I know this is a silly question but...

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Galaxy

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I'm going to ask anyhow, because I don't know.
When you are living at a marina or even passing through for that matter, but in a slip in either case. Do you get your own personal pump out with the slip and does it stay permanatly attatched to the boat or do you empty as needed? If you empty as needed how often is that usually? I suppose it depend on size of tank and number of people living aboard. How often do you guys have to do it and what size is your tank?

Thanks.
 
Porta Potti = Personal Pumpout (take it to the marina loos...:)

Seriously, I replaced my sea toilet with one, better in lots of ways, maybe not so much if you're a family though...
 
Galaxy said:
I'm going to ask anyhow, because I don't know.
When you are living at a marina or even passing through for that matter, but in a slip in either case. Do you get your own personal pump out with the slip and does it stay permanatly attatched to the boat or do you empty as needed? If you empty as needed how often is that usually? I suppose it depend on size of tank and number of people living aboard. How often do you guys have to do it and what size is your tank?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

As already suggested there are very few marinas in Europe that have pumpout facilities, and those that do are mainly one fixed installation at, say a fuel dock. There are some mobile facilities such as the one in Sant Carles in Spain.

Most people use shoreside facilities in marinas, or use the holding tank (if they have one) and discharge at sea.
 
Wow, I guess there really is so much that I don't know. I am in the States. I guess they don't allow dumping offshore here???? or do they??? Well, that's good to know.
 
good point. whats was the outcome on the "blue ice" debate I wonder. don't hear much about it anymore.
 
SvenglishTommy said:
I've never seen a pump out in my life.
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+ 1

4 years around Portugal and in the Med, and I've never seen one yet, now in the Carib' and I still ain't seen 1. Haven't met a US boat yet who has used one recently, or many who have black water tanks either! I suspect their 'dumping rules' are for non - US visitors then?

By the way, I'm also told if you shut off your toilet sea-cock with a padlock or similar, and you 'bucket and chuck it' then your legal in the US?
 
Galaxy said:
I'm going to ask anyhow, because I don't know.
When you are living at a marina or even passing through for that matter, but in a slip in either case. Do you get your own personal pump out with the slip and does it stay permanatly attatched to the boat or do you empty as needed? If you empty as needed how often is that usually? I suppose it depend on size of tank and number of people living aboard. How often do you guys have to do it and what size is your tank?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

In a marina we use the marina toilets. Liquid waste (you know what I mean) does go straight into the marina though. There are no pumpout facilities here in Agios Nikolaos Crete.

The only pumpout I have seen in Greece is in the new marina at Vathi on Meganisis.
 
We live in a uk marina and have never seen a boat use the pump out facility and there are many "extended" stayers here .
 
Galaxy said:
Wow, I guess there really is so much that I don't know. I am in the States. I guess they don't allow dumping offshore here???? or do they??? Well, that's good to know.
Click to expand...

When I crossed to the US a few years ago, I spent a lot of money on a holding tank to comply with the regulations. Never once saw a pump-out facility on NE seaboard.
Big waste of money.
 
Galaxy said:
Wow, I guess there really is so much that I don't know. I am in the States. I guess they don't allow dumping offshore here???? or do they??? Well, that's good to know.
Click to expand...

The US is quite strict about pump out and boats need holding tanks once inside three miles of the coast. We spent last summer and autumn on the East Coast and there are pump out facilities everywhere. You either go to the dock where the pump is or there are long hoses that can reach a large number of boats. We have two holding tanks of 80 litres each so one is for Number Ones and one is for Number Twos, albeit that the valves are supposed to be tied off closed with wire or cable ties.

In such as Newport, RI there is a pump out boat that comes to the boats at anchor - some job eh?

How often to pump out? Depends on your diet, how many onboard and how often you go ashore.
 
PhilipH said:
The US is quite strict about pump out and boats need holding tanks once inside three miles of the coast. We spent last summer and autumn on the East Coast and there are pump out facilities everywhere. You either go to the dock where the pump is or there are long hoses that can reach a large number of boats. We have two holding tanks of 80 litres each so one is for Number Ones and one is for Number Twos, albeit that the valves are supposed to be tied off closed with wire or cable ties.

In such as Newport, RI there is a pump out boat that comes to the boats at anchor - some job eh?

How often to pump out? Depends on your diet, how many onboard and how often you go ashore.
Click to expand...

+1

The pump out boat serving the north end of Galveston Bay is called the Phew Whee 2!
 
UK Liveaboard - sea flush toilet.

Solid waste - Marina facilities (A pain if you wake at 3am in need)
Liquid waste - Into the marina water like the fish do

:)
 
In this area of the Med (south west France and Costa Brava), most marinas seem to have a pump out at the fuel station. However, in all my time down here I have never ever seen anyone try to use one.

I have a holding tank. When in a marina on anchorage we use that and pump it out to sea once we are a reasonable distance off the coast. I think most of the others do the same (no evidence of nasty stuff in anchorages or marinas).

When I bought the boat, the valve controlling whether the waste goes into the holding tank or straight out to sea was wired up (to stop it being moved) into the straight out to sea position!

I suspect the holding tank had never been used.
 
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And in other news . . where I am currently moored, an exceptionally nice modern inland port, there is a pump-out point. That's also exceptional. In the 3 years I have known the port (very well) I have never seen anyone use it. That's not exceptional.

We're on a river that is 10-13m deep, 150m wide and with a normal flow of 500 cu.m per second.
We go swimming most days. Pas problème. :)
 
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