Keeping the wenches and winches happy

Bob really tries to keep me happy with the boat. I think I'm perfectly reasonable, have only safety in mind, and never ask for more than we can afford. Bob...well, he sees things a little differently.

This last weekend we spent another work day at the boat, servicing the main halyard winch, taking the two mast winches off (not trivial), calibrating the tachometer (ick). Once these jobs were finished, we discussed which job would be next. Previously, we had decided that we needed a larger holding tank, and the easy thing (Bob's idea of easy, not mine) would be to build our own holding tank. In addition,there was something smelly on board...

The holding tank it was.

We cleaned out the vberth (aka the garage), opened up the storage area that keeps the holding tank out of way, and yes, discovered the source of the smell. At some time recently, the holding tank had...exploded. Probably because it was overfull, the seal on the clean out had...uh, was...uh, it was disgusting.

We took out the holding tank. Cleaned up the mess in the vberth. Dropped the holding tank in the trash at the Boonedocks. And drove home.

Then I got started thinking about pump-outs, lectra-sans, and composting toilets. Technology has failed me: there aren't any good solutions yet. But I checked into the composters, again.

There are composting toilets specifically designed for boats. Typically, they require some electricity to power a vent (though a solar vent can be used). In the words of one user, composters also require the sailor to get 'up close and personal' with their excrement. The plusses are (1) no pump outs, (2) no through hulls, (3) nothing to leak or clog, (4) no smelly creek water in the system (a big part of our smelly head problem is due to the creek water we use for flushing). The minuses are (1) no pump outs, (2) seeing and living with the poop, (3) dumping the compost when the time comes, (4) dumping the urine bottle frequently (every 2-3 days).

So, envision this. A week long trip through the Pamlico Sound. Composter fills up and we...I don't know. I guess we empty it BEFORE we go. Or this. A three week trip to Bermuda. Composter fills up and we dump it outside the 3 or 6 or 12 mile limit. We dump the urine overboard every other day (be sure you dump it on the leeward side of the boat, please). Once at anchor in St. Georges, we have to sneak our urine bottle into a cloth grocery bag (never again to be used for groceries?) every other day and take it to the public toilets at the visitor's center to pour it into the toilets there. If we are only in Bermuda a week, the composter will be fine (actually, it might be fine for the whole three weeks depending on how many of us there are!)

On the Bermuda trip, the alternative with a holding tank is this: dump outside the three mile limit from the US and pump overboard (this is an invisible operation!) every day or two while at sea. While at anchor in St. Georges, we can either hire a pump-out boat (I have yet to find one in St. Georges), go to a dock with a pump-out (I have yet to find one in St. Georges), or go for a day sail every other day out beyond the 12 mile limit to dump the holding tank. Hmmm, not a pretty scenario. Alternatively, we could dump before entering Bermuda waters, dock at the Dinghy Dock and take the 1/4 mile hike to the bathroom (saving the holding tank space for nighttime use only). One week at the dock is about $500. Sigh. No easy answers.