Marine heads and Sailing Magazine review

[wn01]

I was reading the write-up of Pocketship in Sailing magazine which made the offhand comment that the only drawback to cruising in Pocketship would be having to rely on a portable marine head (which is mentioned as an option in the CLC writeup on Pocketship) and the "inevitable" unpleasant odors that result. Do all portable toilets that one might use on a boat like Pocketship result in unacceptable odors after use or are there some that contain that unpleasantness such that sleeping aboard Pocketship with one wouldn't be impossible?

[meallen1954]

In my experiance it is a matter of how much waste is in the "PortaPotty" and the amount of "blue solution" you keep it the tank!! Ventalation is a must and prompt removal and dumping at the earliest convience also helps. Locked up in the "cabin" during a 100 degree day and it will emit the so called "stinch".
So The best answer I can give keep it as clean as possible and use it if only necessary!!

[John C. Harris]

>>>>>Do all portable toilets that one might use on a boat like Pocketship result in unacceptable odors after use or are there some that contain that unpleasantness such that sleeping aboard Pocketship with one wouldn't be impossible?<<<<<<<<<

No way. I took the Folkboat's 4-year-old chemical head to use on PocketShip. That particular head has seen, um, plenty of use. In the Folkboat the head is stowed within about 24 inches of my nose while sleeping in my favorite berth, about twice as close as it is in PocketShip. In years of overnight cruising on the Folkboat it never emitted a single offensive whiff. The odor ranged from nonexistent to a faint pleasant odor of mint, from the chemical treatment. I only emptied it once a season, too.

I still prefer a bucket for all modes, but our fairer sex will sometimes diverge on that opinion.



My fave:

[mtsailor]

Right on, John. I'm old and getting older, which is a good thing, and I've known quite a few porta-pottys. Carried one in a VW camper for a long while and have had a few in sailboats. Never met one that offended. I can't swear that my nose is in perfect order, but a PP I had on an O'Day 20 in '77 is still in perfect order and doing odor-free duty on a friends boat to this day. I'm thinking of asking to get it back for my PocketShip. Jer mtsailor

[drunkensailor]

Who needs a porta-potty on a sailboat? Fish love second hand food. Another good reason to go vegetarian.

[linseyt]

Who needs a porta-potty on a sailboat? Fish love second hand food. Another good reason to go vegetarian.

I would guess it would depend on how close to shore and people you were when the need arose Also at night, if it were raining outside!
Here in the UK we don't have a huge amount of wilderness (sadly) so discretion is usually the way to go!

[drunkensailor]

I know, didn't mean to be offensive, I'm sure it would be good to have a porta potty but maybe not use it unless necessary. Also, like someone else mentioned, changing it frequently couldn't hurt.