considerations on buying a liveaboard

[V1701]

Porta Pottae...

A Portapotti might be an idea. I'll check if its okay to empty it in the marina loos first.

I am thinking of a grey water conatiner for the galley sink as well. I really don't like he idea of polluting the marina and loch with effluent of any sort.

I

Porta Pottae also mean you don't have to worry about the issue of having a holding tank should you find yourself somewhere they are a requirement. Expensive to fit holding tanks, have to think about pumping, pipework, macerators, possible blockages, where to put tank. My boat's 30 foot so I'd struggle to find space. Marinas should have somewhere to put waste from PP tank, loos probably not best place as can block. And probably easier than pumping out holding tank. PP also more amenable (size/ease of use) for non-boaty friends to use than the sea toilet. Using my sea toilet is like perching on a giant sawn off golf tee!

Agree the thought of polluting the marina isn't a pleasant one. I will be moving to marina to liveaboard a week on Monday & will use the marina toilets most of the time and always for #1 (barring emergencies!). I think it's OK to pee morning and night and dispose of grey water if using enviro friendly detergents also I hope. I wonder what everybody else does? I will try to develop good habits from the outset...

(Oh and I think the original Thetford PPs are much better than immitations)

 

[ianj99]

Agree the thought of polluting the marina isn't a pleasant one. I will be moving to marina to liveaboard a week on Monday & will use the marina toilets most of the time and always for #1 (barring emergencies!). I think it's OK to pee morning and night and dispose of grey water if using enviro friendly detergents also I hope. I wonder what everybody else does? I will try to develop good habits from the outset...

(Oh and I think the original Thetford PPs are much better than immitations)

Porta potti looks like a sensible solution compared to holding tank, which would be next to impossible for my boat too. The PP can be emptied over the side (carefully!!) well out to sea if need be.

There seems to be a consensus that urine is okay to dump into the marina, but in a large marina on a busy summer weekend would that not amount to a significant amount of pollution? Solid waste is 100% no no but there was some suspicious looking 'floaters' in the marina last weekend, or maybe the spring tide had washed it off the beach or maybe it was a minority of lazy boat owners getting the rest of us a bad name. (Marina will remain nameless)

Marinas should have a PP emptying facility like those on caravan sites.

Ian

 

[Nealo]

Re porta pottis - you will not block the loo you empty into provided you use the special loo paper that thetford etc sell - don't use normal loo paper it's not worth the cost saving. Honestly, loads of inland boaters have these, many have a spare cassette, liveaboards often have several. Holding tanks are ok on hire boats where folk don't want the inconvenience of having to carry/empty a cassette (I must admit it's not my favourite job) but they take up valuable space and on rivers/canals you pay a hefty charge to have them pumped out.

The handful of coastal marinas I have visited so far have had a remarkable lax attitude to the discharge of black waste which I personally find quite disgusting. If the marina is behind a sea lock, it means the water is acting like a gigantic septic tank - lovely. Attitudes on the continental waterways are similar & most inland cruisers just have sea toilets. It leaves me speechless this - think of all the progress we've made over the last 150 years or so in trying to keep our waterways free of foul water. I always think it's ironic that the guy who cleaned up the Thames in the 19th century was French...

 

[V1701]

Re porta pottis - you will not block the loo you empty into provided you use the special loo paper that thetford etc sell - don't use normal loo paper it's not worth the cost saving. Honestly, loads of inland boaters have these, many have a spare cassette, liveaboards often have several. Holding tanks are ok on hire boats where folk don't want the inconvenience of having to carry/empty a cassette (I must admit it's not my favourite job) but they take up valuable space and on rivers/canals you pay a hefty charge to have them pumped out.

The handful of coastal marinas I have visited so far have had a remarkable lax attitude to the discharge of black waste which I personally find quite disgusting. If the marina is behind a sea lock, it means the water is acting like a gigantic septic tank - lovely. Attitudes on the continental waterways are similar & most inland cruisers just have sea toilets. It leaves me speechless this - think of all the progress we've made over the last 150 years or so in trying to keep our waterways free of foul water. I always think it's ironic that the guy who cleaned up the Thames in the 19th century was French...

Well I hope our marina doesn't turn into a giant septic tank in the summer, there's tons of visitors and boats (Brighton), but it's not locked. I wonder where the marina toilets empty to, I hope not just past the sea wall, I will ask when I get there & endeavour to do my bit to keep it clean...

 

[theguerns]

portapoti

A Portapotti might be an idea. I'll check if its okay to empty it in the marina loos first.

I am thinking of a grey water conatiner for the galley sink as well. I really don't like he idea of polluting the marina and loch with effluent of any sort.

I

We had one on our old yacht for years and never had a problem with marina staff about emtying it in the loos

 

[ianj99]

We had one on our old yacht for years and never had a problem with marina staff about emtying it in the loos

I think I will get one then if there is any finger pointing re polluting the marina, I am not under suspicion as well as haveing a clear conscience!

Ian

 

[lenseman]

. . . . I wonder where the marina toilets empty to, I hope not just past the sea wall, . . .

A tablespoonful of Fluorescent Sodium (Green Drain Trace Dye) down the toilet and flush. You will soon see if it exits into the marina or outside the sea wall.

I didn't suggest that, did I ?

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

We have just returned to the UK after five terrific liveaboard years aboard our Seastream 43. It was a sortof intuitive purchase but it has turned out to be a really excellent boat. Maybe a bit more sail area would be good in Med. summer conditions. The "big windows" give a great outlook in port and there are stormboards which bolt in place for severe conditions.
Having said my piece for the Seastream , I have been on board a wide range of other excellent boats including a 28ft double-ender in which a Swedish couple had circumnavigated.
My conclusion is that it is as much to do with the way the boat is set up as the boat itself. For example I have seen a basic Bavaria 38 which was set up to go round the bay and another which was superbly set up for liveaboard ocean cruising.