A couple quick, personal questions for CD-25 & TC255 own

J

JamesTXSD

Active member
OK, the first one is a potty question... well, kinda. What kind of shelves are you using in the shower? I've seen Pat and Patty's dispenser on the door... I'm thinking more along the lines of something towards the outside/side walls. We have the RV type toilet, and using the shower results in water getting into the toilet... any way to remedy this? I'm happy with the function of the shower... just looking to make it more efficient (like a hanger for the darn sprayer). I've had the tiny head situation before (where you have to sit to shower), and I prefer to stand (this is the personal part, btw). How are you using that shower? And, yes, we are very aware that something needs to be done about that flood that comes out the head door when you shower. :wink

And a somewhat related question: when using the boat as a "land" RV, how are you handling your liquid egress? I mean, come on... the sink drains on one side. The shower on the other side. And the poop tank is yet another drain. We've used RVs for years and KNOW that any decent RV park is NOT gonna let you drip out ANY liquid anywhere... show up with three hoses modified to lead to one sewer dump and the RV park owners are gonna be screaming (how's that for keeping it clean?) I bought a fitting to fit into the sink outlet (still needs some modification to make it work); even found an RV sewer "donut" that has been modified to use with a standard hose. But, there is NO WAY I'm gonna experiment with the macerator pump... and even if one did, there is no decent way to clean out the hose afterwards- RVs dump the gray water after the black water to flush the large sewer hose. It sure seems to eliminate convenient water usage when on land. Any ideas?

This makes me think that perhaps we need to investigate a truck camper for the times on land, hauling the boat. Anyone using one of these to tow a 25? How's the ride? The towing? Need a Class V hitch? Airbags?


Thanks in advance.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Jim,

We haven't added shelves yet but have installed a teak ledger with hooks for wash cloths, shower nozzle, etc. The Starboard door does indeed warp and can be bent back straight with a little force. That isn't a solution however. When Dreamer was last at the factory, they installed a shower curtain which snaps in place. If left in position it cures that problem completely.

I have even thought about a small corner mounted sink that I found on a RV site. Maybe over the winter.

The shower is tight and encourages the South Beach Diet! But we use it and it beats no shower at all. Cheers.
 
Head_shower_door_drip_strip.sized.jpg

Here is what I did for the leakling door syndrome. Made out of a piece of starboard, it deflects 95% of the water that runs down the door when showering.
I have the same problem with shower water filling up the toilet. I am thinking about a plastic large shower cap looking cover that can be snapped over the bowl under the seat.
 
So far we have just used the suction cup holders for soap, shampoo and suction cup hooks--waiting until more use before, a perment "solution".
I also am considering a small RV corner sink, and I think that has merit.

We haven't done it yet, but I am thinking of a "Y valve for the sink drain. Put the water into one of the blue containers--or even a 5 gallon jerry can. I had a van conversion which I had a 5 gallon jerry can with a hose directly from the sink drain. I had to drain it every other day--but worked well. I didn't have any complaints from campgrounds.

As for shower--we tend to use the RV camp showers (We have a Class A RV with stall shower, but also have a Road Trek Van conversion, which we keep in Las Vegas, and use for visits with my children and our friends who live in S. Calif. It has no shower. We find that if we are careful the 10 gallon holding tank (about the same size as the toilet in the 255) will last 4 to 6 days. We use campground or house facilites when ever possiable. We figure by that time we will be in a place with a pump out.

One could make a second Y valve, and use a diaphragm pump to make a closed sewage pumping system--but I think that is a bit too much trouble.
I have tried using the macerator to lift and pump sewage and it does not work well--the Sea Land diaphragm pump is far better.

I agree, you do not want any liquid comming out of the boat--and I think it is best that way.

Incidently, we feel that the shower in the cockpit is probably easier than in the head--much more room. We have one of the Sun shower curtain enclosure, with an inflatable top ring,--and it will hang from the bows of the bimini if we need privacy.

I guess my philosphy is that comming from the C Dory22, where we managed with sponge baths, this is absolute luxary! We also "camped" in the 22 some nights--again no problems with RV parks--but the porti potty was easy to deal with. I guess, one could just keep a porti potty in the truck for this occasion if necessary, or use one of the "bag" disposal systems (although these don't seem appealing to me!).
 
Thanks for the responses, folks. We love the boat... but after motorhoming for years, some of the "water solutions" are certainly more suited for use on the water than the land. We'll try some of the suction cup holders in the head before we mount anything permanent - good idea. We have done solar showers and a Zodi water heater in the cockpit of our sailboats over the years. Now that we have our fresh water washdown in the cockpit, that is another option.

Still giving some serious thought to a truck camper. Could be a good solution to the land/sea situation. We have owned several diesel pusher coaches and currently have a Leisure Travel Class B (that does have a decent shower and gray water tank). Sure do like that diesel pickup for towing, though.

Still open to any other options... we plan to use this boat a LOT... and want to make the land use as convenient as on the water. Thanks again!

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
We are using a Diesel Excursion for towing the Tom Cat 255, and there is no van conversion that I am aware of which has the capacity to tow 10,000 lbs. I know that several of the folks who have CD 25's have truck campers--but with the Tom Cat 255 you would be stretching the capacity of the truck, to put a camper on even a one ton dually. Another option is the "Toter Homes" These are usually assocaited with 5 th wheelers and racing teams, but have large towing capacities and are on modified on the road tractor trucks--such as Freightliner; basically have a class C type of RV built on the chassis, and towing capacity of over 20,000 lbs in some cases.
However one gets into a length issue. The Tom Cat 255 gets up to 35 feet or with the trailer, and that leaves only 30 feet or slightly less to the road legal 65 foot length. Example see: http://www.goldengait.com/Toterhomes.asp

I may not have made it clear, that we have a full shower with hot and cold water in the cockpit--but again, the water does go out of the scuppers, unless you were to catch it in a "baby bath" (which we have done--also is great for cleaning fish) or some other plastic container.
 
Hi Bob,
We have been that route, towing a Corsair trimaran behind a 40' diesel pusher motorcoach. The whole works was nearly 80' long and a royal pain in the butt. My wife would drive separately with our Tahoe so we had a vehicle to launch and drive around when we parked the coach; it became more work than fun. That was a big factor in why we bought the Leisure Travel Class B. The diesel pickup (GMC Sierra 2500) does a wonderful job in towing the boat, and we have no desire to go to anything longer. We've talked about selling/trading the LTV when we get home, thinking a truck camper would still give us the land RV. It gets complicated when you want to bring more than one major "toy", huh? :wink:

We'll continue to work it out over the next few months. I keep telling myself: go minimalist; be like El and Bill. Apparently, I'm not listening. :crook

Best wishes,
Jim B.

PS - We were in a state park night before last, in an RV site with electricity. I set the bimini up, and we were having a sundowner in the cockpit, when a couple walked by. He looked up at us and said, "That sure seems odd, a boat in an RV park." I smiled and told him, "We have all the same amenities as you: fridge, stove, hot water, a comfortable bed, shower... and looking around, we have one thing none of the other RVs in here have: radar." He shook his head, mumbled something, and walked off.
 
JamesTX - I am going to have the same problems as you soon. Pat of Daydream has installed that Airhead potty which looks like that would solve the dump problems. You can buy a portable macerator pump out unit from some RV places, but, of course, one is left with how to clean out that hose after use.

I had an old trailerable, 29 foot house boat that had a hose fitting to allow draining the grey water (shower and sink) while camping on the trailer. The pumpout head tank had been removed and a porta-potty installed to eliminate the head holding tank problem. I am hoping that an Air Head unit will fit into the Ranger head compartment, but to me at this point, it does not look like the compartment is large enough.

Re: gray water, maybe some type of hose fitting could be inserted into the hull drain holes for that and "y'ed" into a hose going to the campground sewer hole. I have seen alot of pickup campers simply drain into 5 gallon buckets or those blue, plastic, wheeled tanks.

John
 
Another thought, if there was room for it, maybe to use a bladder tank to hold the grey water and then use a pump to pump it out when sewer was available. Or, a crazy idea, some kind of 'bra' like 'gutter' thing that would catch the gray water and funnel it into a normal 4" RV drain hose. John
 
I found a "solution" to this problem by accident:
http://www.johnson-pump.com/JPMarine/PD ... ue2006.pdf This is a 12 volt diaphragm sewage pump which will pull a head of 8.2 feet. There is also a small grey water tank, with a pump which goes with it--can be used for shower and dishes. You can pump the holding tank in a couple of minutes. The shower pump allows pumping as the tank fills. You would have to make a thru hull fitting which would allow a short 3/4" hose to the RV dump.

What I haven't found is a retail source for these products. But it might be a nice set up. It might fit under the galley sub floor in the TC 255.
 
Here's what we've come up with: I found a fitting for the sink through hull... not a perfect fit, but I can shave it down to make it work. The other end is threaded, so I can attach a hose to it. We found a rubber "donut" in an RV place that is already fitted for a small hose (RV place near the factory). That will work for the sink.

Now, the head has the macerator pump... not even considering a threaded through-hull for that sitation because of the "back pressure' potential. But, my wife said, "Since the macerator will empty that tank in less than 60 seconds, why not just hold a 4" RV dump hose up to the hull (with some sort of rubber gasket, of course) to drain into an RV sewer dump?" RVers know to dump the black first, then the gray to rinse out the hose. So, no way to "clean" the hose... well, we do have that fresh water washdown in the cockpit. So, not easy, nor elegant, but it could be workable. I'd just need to attach some pvc to the trailer to hold the skanky RV sewer hose. Oh, and the head through-hull is on the "wrong side" compared to the rest of the RV world. Like I said, certainly not an elegant solution... but it beats taking the time to launch (and pay a ramp fee), then using a pumpout (again for a fee in most places), then retrieve, restrap everything, then get down the road. On the bright side, the head has a 9 gallon capacity, so it certainly isn't an "everyday" need to dump it. :wink

And since the shower box through-hull is on the other side of the boat, I still need another solution for that... again, much more pressure than the gravity dribble out of the sink.

That truck camper idea is looking better all the time. I love this boat on the water... using it as a camper on land certainly has some drawbacks. I offered a solution to the Blonde: just keep the boat IN THE WATER and go where we want to go ON THE WATER. Of course, that does make those "Gulf to the PNW" trips a bit longer! I'll keep working on this.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
James .... I was flipping the pages in a marine catalog this weekend and noticed a "pumpout system", including the part that fits into the deck fitting, a 3/4 hp 110 v pump and 15 foot of hose for $895. It was not West marine, but an older company. Can't think of the name right now. You could just pump it out yourself and then dip the intake hose in soapy water or such to clean it out. John Morse marine? something with an M in it.
 
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