I saw this post by Jon Eisenberg over at the CSBB forum ( SailboatOwners.com - Latest forum activity ) where he posts from time to time. I've actually been lurking about over there for longer then I have at sailnet so I have come to really enjoy Jon Eisenberg's posts. He is a delivery captain who has written a few articles that have been published in Cruising World and has been for many years. This post is typical in it's honesty, depth of detail and sense of humor.
Having said that, does anyone want to install electric heads that require fresh water for flushing on their boats or any of the other 'fancy' products that did not work so well for them?
Jon also posted about the recent sailboat rescue just below Block Island. He was as incredulous as the rest of us were at this story Inconceivable, that someone would have departed Narragansett Bay yesterday, bound for Puerto Rico... (pic)
The irony is that he has taken his own 30+ foot sailboat down to the islands and seems to like leaving the NJ coast in the Dec/Jan time frame. He seems to be able to do it single handed without setting off his EPIRB.
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"The cure for anything is salt water~ sweat, tears, or the sea." ~Isak Denesen
There is a big lure for fresh water flush...smell! And the mixture of salt water and urine can clog up hoses pretty quick. The toilet did not cause the watermaker and genset to quit but they are interdependant.
The simple solution would be for a diverter valve to allow seawater flush if fresh water became scarce and a manual flush toilet to lessen the demand for electricity.
I was suprised by the number of failures and design flaws on such an expensive boat.
Having said that, does anyone want to install electric heads that require fresh water for flushing on their boats or any of the other 'fancy' products that did not work so well for them?
My wife pointed out how ridiculous this was, and I had to explain to her what a " dinghy garage" was. Her comment was: "So the only thing between you and a heavy following sea is a gasket and a hinge? Sounds idiotic!"
There is a big lure for fresh water flush...smell! And the mixture of salt water and urine can clog up hoses pretty quick.
Yes, but you can fix this with vinegar rinses, periodic disassembly of the hoses and "beating" the salts out of them and so on.
To my mind, the simplicity of sea water flushing of a manual head beats the complexity, expense and power requirements of genset, watermaker and "toilet tankage".
A middle course in areas of daily rain (as is the case in much of the tropics) would be to have awnings and gaskets divert water to a "non-potable freshwater tank" from which you could divert water through the sink and head circuit...even the shower. Rainwater is plenty clean enough for this, and usually only requires filtering to get dust from the awning out of it.
One of the reasons I am changing my water tankage from two 100 gallon tanks to four 50 gallon tanks is to keep one tank as "semi-potable" for this kind of thing. But I think of it more as rinse water than drinkable water.
My head can be flushed using the head sink contents. Since I was my hands after using the head, that means I'm not wasting fresh water... and recycling the grey water from the sink. Avoids the mineral deposits and the odor caused by sea life dying in the head.
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Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.
My head can be flushed using the head sink contents. Since I was my hands after using the head, that means I'm not wasting fresh water... and recycling the grey water from the sink. Avoids the mineral deposits and the odor caused by sea life dying in the head.
That's a good idea, too, but I'm not sure if there's enough water in the sink for this.
I have a Lavac...a great unit but it's NOT a "low-flow". Basically, the more arm action you put into it, the better the results. Actually, perhaps that will protect me from the stinkiness...the fact that it's a "pressure wash" with every use!
EDIT: You reminded me that we are more fastidious on land than on board in some ways. We flush the toilet with water left over from the shower if it's "yellow". A bucket of bath water from a three-foot height gets things moving faster than a flush and keeps the appliance cleaner as well.
I wonder if I can put a gimballed bath on board....?
Seems to work pretty well for me... I just fill the head sink to the top... and then pump it dry using the head... It'd probably work even better with a Lavac.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valiente
That's a good idea, too, but I'm not sure if there's enough water in the sink for this.
I have a Lavac...a great unit but it's NOT a "low-flow". Basically, the more arm action you put into it, the better the results. Actually, perhaps that will protect me from the stinkiness...the fact that it's a "pressure wash" with every use!
__________________
Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.
Seems to work pretty well for me... I just fill the head sink to the top... and then pump it dry using the head... It'd probably work even better with a Lavac.
Jeez...are you HIDING in this thread?
The plumbing is pretty simple, and I was going to rig diverter valves anyway when I put in a sump for a shower, because you can use the Henderson pump as a manual bilge pump.
Avoids the mineral deposits and the odor caused by sea life dying in the head. 
