Oh Dear What can the matter be - cautoinary tale for single handers

[Halo]

2 weeks ago was sailing South into a 6/7 - quite rough sea (Whitehaven to Glasson) . Bladder pressure built up so I used the head. Whilst in there I got hooked up and pulled the handle off the door. Tried to put the door handle back over the spindle but she lurched at the wrong moment and I pushed in the spindle by mistake. I was locked in !! This could have been nasty if I was single handing (which I often do) but fortunately my good mate Simon was there to release me. Really did not fancy being stuck down there trying to open up a hole in the door!
Anyone else done something similar?
Practical tip for PBO folk - dont shut the head door if sinlge handing!!

 

[GHA]

Similar yes, single handed somewhere when an access panel to the mast wiring slipped a little and jammed the heads door with me inside.
Managed to free it somehow.

 

[paul-essex]

I have a Konsort and at present I am doing a refit ashore and sometimes I climb in the cockpit locker and work away, one day it was raining and I thought it would be a good idea to close the lid with me inside good job I checked first as the catches self hook over , that was a close call

 

[rogerthebodger]

Practical tip for PBO folk - dont shut the head door if sinlge handing!!

Or just don't fit a door on either head. If anyone needs to be private I just rig up a curtain.

 

[jerrytug]

That did happen to me, crossing the Dover Strait I had to go, waited til I was in the Separation Zone, blessed relief and then the door swung shut on me, and locked me in, but I booted it off the hinges instinctively, it's never been the same since!

 

[awol]

A dinghy bailer or half a plastic milk bottle in the cockpit is looking a better solution. Bucket and chuck-it allows a good look-out to be kept.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

A dinghy bailer or half a plastic milk bottle in the cockpit is looking a better solution. Bucket and chuck-it allows a good look-out to be kept.

Funnel in a cockpit drain for me.

 

[LadyInBed]

"dont shut the head door if sinlge handing!!"
Why would you want to, no one to hide your modesty from!
I de-kit in the saloon before going.

 

[Daydream believer]

Following a heads visit I was putting on my life jacket whilst leaning my back against the galley.
When I went to leave I found I could not move as I had strapped myself to the tap over the sink

 

[LadyInBed]

Funnel in a cockpit drain for me.

What do you use to push the bits down?

 

[Daydream believer]

Funnel in a cockpit drain for me.

A "little" funnel ??

 

[prv]

"dont shut the head door if sinlge handing!!"
Why would you want to

Because otherwise it'll swing around banging off the companionway steps in an irritating fashion

I don't generally go below to pee while singlehanded though, and if I did and somehow got locked in I'm quite sure my 18 stone with a bit of momentum behind it would make short work of any normal cabin door latch

Pete

 

[Dipper]

My brother got stuck in the heads of a Westerly Storm. There's a drawer by the chart table that can slide open when heeled over and then the heads door can't be opened. Luckily he wasn't alone.

 

[fisherman]

Mate hit a sea and a large bin of nets slid forward and rested against the wheelhouse door. Had to radio for another boat to come and let them out.

 

[DanTribe]

There was a story in Yachting Monthly some time ago when a lady pumped the braces of her oilskin trousers down the loo.
get out of that!

 

[pvb]

Mate hit a sea and a large bin of nets slid forward and rested against the wheelhouse door. Had to radio for another boat to come and let them out.

 

[charles_reed]

I once managed to trap myself in the heads of a Boat-Show 26'.
I had to unscrew the heads lock to get out, with a screwdriver passed through the heads hatch. I purchased the bigger sister and 25 years later am still sailing her.
As I single-hand the whole time I never bother to shut the heads door - though in boisterous weather I use the heads in preference to overboard.

 

[LadyInBed]

Because otherwise it'll swing around banging off the companionway steps in an irritating fashion

All my doors have restraining catches on.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

What do you use to push the bits down?

Batten prodder of course. Isn't that what it's for?

 

[smithy]

If the cabin door swings open on my boat it jams the heads door shut. My wife had been making toast and got locked in. Luckily I got back to the boat just in time. Now the bottom vent on the door is removable. You can put your arm through it to push the other door out of the way. Don't know how previous owners coped over the last 30 years.

The escape hatch sign on the 6" vent causes some bemusement