Sink on San Juan 21?

[leland515]

I'm planning on doing a good bit of cruising this summer, and I'd like to have a sink with a manual pump, and legal draining system.. for <$200.. Is this reasonable?
It doesn't have to be very big, I just need something legal and relatively nice looking.
Ideas?

[bobmcgov]

My word. Not sure it's ever been done. This is a boat without sitting headroom! Some people have set a removable sink basin in the various liner bulges, but I've never seen a seacock or thru hull or holding tank on one. Why bother? You're roughly 3' away from a roomy cockpit, which itself is 14" above the lake/sea/ocean. We wash dishes by holding them over the side.

I'd recommend one of those collapsible sinks used for rafting: When it's not on sink duty, ours acts as a spinnaker turtle! About $15. A heavy-duty rubber feed bucket is another option. These work as bailers, and in a pinch you can tie your kedge to it and huck it off the stern as a storm drogue.

Never seen a fixed head on a SJ21, either. It's a PortaPotti-with-knees-under-your-chin kind of boat.

[tommays]

I have a sink on the J24 with the hand pump and 5 gallon tank that has and above waterline drain

Its built into the boat pretty nice with a molded to fit tank and its a nice place to brush the teeth and was your hands after using the head

Of course your doing that on your knees

[catamount]

The cockpit footwell already has a drain into the keel trunk. What more do you need?

I don't think there's anything about sink drains on boats that makes them legal or illegal, although that may depend on where you're cruising.

The legalities really come into play when you start talking about toilets on boats. For an SJ21, a "porta-potty" is gonna be your best bet. I have one of these on my SJ21...

[tager]

In Washington it is legal to discharge grey water, just not things that come out of your body. So a sink can be run out of a normal thru hull. I am pretty sure that there is a cockpit drain on a SJ21 so just tap into that if available. I wouldn't worry about having hand pumped water, the hand pumps are dumb because you can't use your hand while pumping. Go for a foot pump, or just stuff the whole thing and put one of those camping water bags so that it drains into the sink. You can install a sink pretty cheap if you are handy, a deep plastic container works great. The most expensive part is the sink drain hardware with a plug and strainer.

[tager]

Two buckets can't be beat for simplicity... just use good judgment.

[leland515]

I was thinking of using a medium sized stainless steel bowl as the basin, drilling a hole in the center for a drain, and mounting a pump to flow into it. I would mount all this on the raised fiberglass box in the cabin, most likely. I found an automatic pump for pretty cheap, would probably want to use that; it would actually be simpler to use than to consume more space with a footpump.

I'm going to use this boat as a cruiser for me alone, will not be having guests on it overnight, I take friends out for sails but they will probably never spend the night. Most of my friends have their own boat anyways.

I'll be using a porta-potti like you've suggested, also- just wanted an easy to use sink/way to get water from my tanks I plan on installing (10-15gal)

[leland515]

Originally Posted by tager

In Washington it is legal to discharge grey water, just not things that come out of your body. So a sink can be run out of a normal thru hull. I am pretty sure that there is a cockpit drain on a SJ21 so just tap into that if available. I wouldn't worry about having hand pumped water, the hand pumps are dumb because you can't use your hand while pumping. Go for a foot pump, or just stuff the whole thing and put one of those camping water bags so that it drains into the sink. You can install a sink pretty cheap if you are handy, a deep plastic container works great. The most expensive part is the sink drain hardware with a plug and strainer.

Plug and strainer??
Why not just a tub plug, $1 at the dollar store, and a mesh plug to catch debris?

[mitiempo]

leland
Here's a pic of a sink cabinet mounted on a bit larger boat (26') but its location allows standing in the companionway to use it. This boat has a flush deck so probably not much more headroom than yours. Might be an idea.

[leland515]

I like it...
What parts did you use in it?