Imagine it as a large (9-gal) not-really-portable version of a porta-potty. Bombsight. Plumb it to a dockside pump-out fitting on deck. No additional holding tank required. Since there's no water added during flushes, the 9-gal capacity is actually quite decent.

They can also be plumbed for overboard pump-out for use in water where legal...

-Chris

Oh yeah. That’s a pretty good one. I have seen that as well. It’s like a real head with a tank just below. Works more like an RV. Just drops straight into the tank.

Makes a lot of logical sense because you don’t have plumbing.

[Chinook92]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’d run these ideas pro/con past the ladies.

No matter what we discuss here, it’s what they want ultimately that you’ll need to do.

Mine didn’t enjoy the composting head much due to having to separate #1 and #2.

I thought it was great, however.

There is always also the option of a simple porta potty. A little more work for you, but they might like it better.

Definitely present them with all of the options. And make sure you stress how stinky that tank might be by the sleeping area.

forgot to mention, i dont think there is a pumpout station in town..... might be at the fuel dock but ive never noticed one, havent looked because this is a commercial fishing town and the yacht scene is next to nonexistant but this is a work boat were talking about not a toy

my boat has a 6000 mile fuel range, packs 20,000lbs of fish, 500 gallon domestic water tank.... its a boat meant for going out and staying out.... it would be very rare to do short day trips, shortest trip would be a week at a time

[JPA Cate]

How much urine and feces will you have to store? You haven't said what the total # of crew is. You can probably get average human production figures out of Wikipedia. Then you can work out the weight and volume, and you'll want a safety margin--what if someone gets diarrhea? or the flu travels in with the crew?

I would not think overboard discharge would be a big deal way offshore, millions of tons of water for dilution, but the less oxygen your fishing waters contain, the more of a legal problem it will be. Tell us the water protection laws, and maybe the more scientific of the guys will be able to help you.

Part of your discussion with your all female crew may need to cover bonus reduction if you have to pay huge amounts of space as well as money to get your boat to conform to local regulations for commercial fishermen. If the boat's been run with an all female crew before, there may well be women who will accept the conditions in return for more $$.

Ann

[Chinook92]

well, my liferaft is a SOLAS Class-A 4 man, so thats indication to how many im willing to take, my partner and her kid, and another friend will primarily be crew.... they are bucket trained but who wants to go outside to use the bucket in a squall.....

[Dockhead]

People have different priorities and sensitivities, so you'll have to make up your own mind. There are many different solutions, each with its own pluses and minuses.

FWIW, I personally would never store human waste on board except in a well ventilated holding tank, and even then only when necessary.

I can use but strongly dislike manually operated marine toilets which can discharge directly overboard or into a holding tank as selected.

For my boat, only electric macerating marine toilets. Electric ones have huge advantages -- even non-sailor guests will be able to pump through enough water to keep the lines clean without nagging; and maceration on the spot dramatically decreases the risk of clogs. Also much better for the marine environment.

Among electric toilets you have your choice of cheap and expensive ones. The cheap ones have a single small motor for discharge and supply, usually integrated into the base, and are noisy. The expensive ones have a separate large discharge motor which operates for a short period of time for each flush, and so are much quieter. These are normally used with a central seawater pressure pump, or with fresh water.

The fresh water ones smell better and eliminate calcification in the discharge lines -- caused by the chemical interaction of urine and seawater. But of course use up your fresh water.

To avoid storing waste in a holding tank and worrying about pumpouts, you can, in U.S. waters at least, use an on-board treatment device like a LectraSan etc. (everywhere except no-discharge zones). We had one on our previous boat and it was a real boon. Somewhat troublesome according to some reports, but we never had any problems with ours, and the obnoxious toilet police in Florida always smiled and departed as soon as we told them we had one -- a real get out of harassment free card.

Some people swear by their composting toilets. I recognize they have a lot of pluses -- among which being impossible to clog or break are pure gold -- but not on my boat! To each his own!

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Chinook92

i just bought a 50 foot Ed Monk schooner rigged for commercial fishing in southeast alaska, and am starting out on my own fishing enterprise... but there are a few things on the boat that need updating.

the head situation is that there isnt one, you get a 5 gallon bucket on deck, and my crew is all female, so you see where this one is going

now being an inspected vessel, i get to have the lovely visits from the coast guard every so often and they are very particular about the way things need to be done as far as marine sanitation.

the boat doesnt have a holding tank, no head plumbing whatsoever, the head is just a shower stall at this rate, but id like to actually have it function as a bathroom.

my first thoughts is a composting toilet, and then next an electric incinerator but being in the shower im not sure how well that would work. i have an 8kw generator down below so i can make plenty of power, but not sure if this is the right application for an incinerator

the advantage to the composting heads is that there isnt a holding tank or overboard valves to get harassed by the coastguard about, cuz theyll ding ya if theye even think youre pumping overboard, even though everybody does, i feel like putting in an actual marine toilet is just asking to be harassed, plus i dont have space for a holding tank. under the head is the downstairs stateroom, or the 'basement" as i call it and i dont want a tank next to my bed

id love to hear some input on this subject.

Legally a bucket is a holding tank.

You can pee/poop over the rail and legally you're fine. You can't do it in a bucket then dump the bucket.