It's not an indelicate topic at all Rachel. As it happens, I used to guide raft trips on the Main Salmon mid-70s through mid-80s, and we used a big ammo box with a seat jerry-rigged for comfort. The Boombox (http://www.eco-safe.net/) is set up to wash out like a camper or RV toilet, but I use bio-degradable Wag bag human waste disposal kits (http://www.wagbags.com/) inside the box rather than contaminate the container. I buy the bags at an outdoor-type store in my area. They are a bit pricy, about 3 bucks a pop, but they're good for a few days. I just twist the bag closed with a wire tie after each use, push the bag down into the box and secure the screw-on lid. The bags are bio-degradable, which means you can drop them into a vault toilet or a dumpster or our your neighbor's trash can legally. Each bag has a powder inside that gels the waste. It works well. Of course you have to set it up (a minute maybe) and break it down after use, but that's easy. t Tom Smith & Jane VanWinkle M15/345--Chukar M17/496--Unnamed -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Rachel Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 8:16 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Galley of Jtb Hi Tom,
I carry a portable crapper called a boom box rather than the potti that came with the M15... We use it for extended whitewater trips on rivers were carrying out all waste is a requirement...
I'd like to hear more about this (sorry if it's a bit indelicate...). I've been considering the simple bucket for my next boat (not a Monty, but still space-challenged and the head is in some prime real estate right now). I was remembering back to my whitewater days, during which I took a raft-supported trip down the Salmon River and we used 5-gallon buckets. We used some sort of mixture (lime?) that we sprinkled in to the bucket between uses and it actually wasn't too hideous. I mean, the first person to use the bucket has it just fine, but assuming you can't immediately jettison the contents, then what? This powder kind of ... stabilized things since in that case we actually had to use each bucket until it was full. Of course a smaller container would be much better for a small boat with one or two people on it... So, I'm curious to know more about the boom box, and also if you use the powder I remember and what was it, actually? I never knew. In the case of the river trips (in case anyone's still reading ;-), we had to pack *everything* out, so we just used the buckets until they were full, then put the lid on and ran a bead or two of duct tape around the joint between lid and bucket, just for extra security. Then we started a new bucket... And to think I was writing about ice cream and 20-year-old port just yesterday :-) --- R. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
On Aug 19, 2005, at 11:02 AM, Tom Smith wrote:
It's not an indelicate topic at all Rachel. As it happens, I used to guide raft trips on the Main Salmon mid-70s through mid-80s, and we used a big ammo box with a seat jerry-rigged for comfort.
Tom, Thanks so much for the info - much appreciated. Timely, too, as I had just been thinking "Hmm, maybe I'll have to look online to see what river runners are doing these days." Coincidentally, it was the Main fork of the Salmon that I ran, back in ... must have been 1986 or so. Back when I bent instead of breaking ;-) Must've been around the same time you were guiding. It was a fun trip - I'd never been on a raft-supported trip before, so it felt like we were living in the lap of luxury. Plus we could bring non-kayaking friends/spouses along as well, so they could see what we were so into. We had two smallish oar-rigged rafts that a couple of local (Minnesota) guides brought along and rowed. I tried rowing one through a smallish rapid. Wow, those babies are hefty! You really have to plan ahead... Funny memory of that trip: There was a big hubbub at the put-in, and as it turned out (when we got a glimpse of her) Brooke Shields was taking a rafting trip down with a commercial company at the same time we were going. Talk about not roughing it! Every day a phalanx of jet boats would zoom past us down the river (while Brooke and entourage rafted down at a more sedate pace) and by the time we got to the first really great campsite there they'd be, all set up with real tables and chairs, shade umbrellas - and of course the tents all ready to just step into. Oh, and there were steaks sizzling on the grill, and the tables were laden with fresh fruit, icy beverages, etc. We'd paddle on to a reasonably good campsite further down, and then, tired but happy, get out our much more camping-like provisions to make dinner before setting up our tents... Of course all the women in our group had *two* eyebrows, and no one worried about breaking a nail... ;-) We had a great time. I wonder what sort of "bathroom" set up *they* had though? --- R.
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Rachel -
Tom Smith