Camping on our C-Dory

[Flint]

We towed our C-Dory from the Keys to Charleston and after cruising on her to Hatteras Village in the Outer Banks, we are heading across the country and camping along the way. We have been in State Parks in MD and WV and we are now in a KOA in IN. We get looks from everyone as we travel and she makes a wonderful RV when we settle in to a campground. We tent camped for the last two summers and it is nice to pull our boat into a campsite and just plug her in instead of having to set anything up. I wanted to post a picture, but I don't see any option to do that. Maybe someone can guide me in that respect. See you at Lake Powell in September.

Flint and Leslie Firestone
aboard Grace Full in
Crawfordsville, IN

 

[thataway]

Send a note to the Moderators: Da Nag or Tyboo. They will fix you up with an album, and then the rest of us can enjoy your trip. Looks like you got out of the Hatteras area just soon enough! We have also had a lot of folks say "What a great idea that Boaterhome is! Have yet to have a campground refuse us (but we stay away from the fancy places!

Glad that the boat is working so well for you! Hope to see you again next winter in the Keys! (Or maybe later this summer in the PNW or at Powell.)

 

[colbysmith]

Flint, they do make wonderful little campers. I just returned from 3 weeks on the road and water. You can see my posts on the San Juans 2014 forum. Colby

 

[colobear]

We too have boater camped with our 22. She works great and generates interesting conversations. Once in a small campground in Nebraska we ended up meeting long lost relatives of my wife. We carry a short stepladder to ease getting into and out of the boat when. We set up a grey water drain using a length of clear hose, a rubber chair leg end, a spring clamp and a gallon bucket. It works well but not perfectly but even so we can then wash dishes in the regular sink. Pictures on page 4 of c-cakes album (don't know how to get them here )

 

[thataway]

Go to your album; open the photo. In the Mac, you hit control and select image address--click on that and it is copied onto the clip board. Go to your post and hit "img" at the top, paste in the link to the address from your clip board, and hit "img" again.

It has been a while since I have done this on the PC, but it is similar.

We just disconnect the hose from the bottom of the sink and put a short hose to a 2 gallon gas can under the sink--both ways do the same thing. Colobear's is perhaps a little simpler.

 

[Sea Wolf]

<some edited>

We just disconnect the hose from the bottom of the sink and put a short hose to a 2 gallon gas can under the sink--both ways do the same thing. Colobear's is perhaps a little simpler.

Bob- How about putting a "Y -Valve" and second drain line under the sink to just reroute the grey water outside or inside? For long on -the-water trips, the tank could be removed for extra storage, and the line plugged for safety.

Just a thought.

Joe. :teeth :thup

 

[hardee]

Neat ideas, both. Thanks Barry and Joe.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[thataway]

<some edited>

We just disconnect the hose from the bottom of the sink and put a short hose to a 2 gallon gas can under the sink--both ways do the same thing. Colobear's is perhaps a little simpler.

Bob- How about putting a "Y -Valve" and second drain line under the sink to just reroute the grey water outside or inside? For long on -the-water trips, the tank could be removed for extra storage, and the line plugged for safety

Joe, we usually will be camping for a week, and then on the water for a couple of weeks. We leave the tank and hose back in the truck or RV. It is very easy to slip the one hose off and the other on. I agree that it would be a great idea if you were changing every other day. I have not looked into Y valve for 3/4" hose. But not as common as for 1 1/2" as used in the black water system.

 

[colbysmith]

Ohoh, I must be making this dry camping way to simple. We just let the water drain on the ground. Of course that's pretty much all it is. Brush our teeth, and maybe a little bit of soapy water (with biogradeable detergent). Nobody has said anything about it when we dribble a little bit of water out the sink drain. (And that's what it is, a little bit.) And now that I give it more thought, does this mean all you with the hose contraptions never let any of your sink water flow overboard? Hm, what about bilge outlets, scupper valves. etc. FWIW, don't know if things have changed at Bullfrog Marina or the other marinas on Lake Powel, but if they haven't, all gray water from the houseboats just drains into the lake. Not saying this is always ok, but I guess I don't see a problem with used potable water (without any bad chemicals) being dumped onto the land or lakes. :roll: :wink: Colby

 

[Sunbeam]

Colby,

When on the water, there are typically no rules against grey water discharge (basically anything but what goes into the toilet is grey water; the toilet is black water). There are some specific bodies of water that do prohibit grey water discharge, but those are (now) the exceptions. So the default is that it is okay to discharge greywater overboard. This is changing in some areas as noted (as is scrubbing bottoms, wash water going overboard, etc.). but "okay" is still the default unless noted.

When on land grey water is the opposite: Typically it is not okay to discharge grey water (onto the ground). There are a few exceptions, but they would not usually ever be in developed places such as a campground, Wal-Mart parking lot, rest area, or etc.

Of course sometimes people are tent camping and use a dishpan and throw it into the bushes, but whether or not that is okay (and that varies), it's still seen as different than discharging (as in through your sink drain). And many campgrounds now have centralized places for tent campers to do dishes, dump out dishpans, etc.

If I were boaterhoming I would make it a point to not discharge any greywater, even if the amount were trivial. I would do the same in a trailer but I just mean I'd be "extra wanting to set a good example" if doing something outside the norm such as boaterhoming (I do have an older/very small camper trailer that was built with the sink drain just going into the ground next to the tire; I re-worked it so that it drains into a jerry can inside under the sink.)

And I can see good reasons for this. Grey water can attract flies and pests when it sits on land. There can be bits of food, sweet toothpaste, etc. I wouldn't really want to pull into a campsite right on top of someone else's grey water discharge (even though there is nothing wrong with greywater in the right places, and I do advocate things like using it to irrigate at home and etc. with proper channels).

 

[thataway]

Colby,
Even in national forest and state park campgrounds letting grey water out onto the ground is frowned upon, and most likely get you kicked out of a campground, if you were caught.

Just as we do with larger RV's the grey water is placed into the septic sewer system. We have seen a person kicked out of the winter campground we stay at in the keys for putting a hose into the bay from his RV and letting the grey water run into the marina. (In this particular marina, there is very rare overnighting on boats.

Sunbeam's point is very well taken--that is the our dishwater has detergents, scraps of food, grease etc in it. There are a few folks who have done this type of thing in parking lots (Flying J, Cracker Barrel, WalMart--all of which allow you to stay overnight, and that has ruined it for the rest of us. Sorry to seem harsh, but those are the rules these days.

True, perhaps we did these things, and brushed our teeth and such into the bushes a number of years back. There are actually a few places in marinas where grey water supposed to be collected--where washing boats is prohibited, etc…the world has changed.

Yes, we do let our water drain overboard at Lake Powell, and in the ocean--there there is a huge pool of water for dilution (although the old adage that "dilution is the solution", does not really cut it for pollution.

 

[colbysmith]

I figured I would get some replies to my comments! :twisted: Don't get me wrong, I don't drain much, but I do think some times things can be taken a bit too far. Perhaps I'm looking at this wrong. It may be that I just don't use my sink for much in my boat. (We use a lot of paper products so we usually don't have any dishes to wash.) I do disagree with the concept that what's not ok to dump on land would be ok to dump in the lakes... I do think there are ways to keep the water going overboard from being a detriment, and not calling negative attention to one's self. But I see nothing wrong with a camper (person) brushing his teeth in the woods and spitting the water out on the ground.

 

[Sunbeam]

But I see nothing wrong with a camper (person) brushing his teeth in the woods and spitting the water out on the ground.

Maybe we misunderstood the way you "boater home." I wouldn't be trailering my boat into the woods, so if I were boater homing, any water coming out of my sink drain (including toothpaste water) would be dribbling into a campsite, a parking lot, or onto the ground on a road or in a rest area. There I think it's poor form (even regardless of rules) to dump anything on the ground. If you're parking in the woods, then it may not be against the rules, and even if it were it is less likely to impact the next person, or draw the attention of a host. If I were out hiking and wild camping (tenting), I would feel fine spitting or dumping a small amount of water in the woods (away from the campsite).

Without arguing the finer points of pollution in the water (which I am not qualified to do), I can see that a small amount of toothpaste water draining from my boat at anchor will be less of a bother for "the next person" than the same thing dribbling onto the ground in a campsite or parking lot. (I don't happen to spend much time in slips.)

I have to admit that I have some negative feelings about "one of us" (a C-Dory towing boater homer) possibly turning campground hosts, Wal-Mart managers, or the public against us as we travel (some folks are already a bit "suspicious" since we are out of the ordinary). I don't mean to sound like I'm coming down on you, but you sort of asked.

 

[colbysmith]

No problem Sunbeam. I don't feel you are coming down on me, just sharing your opinion. I would not want to do anything to paint us in a negative light! When using the boat as a "boaterhome", I'm usually not parking on parking lots, but rather in public or private campgrounds with dirt, grass, rock pads. I think it's great that some folks here go the extra mile to collect their "gray" water. But as someone that does care for the environment and wants to leave my site better for the next person, I don't see a problem with "used" water dribbling on to the ground. (Or lake.) If a campground host asked me to do otherwise, I would oblige. But I have not had any issues with this the few times I've used the boat to camp on land. I have seen a lot more pollution leaking from underneath cars/trucks/RV's than what little water drains out of my sink! As for "camping" in store parking lots being ruined, I say that has been caused more by trash and local camping establishments feeling jilted.

Wondering now, might be interesting to know how many others have gray water tanks rigged up, and how many don't.

 

[Sunbeam]

Glad you didn't take offense. In answer to your question, I don't have a grey water catch system set up in the boat, but I do in my tow rig (I stay in the tow rig when traveling by road).

One time the grey water system in my tow rig needed repair, and I had to wait for parts before I could do it; during that time I used a dishpan in the sink (so it did not drain), then decanted that into a jug and poured it out either in a toilet or a dump station (I was on the road so did this in rest areas).

 

[hardee]

The very few times I have been in a "boaterhoming" situation, I used a plastic basin in the sink and then disposed of that water in a place other than directly onto the parking surface. I have used a storm drain on a couple of occasions, a shrubbery planter, and ditch along the road.

I agree that discharge onto a Walmart or Safeway parking lot is probably going to work to eliminate that area as a potential spot for others to use in the future.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[CDory23]

Bringing back an old thread but the more I go lake boating/overnight on the water the more I think about this. I have discharged grey water from the sink while in the ocean but not any lakes because I was unsure. Is their more specific resource to which lakes allow and ban this type of grey water discharge? I'm sure here in California most lakes wouldn't but I don't know. The campground discharge of greywater is a bit funny to me because of how many tent campers I see washing dishes wherever they can find a freshwater bib. I do understand it looks different being discharged from a vessel though. I assume any graywater in the salt is ok at this point but I"m going to do more research

 

[thataway]

That is really a good question. I most campgrounds, they do not allow discharge of gray water onto the ground. We take the drain hose off the sink, and put a 2 1/2 gallon container under it. We then catch all gray water in the sink, and pour it down the "sewer" or into a sink where dishes are to be washed. When we get back on the water, we hook up the sink drain to the thru hull fitting.

I did make a fitting for the macerator both for the shower pump, the gray water and the sink drain we used on the Tom Cat and C Dory 25. I was never happy with it. But others have been happier. There are little "ears" on the inside of the thru hulls, and you can cut tubing or various items such as a nylon fitting to match these ears, and make a "Turn and catch" type of fitting.

In the ocean most areas gray water is not an issue. With out larger boats we never used a washing machine in a marina or harbor. But did discharge showers.

At Powell, we let the gray water go into the lake. We also swim (bath) in the lake. There are some smaller lakes where I would collect the gray water as I did for camp grounds, and pour it on the ground, inland from the water's edge.

If it was a parking lot, I would cap the container, and never discharge there.

The state of Washington has the most stringent regs ref gray water:

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/vgp/graywater guidance.pdf

Lake Champlain will not allow gray water discharge. I avoid gray water discharge in any of the official No Discharge Zones thru out the US, especially in Fresh Water. Catalina is an exception. I do discharge gray water there.

 

[Sunbeam]

There are also no-discharge (including grey water) areas on Lake Superior. So I guess they are around, although not super prevalent now.

 

[ssobol]

Lake George in N.Y. does not allow any discharges into the lake. I read somewhere that any grey water outlets must be sealed.