gavin400
Member
If a new Baby Blake costs circa £4,000, what might a second hand one be worth, assuming it is in full operational condition?
Baby Blake WC
- Thread starter gavin400
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vyv_cox
Well-known member
I have seen at least one on Ebay that did not sell for 99p. It was pretty rough though. I assume the sort of person prepared to pay £4000 for a toilet is not interested in buying used ones.
Moonshining
Active member
£4000???? A Jabsco's a couple of hundred quid. How can anyone justify that amount of money for a khazi?
BruceDanforth
Well-known member
They are quite popular on ocean going boats as the pumps are cast from bronze so they are pretty tough bits of kit compared to plastic. They are very low tech and you have to try pretty hard to break them. There is one on a 1963 boat in my family that is still working fine and hasn't needed much replacing on it.
Blueboatman
Well-known member
Bucket in the cockpit, at sea, far less odorous. Or is that onorous?
Eyore
Well-known member
rosewood
New member
they are a work of art though. and four grand for a work of art is pretty good. And ironically the modern art at the gallery by me is loads more than four grand but is in fact Sh*te. Whereas the baby blake takes away sh*te
mjcoon
Well-known member
I agree with my spelling-checker that the alternative is onerous...
Unless you meant sonorous, which is really down to the user not the instrument!
Mike.
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VicS
Well-known member
And you can keep watch while using it....... vital if single handed in crowded waters like the Solent ....... looking for a comfy seat to fit on a builders bucket though.
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Joking aside, I always assume that people are very tongue in cheek when they extol virtues of a bucket in the cockpit….
Or is it that I have reminded myself that most sailors seem to sail by themselves or just with a lot of other blokish blokes?
Or is this another reason why they have trouble getting crew?
Or is it an even bigger reason why so many wives and girlfriends of male sailors refuse to go sailing?
On a serious note, how do you cater for family (teenage children etc) if you insist on everyone using a bucket? Or how do you cope with guests?
Or perhaps the majority of sailors don't make long passages which might require more than a pee en-route?
Poignard
Well-known member
Slow_boat
New member
I've got two Baby Blakes on my boat. They may be tough and last forever but the service kit costs more than a new Webasco. Just a few rubber gaskets cost me £65!
The inlet pump still drips at the top. At least it doesn't squirt up my sleeve anymore!
I'm seriously considering flogging one and replacing with a Webasco.
The inlet pump still drips at the top. At least it doesn't squirt up my sleeve anymore!
I'm seriously considering flogging one and replacing with a Webasco.
Scarboroughsloop
Member
You need to replace the old bronze shaft - that will stop the drip. Stainless will do.
Slow_boat
New member
Costs a fortune and requires a special tool, which also isn't cheap.
Eyore
Well-known member
Just overhauled our SL 396 (I think that's the model) cast bronze and similar to a Baby Blake. Parts no longer available ,but luckily I found a full service kit onboard,including the valve shaft . Should be fine for another 43 years.
stuey_two
Member
I sold one on eBay for £55 and saw another sell for £50 last year. Mine was fully working but needed a re-paint.
It cost almost as much to ship it!
It cost almost as much to ship it!
BruceDanforth
Well-known member
Well I usually sail by myself. There is an option for carrying a chemical bog in the forepeak with a privacy curtain for guests but I don't usually keep it on board. I wouldn't want to use it if it was just me on board - I don't want to keep **** on board.
With a limited amount of living/stowage space a bog isn't high on the priority list.
A bucket is fine and doesn't smell - chuck it over the side to half fill it with water, drop your log, hoy it over the side, rinse the bucket with some more seawater and back in the locker with it until you need to peel your spuds.
With a limited amount of living/stowage space a bog isn't high on the priority list.
A bucket is fine and doesn't smell - chuck it over the side to half fill it with water, drop your log, hoy it over the side, rinse the bucket with some more seawater and back in the locker with it until you need to peel your spuds.
prv
Well-known member
Kindred Spirit had a miniature heads compartment. I didn't fit in the thing at all, neither did most of my male sailing friends, but the ladies (being typically slightly smaller and perhaps more determined!) could generally squeeze in. So for day sailing, ladies peed in the heads, gentlemen peed over the side, and everybody pooed on shore.
Multi-day trips with guests on board were generally arranged to avoid too long away from shore facilities, on a similar basis. Leave Friday evening, anchor overnight, tie up alongside Saturday afternoon was about the limit.
Multi-day trips without going ashore were something I tended to only do on my own. That being the case, the bucket in the cockpit did the job admirably. Generally at anchor rather than under way as suggested by Vic, though! It was not entirely accidental that the washing bucket (used in the cockpit instead of a shower) was canvas and hence impossible to sit on, avoiding the classic red-bucket/blue-bucket mistake
On Ariam, the whole issue goes away because she has a luxuriously-appointed heads compartment that is easy to use under all conditions. Even peeing over the rail (which I've done probably since out of nappies) has been discontinued, because with a sleek and minimalist rig, inboard shroud-bases, and a central backstay above a long sugar-scoop, there's no stable place to brace yourself safely.
Pete
rosewood
New member
I find piddling over the side on passage a good honest pleasure. The freedom of just piddling wherever and whenever the mood takes is a great joy. However having fell off the boat piddling when anchored it has left me very nervous of doing it again. Shame because I was hoping to move on to pooing over the side when I had perfected the piddling
mtb
New member
I had a near miss doing a number 2 !!! nearly went over and a mile off shore so no way I'd want to risk it again . I brought a baby blake for £55 off ebay stripped it down greased it job done.
My misses loves it compared to a bucket and it works as it should even after not being used for the winter unlike the plastic trash
Some might think 4k is a lot but their hand made and your great grandkids will still be using it when they take their grand kids out on the boat
if I were to be fitting out a new boat I'd buy one
mick
My misses loves it compared to a bucket and it works as it should even after not being used for the winter unlike the plastic trash
Some might think 4k is a lot but their hand made and your great grandkids will still be using it when they take their grand kids out on the boat
if I were to be fitting out a new boat I'd buy one
mick
