Huh? Re: [Rhodes22-list] Exploding Porta Potties

[Bill Effros]

Mary Lou,

I've got a SeaLand from West Marine because that's all they had, but 
when I Googled SeaLand I got this hit--

http://www.sealandgov.com/

Even Herb is gonna like this one...

Bill Effros



Mary Lou Troy wrote:

> Bill,
> All I can say is you have way too complicated a porta-john.
>
> Ours is a Thetford 135 with a bellows pump and sliding closure a the 
> bottom of the bowl. I've never experienced the pressure build-up you 
> describe but if I suspected it, it would be easy to crack the closure 
> & then flush. Simple, few moving parts and only a 2.6 gallon waste 
> tank - which is why when we empty it every other day I can carry it up 
> the dock.
>
> On the other hand, if we lived on a mooring like you do, we'd have a 
> marine head or plumb the porta-john to a deck pumpout fitting.
>
> Best,
> Mary Lou
> 1991 R22 Fretless
> Ft. Washington, PA / Swan Creek MD
>
> At 11:12 AM 11/21/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>
>> Maybe it's a "get the new-guy" thing, but the Porta-Potty advocates 
>> never seem to mention that Porta-Potties can blow out in your 
>> face--repeatedly.
>>
>> I developed plumbing problems with my marine head (which is terrific 
>> and completely odor-free when working properly) owing to barnacle 
>> build up on the inlet side.  On the advice of this list, I decided to 
>> switch over to a Porta Potty this year, which I planned to eventually 
>> plumb into the rest of my marine head system.  Luckily the project 
>> was more complex, and launch time too short, so my boat went to sea 
>> with just a standard Porta-Potty.
>>
>> I have mentioned this before--as far as I'm concerned, the best 
>> feature of a Rhodes-22 is that a man can make a pee while standing up 
>> with no risk of falling overboard.
>>
>> My first disappointment with the Porta Potty was that the lower 
>> portion is far more bulky than the small marine heads Stan installs, 
>> forcing me to lean into the hatch opening at an off-balance angle.  
>> It wasn't quite as satisfying as the no hands required to hold you 
>> upright position I had grown so accustomed to, but I felt I could 
>> live with it.
>>
>> Then came the big surprise!
>>
>> It was a hot summer day.  Time for a great pee.  I did my business 
>> while surveying a lovely ocean vista.  Now, I know the women in this 
>> crowd will have no sympathy for what happened next...It is impossible 
>> to flush a Porta Potty while standing up, facing forward, with your 
>> upper body protruding through an open hatch.  You must back out of 
>> the head, and, while in this bent-over position, your head mere 
>> inches away from the potty seat, grab the potty handle and pull it 
>> toward you as you exit the enclosure.
>>
>> Did I mention that it was a HOT summer day?
>>
>> Most of you have the picture in your minds by now.  The lower portion 
>> of a Porta Potty is air tight.  That's why you can't smell what's 
>> inside.
>> On a hot summer day, that air expands.  But on a new Porta Potty, it 
>> has no place to go--until you pull that handle!
>>
>> Then it blows your business right into your face which is mere inches 
>> from the seat.
>>
>> Again, I know the women in this crowd are going to say "Just put down 
>> the seat!" but if that advice, which has always been in my best 
>> interest, hasn't always been followed for lo these many years of 
>> marriage, it's not likely to always be followed now, either.
>>
>> I tried to remember to let out the air before pulling the handle when 
>> there was anything in the upper chamber.  But on hot days, the 
>> pressure could build up again, over and over.  I just didn't remember 
>> every time.  (It's the same with the toilet seat--I know I remember 
>> most of the time, but my wife only remembers the splashes in the 
>> middle of the night followed by husband-awakening invective.)
>>
>> After 3 or 4 more explosions I pulled out the Porta Potty, and 
>> replaced it with my old marine head.  Life has been much better ever 
>> since.
>>
>> Let me mention, also, another factor I found daunting in my Porta 
>> Potty experience.  A gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds.  A large 
>> porta potty holds 6 gallons of water.  That's 50 pounds of sloshing 
>> s..............stuff you're walking around with, hoping not to pull 
>> the wrong handle by mistake.
>>
>> My boat is moored 1/2 mile from shore.  The nearest clean out 
>> facility is 1/4 mile from the dock.  My wife didn't take well to the 
>> notion of bringing the tank back home in the back of the car.  Sure, 
>> I could have done it more often, but the clean out procedure is just 
>> as foul as you would imagine it to be, and walking around with 25 
>> pounds of effluent is no picnic, either--especially if you have to do 
>> it twice as often.
>>
>> When I have my boat recycled I'm going to talk to Stan about what 
>> we're going to do next.  Using fresh water on the inlet side of the 
>> head is the best way to go.  It totally eliminates all odors which 
>> are mainly caused by little creatures pulled in with the sea water 
>> that die in the tank.  The tank and pump out systems have always 
>> worked perfectly.  If all I have to do is replace the valves on the 
>> marine head every couple of years, I'll gladly do that maintenance in 
>> exchange for a far preferable marine head system as far as I'm 
>> concerned.
>>
>> Bill Effros
>>
>>
>> William E. Wickman wrote:
>>
>>> Ron, et. al.,
>>> Everyone has an opinion about marine heads vs. porta-pottie, so here is
>>> mine.  When I was first looking at a Rhodes, having a marine head 
>>> was an
>>> important criteria.  At one point, I had considered going the full 
>>> monty; a
>>> marine head with holding tank, macerator, and even an electra-san.
>>> However, after reading the archives and upon further reflection, I 
>>> realized
>>> that the main reason that I wanted one was not for practical 
>>> reasons, but
>>> because it would make me feel more yachty.  The Rhodes is not a 
>>> large boat.
>>> That is what makes it so appealing, because it doesn't have all the big
>>> boat problems.  As I read somewhere else on the list, it seems like 
>>> those
>>> big boat sailors that have marine heads are always having to fix 
>>> something
>>> on them.  Moreover, unless you keep the holding tank empty and 
>>> clean, there
>>> always seems to be an odor.  Simple is good.  I realized that I am not
>>> going to be living on this boat, and the longest that I will 
>>> probably ever
>>> stay out is a week (maybe two if I'm lucky).  90+% of the time I am 
>>> out on
>>> the boat for a day sail or overnighter.  I believe that most Rhodies 
>>> will
>>> confess a similar percentage.  I ended up with a boat that has just the
>>> porta-pottie, and have been very happy with it.  There is zero 
>>> maintenance
>>> with it, and it is very easy to dump anywhere there is a toilet.  
>>> Granted
>>> it is a bit more hands-on than a pumpout, but a porta-pottie is much 
>>> easier
>>> to keep sanitized than a non-removeable holding tank.
>>>
>>> I'll finish with a true story.  I was on vacation during the summer 
>>> of 2004
>>> chartering a 45 foot sailboat in the San Juan Islands.  It was a 
>>> wonderful
>>> trip.  We had just docked for the evening in a marina on San Juan 
>>> Island
>>> and were walking off the docks to town when I saw the skipper of a 
>>> rather
>>> nice yacht in the process of emptying his holding tank into a "honey 
>>> pot".
>>> At this particular marina, they had tanks mounted on wheels with 
>>> electric
>>> pumps that they called honey pots.  It was a self-serve system that 
>>> enabled
>>> you to empty your sewage at your slip without having to go to a 
>>> pump-out
>>> station.  Well, right as we were passing by, something went amiss.  The
>>> hose popped out of the holding tank fitting and drenched the skipper 
>>> who
>>> was bending over the hose fitting.  After everyone around finished 
>>> their
>>> collective Eeeeew, there was a bit of laughter by the small crowd that
>>> always seems to gather around when some such activity as emptying a 
>>> holding
>>> tank is taking place.  It looked just like something out of a 
>>> comedy.  The
>>> skipper didn't think it was very funny though, and proceeded to spew a
>>> string of profanities that required me to clap my hands over my 8 year
>>> old's hears and quickly usher her away.  Moral of the story:  A
>>> porta-pottie will not blow-out in your face.
>>>
>>> Bill W.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>             eroncol at aol.com
>>>             Sent by:
>>>             rhodes22-list-bou To             
>>> nces at rhodes22.org         rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
>>>
>>> cc
>>>             11/18/2005 02:48                                      
>>> Subject             PM                  [Rhodes22-list] thanks for 
>>> replies
>>>
>>>
>>>             Please respond to
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>>>                odes22.org>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi
>>> Ed K., I do exist.  Been busy and not always near a computer.   
>>> Sorry about
>>> the delay.  Thanks to you, Mary Lou, Steve Hemphill and Russell 
>>> Miller for
>>> your responses.
>>> I live in Wynnewood, PA, Mary Lou.  I must get hold of your chapter in
>>> "Sailing Small."   Thanks for the references Ed.  I will look at 
>>> them.  I
>>> already see abut the differing opinions, answers and facts,  though 
>>> each of
>>> you say newer is better.  Actually that is true of your comments re 
>>> boat
>>> and motor.
>>> I've used marine head but never have used a porta-potti. Seems there 
>>> are
>>> differences of opinion both about enclosed head and about porta-potti
>>> versus marine head.  Why prefer the porta-potti?  I assume as Ed 
>>> says, that
>>> this may be in the archives.   I will look.
>>> Looks like I've got some thinking to do.  And some talking to Stan.
>>>                               Ron Coleman
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