Who here actually uses a porta potty?

WestWittering said:
Are you talking about heeling while you are using the loo, or just in general?
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I was thinking about heeling while using the loo, as that's when the bowl's fullest. When not in use you can pump nearly all the water out - although spillage could still occur if someone forgets and leaves it very full (of water).

Pete
 
prv said:
I was thinking about heeling while using the loo, as that's when the bowl's fullest. When not in use you can pump nearly all the water out - although spillage could still occur if someone forgets and leaves it very full (of water).

Pete
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That would have to be an enormous wee though and you could say the same about sea loos. At least you would only have a wet bum to think about in the first scenario, but if they 'forget' to pump out, they could do the same with the inlet.... My loo has the little door thing in the bottom, so all the liquid goes - unlike the sea loo.


And re-number 2s - just haven't caught anyone yet. But I know who would have to unblock it :( Perhaps I should get an undertaking that they will unblock the loo if they break it. I tend to fill up visitors with coffee and suggest they use the marina facilities before we depart. After all, what would they do if I didn't have a loo on board? SOFT thats what we have become SOFT!!

Di
 
On our last boat, we had a choice of 2 porta potties which we selected by how long we were out for.

For normal weekends, we had a mini one which would cope with 2 people for a weekend.

The larger one was taken to the boat, if we went out for a longer period, landing the smaller one first.

This got around finding disposal points.

I can't say I ever relished using it, or emptying it, but its not that bad. (claim to fame. see KTL 055 Tollesbury, and I appear walking along jetty carrying cassette! ;) )

One criteria for the new boat was a sea toilet. Nuff said!

Regards

Ian & Jo
 
WestWittering said:
That would have to be an enormous wee though and you could say the same about sea loos.
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The point was that because sea loos have a rim they can lean over further than purely bowl-shaped porta-potties (at least the ones I've seen) before they spill.

Of course, any loo will spill if you lean far enough, as a girl in one of the other watches discovered during a gale on a Stavros voyage. A big lurch, and the whole lot (not just wee) got emptied into the gaping top of the oily trousers round her ankles :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

Pete
 
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prv said:
The point was that because sea loos have a rim they can lean over further than purely bowl-shaped porta-potties (at least the ones I've seen) before they spill.

Of course, any loo will spill if you lean far enough, as a girl in one of the other watches discovered during a gale on a Stavros voyage. A big lurch, and the whole lot (not just wee) got emptied into the gaping top of the oily trousers round her ankles :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

Pete
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Yurrrrghhhhh. Another reason to ban No2s.... Still, kept her feet warm I suppose!

Di
 
Davy_S said:
The best way is to **** on a newspaper in a bucket, then light it and let it drift towards another boat. Or, simply **** down the sink if you dont have a proper loo. dont like portapottys.
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My little'un asked me if that was what the outboard well was for when she first visited the boat.... :D

I'm with the porta potty vote for what it's worth - I see no value in drilling holes in a water tight boat when there's a perfectly good proven alternative...
 
Pete,

my boats' porta potti is secured by a shock chord and handles so no danger of spilling the contents or occupant, we're particularly careful about that !

For a blue water boat I'd consider a sea loo, but for coastal sailing I prefer to do without holes in the hull.
 
Frankly it works but it is a back up for when there is no alternative and for SWMBO.

Wash them well and keep them clean and they won't tell what they have seen!

Attach a lanyard to the container when you are emptying over the side. Or you can practice your man over board technique whilst recovering it before it fills with water and vanishes without trace.
 
Maybe there is some confusion and far too much detail here.

Whilst performing it is a good idea to open the sliding hatch thingie so that the product of your efforts goes straight into the tank.
If the boat is heeling that much you have either got to put a reef in or are so busy you do not dare go below to use the toilet. Other solutions include relocating the potty to amid ships or realising it should have been emptied some time ago.

Standing orders were to ease the point of sailing whilst the C in C did the necessary.
 
The Centaur has a porta potty because we have to on Windermere. I'm tempted to keep it when we move because I don't want to fit a holding tank and places like Tayvallich don't like sea toilets.

Emptying the loo isn't my fav job but it's not the worst one either. It does help if there isn't much to dispose of.

Emptying down a normal toilet isn't much different to a proper disposal point except not having a hose to flush.

Folks don't complain in the public toilet as much as the boat club one though.

We never use the portapotti on the trail sailer, either walk ashore or bucket and chuckit if an emergency. I don't fancy sitting with my head out of the forehatch, it's well screened from folk inside the boat but the neighbours know what you are doing.
 
I have never used one, but my Jack Russell thinks they are brill.

She rolls around in the stuff after those nice 'Wild Camping' motorhomers have dumped their sheeite in the grass around the public car park and fecked off somewhere else. :(
 
Seajet said:
ridgy,

No idea which model of loo was inflicted on you, but I've used one since 1978 on month long trips with 3 mixed gender crew, before that was on boats with sea toilets where the owner refused to let me use the loo for fear of the thing sinking the boat; so much for " no cancave rim and only suitable for a daysailor " !
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"3 mixed gender crew"

???????
The mind boggles!:confused:
 
prv said:
Other point not mentioned so far is the advisability (or not) of having a plastic container of sewage stored in your cabin in boisterous conditions. Especially since they're usually found in small boats, you could easily fall off a wave and hurl the thing into your bunk. Yes, they're supposed to be sealed, but how much do you trust it? I know it would worry me.
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Which is why the sensible amongst us have a restraining strap to hold the thing in place. My boat would have to completely invert before the porta potti would move, and if that happened then frankly what happens to the loo is the least of my worries.
 
Since we chose our Centaur for her "caravan" qualities and like to dry out the porta potti makes sense. However our Centaur came with a trad straight out sea toilet (no holding tank). After one season I have removed it to see how we get on with the porta potti. The sea toilet was the original. We have a large capacity porta potti and a small one for family camping and I tried the big one where the seatoilet had been mounted. Decision made, even our twelve year olds would have had to climb up onto the throne, feet dangling. The seatoilet was mounted on a 9 inch step. Only a small capacity porta potti will work for us unless I supply climbing ropes, or relocate to a more public area in the boat. I think porta potti s are perfect for us but for no.1s bucket and chuck it allows you to keep your storage capacity for when you need it:)
 
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