Installed, but not composting. Yet.

On Friday night after work we drove down to the boat, with the dual objectives of (1) installing the composting head, and (2) 'winterizing' the boat.

The forecast temp for Friday night in Oriental was 25F, the coldest yet this year. After all the cold weather we have been having, we were concerned that the water temps might be cool enough to allow stuff in the boat to freeze. Our winterizing involves setting up the dehumidifier in the head (keeps air a few degrees warmer than ambient) and a temperature-controlled outlet that will turn on a 25W light bulb in the engine compartment and a small electric heater on the floor.

The other job for the weekend was to install the composting head, with the vent and the electricity for the fan. Bob had purchased a whole pile of parts that we might use to connect the compost chamber up to the solar vent in the hatch.

It was cold when we arrived, but the stars (Orion and the Milky Way) were beautiful. We first removed the inflatable kayak we have been stowing in the cabin. Given the water temps, we later decided it was time to put the kayak up for the winter. We might still get it out if the weather is nice, but chances are slim that we will use it often. We set up the two electric heaters, put the extra blankets on the beds, and settled in for the night.

Bob, as usual, was up early getting the parts out of the car for the installation. The base he had made out of starboard was perfect, and after a quick test to make sure we could get the top off (necessary to empty both the liquid and solids tanks), he installed the toilet. Then we started working on the routing of the vent hose from the toilet to the solar fan, which is mounted in the lexan of the cast bomar overhead hatch.

Our head is very small, and to get the door to open fully we had to raise the toilet 1.5inches and turn it slightly sideways. We had a similar issue with the vent. Bob attached some kind of plumbing piece to the vent, then a pvc elbow, but he had to sand the bottom of the elbow a bit so the door would close! Eventually, with a combination of flexible hose and rigid pvc it was all connected. Of course, we have only an intake fan blade for the solar vent, so it's still not quite usable. Bob also connected the small fan in the toilet base to our 12v system so we can use that fan if the other doesn't work all the time.

We cleaned up, set up the heater, and when we come back with the right fan blade we'll be all set.