[Public-List] Sail manufacturer and composting toilets

[Kris Coward]

Hi Dwayne,

I've got an Airhead on Candy Cane (#583, so a liner boat), which I use
living aboard.

On the good side, it works well, and the output from the solids tank is
decidedly non-disgusting to have to deal with (which I do by just
putting on some dishwashing gloves, and shoveling the contents into a
compostable kitchen waste bag with a gardening trowel. I have to do this
about 2-4x each year (closer to 2 in years where I've worked at an
office, closer to 4 in years where I've worked from home), which I see
as a considerable improvement over having to pump out the holding tank
for the flush toilet.

On the other hand, I find that I need to empty the liquids tank closer
to weekly (even when I pee off the side of the boat a fair bit), and
that it can leak/spill if overfilled. I find that I tend to empty mine
the night before, or on the day of, any race I might participate in, to
avoid leaks all over my crew's baggage when we heel over too much.

In terms of space, and usability, it's a bit of a tight fit facing
forward in the head (I asked Richard and Margaret from Into The Blue
about their setup and experience before switching over, and they
suggested a fore/aft orientation so that it would continue to work
properly at all angles of heel), and the routing of the vent hose is a
bit unlovely, but I find these are relatively minor problems. Also, when
the solids tank is full, I typically impose a week-long solids
moratorium, so the most recently added solids have time to compost a bit
more before removal (and this moratorium often extends a bit as I
procrastinate on actually emptying the tank), though this probably won't
come up when you're weekending.

If you don't have a garden to use the compost in, most municipal compost
systems accept human waste (e.g. diapers), so it's not that hard to get
rid of solids when the time comes. For liquids, I find that the tank has
enough capacity that pouring it into a shore-based toilet, it causes a
degree of flushing to occur, and the toilet in question often needs to
be flushed twice more before the water looks clear again. There's also
often a bit that drips away while emptying the liquids tank, but that
wipes up easily with a little TP. The old urine kinds stinks too, so
simply pouring it off the back of the boat is something that can only be
done when there's no one around to recognize the smell and get offended
(and only in marine environments that aren't sensitive to having that
much urine added to them all at once).

Another nice point of the composting head is that it allows the use of
normal toilet paper, and I no longer have to worry that I'll clog the
plumbing if I use more than 5 squares at a time. In fact, with a few
exceptions, I can even feel reasonably safe letting visitors use it
(though if the cranking handle is in the wrong position, some of them
can get squeamish about making sure their TP properly goes into the
solids tank, and drop it in such a way that I have to fish it out with a
bent bicycle spoke (that I keep around specifically for this purpose)
before it migrates over to block the liquids tank.

Anyhow, I wouldn't go back to a flush toilet on the boat (even if the
pickups on my holding tank hadn't corroded into uselessness--I must give
proper thanks to whoever made a holding tank with aluminum pickups).

Hope this helps,
Kris

On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 06:35:16PM -0700, Dwayne Back wrote:
> Just thought I would seek feedback as to sources for my current issues.  I am need of a new main sail and looking for recommendation of manufacturer.  I was looking at Peak Sails but then researched online and found all kinds of bad reviews.  I am a cruiser who enjoys good performance, so while I do not need racing sails would prefer ones that perform adequately, but price is obviously a consideration.  Second issue is an appropriate solution for the head, i currently have none.  Mostly a weekender and looking at the composting heads as a solution but would like feedback as to other individuals experiences.
> 
> Thank you,
> Dwayne
> Orion 94
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-- 
Kris Coward					http://unripe.melon.org/
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