Just an observation...

[ashtead]

Hi there
Thought I'd join as Solent Clown speaks very highly of you guys but are there any female forum members here or can you point me in the right place to post.
I suffer from a bowel disease and wonder how others cope with longer voyages and though Solent Clown has posted a thread about toilets I am really worried about the whole next step and think in a lot of ways I'd be happy to have stuck to being a trailer sailer with our dinghy. Maybe I'm just fretting about nothing.

I'm also a keen crocheter and want to make throws and blankets for the trident if we are going for longer trips then I can't image going without my crochet projects so crafters how do you store your crafting/hobby equipment?

Thanks in advance.
Karen

Welcome to the forum and as a practical observation on storge of needles and hooks etc we have always used an old wooden tea caddy box which came in a hamper one year and is just the right size for a variety of items eg , some beeswax ,thimbles and other small sewing items and it was free - . Mrs A doesn't practice much sewing at sea but we do carry enough to make simple sail repairs which might be needed in a foreign port . Clearly after a few years on your new boat you might be looking to upgrade the heads facilities as well (even if that means another new boat) -the best investment we had on our current boat was to have hot air heating piped into the toilet so its lovely and warm and dries out all the wet clothes etc Does make any time spent in there far more relaxing we find on a cold day.

 

[rogerthebodger]

EVERY boat I've been on there has been one rule, you sit in the heads.

This is the stern setup on my boat so on a passage men can stand up at this location to hang out and do what is needed its only in harbour or crowded anchorage when men use the internal loo.

I also fitted a shower head and shower rail so a shower with a view is also possible.

 

[Daydream believer]

EVERY boat I've been on there has been one rule, you sit in the heads.

Well it is my boat so I make the rules & people are able to use whatever system they feel comfortable with. I also ensure that I clean the heads daily & I do not expect visitors to go above the norm after use.
I do not expect to clean the loos in their house so I do not expect them to clean the loo in my boat. So i do personally make sure that the "Flash" goes round it every day. The heads in my boat is all in GRP & I bet that it is a lot cleaner than most.

 

[KellysEye]

>I have a nervous side to me that panics, also due to health issues I am underweight and get cold quickly so I'm probably the worse person you can have as a sailing partner.

We were always nervous before setting off on a long passage, once we cast off it went. It usually goes when setting off when you are experienced, so get as many NMs as you can in. If cold wear thermal underwear, long trousers and long sleeved top, you won't believe how much difference they make. M&S sell them cheaper than marine shops or online. Site here: http://www.marksandspencer.com/l/lingerie/thermals

 

[prv]

The best advice is try and use the loo before beating as it is more comfortable.

True - but if already beating, and especially if it's rough, don't forget the option of heaving to while someone uses the heads. It makes a big difference.

With a loo facing across the boat one can aim up or down & brace one's self against the back wall or the one in front. You just have to watch the lid does not slam shut when on the down side !!!.However, operating standing as if one is standing on the side of a hill is really difficult.
the Hanse 445 has a forward facing heads &I have it on reliable info that it is diabolical.

Ariam's head faces forward, but it's in a narrow slot between the bulkhead on the inboard side and a solid-fronted countertop on the outboard side. Standing on either tack you have something solid to lean against, and sitting down you are (comfortably) wedged in position with nowhere to fall and no need to deliberately brace at all.

It could do with a bit more headroom for the standing option (plenty of height in most of the compartment, but it starts to reduce under the cockpit moulding towards the corner where the toilet is) but otherwise it's possibly the best and most secure seagoing bog I've encountered.

Sitting on some athwartships ones (especially on older boats where the heads compartment takes up the entire beam just ahead of the mast), with the toilet on the windward side, can feel like clinging to the lip of a precipice with a constant risk of tumbling down into a shitty heap at the bottom of the oilskin locker

Pete

 

[MOBY2]

Feel I must post this, my eldest son (28) came for only his 2nd trip last summer, it was a very fresh breeze and very uncomfortable, the need came to use the heads so advised him probably best to sit, he went down, looked at heads and the way the boat was moving about and in his wisdom decided to kneel.... yes you've guessed it he forgot about gravity and as a wave caught her she rolled and the unheld sit came crashing down with a thump, luckily he had finished and being thrown backwards turned out to be a blessing in disguise, he said as he appeared in the companionway I nearly came back half the man I went down Dad, could barely hold the tiller for laughing so much when he recalled the tale... he now sits in the heads....

 

[Wansworth]

I am advised by a Swiss sailerthat sitting down is obligatory even on dry land....he is a bit annal!

 

[Humblebee]

Three thinks my wif insisted on before she would stay on the boat.
A flushing Loo
Hot water
A fridge

The fridge was due to our distance from home.

This is a on of the signs on my boat.

Also consider

Bucket and chuck it used to work for me but the Boss wasn't too keen.
Like your signs, we have one above the cabin door that reads "Bang your head here". Best I've seen was at Oban Marina on a post in the water. It read "Please do not throw stones at this notice."

 

[VicS]

Well I am certainly not going to spend ages stripping off loads of kit.!!!!

Then kneel. That was the rule for male crew on the boat I mostly sailed. We did not do girly sit-down wees

The owner even moved the loo back a bit to make it easier for my long legs

 

[Wansworth]

Tena make very absorbent nappies.....

 

[prv]

I am advised by a Swiss sailerthat sitting down is obligatory even on dry land

It's a German-speaking thing.

Pete

 

[Heckler]

I have occasionally read of people giving your instruction and can understand the need for it on some boats. On our boat the heads/shower is entirely laminate or glass and an accident can easily be remedied by a wash down with the shower hose, so there is no need for me to be prescriptive, and in any case, it would be excessively awkward for me personally. Any odd splashes are regularly washed away by our use of the shower or occasional fits of cleaning energy.

Ours as well, shower every night so not an issue. The second heads is a porta potti for use in proscribed places.
Stu

 

[Heckler]

Well it is my boat so I make the rules & people are able to use whatever system they feel comfortable with. I also ensure that I clean the heads daily & I do not expect visitors to go above the norm after use.
I do not expect to clean the loos in their house so I do not expect them to clean the loo in my boat. So i do personally make sure that the "Flash" goes round it every day. The heads in my boat is all in GRP & I bet that it is a lot cleaner than most.

Exactly!
Stu

 

[PetiteFleur]

on HMS Wully the number one rule is that EVERYONE sits down to pee, disregarding this rule will get you kicked off the boat. No bracing, no bad aiming, no falls, no smell.

Ditto on our boat - I even have a Pictogram label specifically aimed at men! (bought from a well known on-line auction site a little while ago)

 

[TC Tuckton]

Never had that as a rule on any of boats I've been on, skippering or crewing. Not a bad rule but I'd never have a rule that I wouldn't follow myself. But I know I have odd rules too - for example not allowing paper in the loo but following the Greek practice of a lined bin beside it instead.

I am not sure I could cope with a lined bin full of used toilet paper. However I do provide a nappy bag for used wet wipes etc.

 

[Jeepster]

Never had that as a rule on any of boats I've been on, skippering or crewing. Not a bad rule but I'd never have a rule that I wouldn't follow myself. But I know I have odd rules too - for example not allowing paper in the loo but following the Greek practice of a lined bin beside it instead.

This technique appears to a must with Chemical toilets...Thetford make special toilet paper for use in their toilets, (which presumably breaks down quicker and more completely than standard toilet paper)...They do not recommend using normal "home" toilet paper as it won't break down properly and it can stop the blade in the bottom sealing properly, potentially leading to very nasty, smelly leaks all over your boats floor! For peace of mind I am going to make it clear to those using the toilet that they should use the bin bag provided for disposing of the paper...

 

[Jeepster]

I am not sure I could cope with a lined bin full of used toilet paper. However I do provide a nappy bag for used wet wipes etc.

I don't have room for a toilet and a bin on my boat so I will simply take a large black bin bag or two with me for disposal of the used toilet paper. It would take a week long trip to get anywhere near to filling it up. At the end of my trip I can simply tie the top and it's ready to go out in my wheely bin.

 

[NormanS]

I don't have room for a toilet and a bin on my boat so I will simply take a large black bin bag or two with me for disposal of the used toilet paper. It would take a week long trip to get anywhere near to filling it up. At the end of my trip I can simply tie the top and it's ready to go out in my wheely bin.

There's too much information here.

 

[Bru]

This technique appears to a must with Chemical toilets...Thetford make special toilet paper for use in their toilets, (which presumably breaks down quicker and more completely than standard toilet paper)...They do not recommend using normal "home" toilet paper as it won't break down properly and it can stop the blade in the bottom sealing properly, potentially leading to very nasty, smelly leaks all over your boats floor! For peace of mind I am going to make it clear to those using the toilet that they should use the bin bag provided for disposing of the paper...

The claims from Thetford are nonsense aimed at promoting their own brand of expensive "dissolving" toilet paper

I've been using Thetford Portapottis for getting on for half a century, man and boy, and never once had a blockage caused by toilet paper

What you don't use is the fancy quilted stuff. That does clog up loos (chemical and boat). Cheap recycled toilet paper from the supermarket dissolves just as well as the Thetford own brand stuff.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Ok, bit of a Lavac story that demonstrates that toilet paper doesn't "last" through the pipework... Sailing on a mate's boat, and all that happened with the loo was the output from the bog didn't get pumped out just recirculated into the bowl... The joker valve was calcified. The whole unpleasant mess in the bowl was totally liquefied. It's certainly convinced me that binning normal toilet paper is a totally unnecessary activity, certainly for boats with direct discharge...