One of the first questions everybody asks when they find out we live on a boat is "Where do you go to the bathroom?" It seems like an odd question, but one that has taken much time and effort to come to terms with. Marine toilets, or as the U.S. Coast Guard calls them, Marine Sanitation Devices (MSD's), are possessed by the devil.

We take the 'No Dumping' rule seriously and have installed a Lectrasan to handle that problem. We have friends who are diligent about visiting the pump-out station. Prior to installing the Lectrasan we found that our holding tanks were always full at the most inconvenient times. The Lectrasan, although a bear to install, makes life aboard much easier and certainly sweeter smelling. The only downfall of the Lectrasan is that it doesn't work in fresh water. When we travel to the Delta, we have to carry a bucket of salt and use it liberally every time we flush. Some river boaters even have automatic salters installed to eliminate the problem.

Does this subject make you blush? I hope not, because all of us are in the same boat. MSDs are a part of boating and when they don't work correctly, can be a royal pain.

Sweetie did a fabulous job on installing the third, and hopefully final head, in our old trawler. It's actually the least expensive head that West Marine has to offer - a manual Jabsco. So far, so good. The second head we tried was a manual La Vac. It was installed after the original electric head crapped out while we were on vacation. Sweetie loved the push-button convenience of the electric head, but wasn't willing to go into debt to replace it. The La Vac refused to work in conjunction with the Lectrasan system, and after a frustrating few weeks, was sent to that big Dumpster in the sky. Talk about throwing money down the toilet! At least we will never have to worry about another vacation being ruined by a balky toilet. During the project Captain Sweetie pulled out all of the old plywood that surrounded the "˜throne' and replaced it with easy to clean, heavy-duty plastic. He also replaced all of the hoses, valves and fittings so that we basically have all new plumbing.

 

Don't you think that a nice, hard working guy like Sweetie deserves something better than to spend his vacation buried in the head? Maybe next year...

Kim Haworth is an active boater who lives on board and spends every free weekend on San Francisco Bay.