[capta]

Ours is 6" above the water under the overhang aft, aft and above the rudder. It is placed so that nothing can run down the hull, (facing the water) but there is no resistance from the water, either.

 

[capta]

The head on my boat is just behind the v-berth. It would be a long run to dump black water at the rear of the boat. Are long runs of tubing like this OK to do?

No, I certainly wouldn't do a long run like that unnecessarily.
Sorry, that is for the aft head; I wasn't thinking of a forepeak head.

 

[capta]

Another option would be a system to pump the tank while at sea via the deck pump out fitting what boat is it and what is the current head and tank installation here are a couple ideas that would in my opinion be better than a hole in the boat

This I would highly recommend against. It would require a much stronger pump (much more expensive) and any foul ups would spread sewage all over the deck.
One boat I worked on used air to pump out the 5 ton holding tank. Close all the inlets to the tank, open the overboard line and start an air compressor. Absolutely fool proof. Best system EVER!

 

[capta]

A compressor is a great idea! I can even envision a manual hand pump, in the event the electric compressor failed. I have a mascerating overboard pump now. If it fails, I'm out of luck. The only down side is needing to get under the floor to close off each of the other hoses each time. Otherwise, you just force the contents back to the heads and out the vent as well.

It was a metal tank and all the valves were in one place except the air line, which was in the engine room with the dual compressors. Each valve handle was painted a different color and there was a similarly colored spot under where the valve handle must be to show absolutely that the valve was closed, or open in the case of the overboard valve. No amount of rum or gin could get me to make a mistake!