The Steamboating Forum

There are some interesting articles in Modern Steam Launches where they mention loos. I like the article about a woman's impression of life on her husbands steamboat during multiday excursions. A chunk of that article talks about going from just a bucket+tarp wrapped around her to a nice head onboard with running water.

1) What is your solution for a Loo on your steam launch?
2) Is it working out for you?

Got this at Dicks sporting goods. It is advertised to fit standard 5 gallon pails... For whatever reason it snaps on a Lowes bucket but not a Home Depot bucket...

Haven't tried it yet, but this is my solution, A bucket is handy on a boat for many uses anyways, I'll have this seat tucked somewhere onboard if the need arises the bucket will commandered...





-CB

"Bucket and chuck it!" Heads have sunk more boats than anything else and they are one of the biggest maintenance headaches afloat. Add to that the expense and the amount of space they take up on board with holding tanks and all and it gets pretty hard to justify them, particularly on small boats where space may be at a premium. And for those so afflicted, many wives won't go out on a boat that doesn't have a potty, which is often one of the greatest advantages of all in not having one! On small boats, I always carry one of those plastic "ducks" the hospitals use to permit bedridden patients to urinate without getting up. They are easy to dump over the side and rinse and are a considerate convenience to provide for those who cannot aim over the side.

I realize there are those who are loathe to discharge their waste directly into the sea, notwithstanding that fish do it, seals do it, whales do it, and, of course your local sewage treatment plant does it whenever the storm drains overflow. I suppose that reservation is justified if you are steaming on the pristine, crystal clear, fresh water of Windemere or Lake Tahoe, in which case you can salve you conscience by bringing it all home in the bucket and flushing it down the loo.

Bob Cleek wrote:I always carry one of those plastic "ducks" the hospitals use to permit bedridden patients to urinate without getting up. They are easy to dump over the side and rinse and are a considerate convenience to provide for those who cannot aim over the side.

That's not a bad idea.

My sister thinks I'm crazy, her argument is that we've always had a motorboat on lake Chautauqua and you just hold it until you get to port which is not far away. Chautauqua's only like 2 miles wide by 18 miles long. Sometimes I mix my long term plans for a launch and my current launch. Nyitra I shouldn't go on the great lakes - but I want to make a launch someday to steam from Cleveland -> Canada over Erie. That's my long term pie in the sky.

Kelley - Reminds me that I have not been in enough boat cabins. But whenever I have been I am amazed at how clever ship builders and fitters can be at making use of the available space....

-CB
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Hi Folks

You can, of course, completely over engineer the solution, but then that is part of the fun of boat building. Herewith the approach in Frances Ann, curtains not shown...

At the beginning:


Then get to work...


Lift the lid on the solution


All ready to go


Completing the story requires...


(Hand lotions in the cupboard)


We once used the Porta Potti in camping days so it seemed a waste not to incorporate it.

Regards

Pete

Pete, very fancy.

What is the sticker that says something like get best results with codex ragasan?

Is this related to stories of the great flood?

-CB

Porta Potty works for the wife, but we do have a cuddy up front that it lives in and doors to enclose it, but yer head does stick out the top a bit... oh well. Now from what I understand it is legal to pee overboard (except maybe for the exposing yourself issue) BUT it's REALLY illegal to pee in a can and dump it overboard; dumping your holding tank it's called! cheers rp

Hi

Odex Racasan was a UK company, long since defunct, that produced the chemicals for addition to camping toilets. They must have had some relation to whoever had the Porta Potti franchise here in the UK, or perhaps held it themselves, as their sachets were always included in the Porta Potti range. The one in the picture is a Cruiser 430, a most apt model name and dates from some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The Porta Potti range is produced by Thetford now, but I don't recall if that was the original manufacturer's name. If you are interested, I do still have the original box, but need to get into the garage loft to look at it.

Racasan were based in Cheshire, not a million miles from where I am based and produced an early camping toilet which is, apparently now a design classic (http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/aibdc-003424). It is, however, basically a bucket with a seat. Thetford's 1968 introduction of the two part cassette based Porta Potti was a great lap forward as it provided flushing and a sealed waste container.

Regards

Pete

Should I now start to hold a register of loo equipped boats, so I know who to steam alongside on the longer trips?

We have purchased an AirHead composting loo. This avoids all the chemicals and hull fittings, and while the boat is still awaiting it's machinery I used the Loo in the workshop for a year, and it didn't smell only needed emptying once and produced "plausible" compost that just got dumped on the open ground. Very satisfied.