posted January 09, 2004 11:27 AM            

Here are some pictures of the completed installation in ShortWave.
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b343ed1005d8

I used a power jigsaw to carve out the fiberglass to accommodate the Thetford MSD portapotty. There are two models...only the smaller 10 Litre one will fit.
http://www.c-mesales.com/index.html?target=p_445.html&lang=en-us

The hardest part was carving out the excess foam inside the cavity. I replaced the pump out hose and vent hose as well. The vent hose is reinforced clear plastic and the pump out hose is smooth white stuff...especially made to be odour impermeable for holding tank installations.
http://www.tridentmarine.com/stage/sanitation.htm

The vent is on the side of the hull and I installed a new metal pump out deck fitting beside the old plastic one on deck. All joints are double clamped with all stainless gear clamps.

The job took a whole weekend one spring. The edges of the fiberglass cutouts are lined with split foam tubing that's available for insulating copper water pipes. There'a a slot in the front for the flush handle and as you can see it from the pictures it was trimmed in teak.

The bottom bracket securing the removable body of the head is screwed to a 1-3/4 inch pressure-treated plank....about 8 X 12 The plank was epoxied to the hull.

I hook up the hoses to the holding tank to the barbs, then fit the lower tank to the mating plastic clips on the plank. Then the rest of the head assembly is lowered on to the tank and the locking slide on the head's backside secured.

The foam gasket around the perimeter of the hole that you have cut prevents pinching when using the head (if you know what I mean :-p )

It's fun to sit on the can with your head sticking out the fore hatch while looking around innocently in an anchorage....no one will ever know what you're up to, just don't try this at Ontario Place Marina !

Use only easy dissolving toilet paper available from the camping section in Canadian Tire! A roll fits neatly inside a large plastic peanut butter container....keeps it dry. We keep a pump container of that hand washing alcohol gel stuff to sanitize our hands when there's no soap & water available......

------------------
"Never be afraid to try something new: Professionals built the Titanic
And amateurs built the Ark."

posted January 13, 2004 04:38 PM            

This is a great update mod, that I would like to do to my Sandpiper. To take it a step further, I'd like to add some sort of privacy curtain to slide across when using the head. Thanks for sharing Ken.

Eric

posted January 16, 2004 10:31 AM            

Our privacy screen was "Everyone out of the boat, I need the head!!!"

Installing a MSD (Marine Sanitation Device) with any thru hull discharge capability at all may be illegal in the maritimes, and is certainly illegal anywhere on the inland waterways of Canada.

It's also illegal to have a portapottie installed in your boat without a permanently installed pumpout system. The logic here is that there's a good chance that, when the tank is full, many people might be tempted to just pour it out when no one's around.

By the way, a MSD is any container used to hold human waste on a boat. A bucket on a 12 ft fishing skiff can be used as a MSD. It's perfectly legal (but pretty gauche) to eliminate waste while swimming, or to pee over the side (if you don;t get charged for indecent exposure) but it's illigal to dump a bucket of urine over the side in inland waters or inshore areas of Canadian or US seas. That's defined as overboard discharge of a MSD.

A great resource on this odious subject is a website run by Peggy Hall, "The Headmistress"
http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/menu.tpl?fno=31

posted January 16, 2004 10:49 AM         

Living aboard has twisted your sense of entertainment and your taste in personal reading materials.

It is time to get on the hard (whiskey).

Have you been to the boat show?