Yes, 'tis indelicate, but a welcome discussion among users of very small boats. The Folkboat Chimpanzee II has a bucket with a toilet seat on top. Even before I got the boat in the water, I bought a nice chemical head. I didn't get around to installing it, so I used the bucket all last Fall. NOW, I think I'm going to keep using the bucket. It's convenient and clean. The formula is to dip some water into the bucket, then pour in a slug of the same head chemical you use in the porta-potties. When you're done, overboard it goes, discreetly. The bucket tends to stay perfectly clean, but it has a lid, anyway. At age 33 I'm probably more environmentally conscious than most. But I and other "green" people I know have no compunction about pitching it overboard, as long as you're not in a crowded anchorage where people might be swimming, etc. (On the Chesapeake, anchorages like that tend to be near places with marinas and their free heads and showers. I go ashore there.) I stopped worrying about the issue years ago, when an environmentalist friend pointed out the quantity of unfiltered waste that went into the water courtesy of the Canadian geese who make the Chesapeake their home. If I ever get a bigger boat (god forbid) with a holding tank, I do think that's an even better solution, as pump-out stations are available everywhere these days. Cheers, John
On Aug 19, 2005, at 11:37 AM, JazzYachts@aol.com wrote:
Yes, 'tis indelicate, but a welcome discussion among users of very small boats.
You're right, it's a great discussion. I probably shouldn't have worried about offending anyone; after all, this is one issue everyone has in common. Funny thing though - even out cruising it seemed to be something that wasn't discussed until you really got to know someone. Even religion and politics came first! Silly, really, considering the fact that it will not be ignored for even one day :-) Thanks for piping in. BTW, the boat I'm on the fence over (but maybe I've already decided, deep down - you know how that is) is pretty similar to a Folkboat, dimension-wise - I just looked it up the other day for comparison (Rhodes Meridian, by the way, out in your neck of the woods). One big difference is that it doesn't have a transom-hung rudder - but I wish it did. In compensation, I can just stand up below in the saloon. It has an ancient marine head below, right smack under the center of the V-berth. All kinds of scary looking old hoses, and no holding tank. It does have a lot of keen looking bronze cylinders, plungers, levers, and the like though :-) --- Rachel
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JazzYachts@aol.com -
Rachel