Potty Talk

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Donald Tyson

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Has anyone installed a potty enclosure onto the outside deck or interior of their 22 Cruiser? I despise portable potties in the Vee birth area.
Then, after all the goings-on with C-Headgoing out of business, is there any other toilet, composting or otherwise, that fills its place besides Airhead and the other???
I fully intend, whatever boat I purchase, to be civilized aboard...there will be no plastic lined buckets, lol...
 
There was someone who put an enclosed head compartment on his CD22. Had to reconfigure the cabin interior a lot though. Guess it depends on your personal priorities.
 
Some have made an enclosure of canvas or vinyl in the cockpit to surround the portipotty. There are shower enclosures of vinyl which work.

There are a number of portable composting toilets. These do separate the urine and solids, as the Air Head and similar permanently installed composting toilets.

Putting in the "enclosed head" in the 22, costs the aft seat and part of the dinette. As I recollect the area was totally enclosed so that you loose vision in this sector from the helm. Also the enclosed head eliminated the water tank--That had to be re-located. There are going to be compromises in a small "cruising boat".
 
Les offered an enclosed head option for the Marinaut 215. At least one was built with it. I could find a pic of it but difficult to load it here.

For visibility aft the top 2 sections can have windows added with curtains or they can be hinged to fold down to seat height.

I will try finding the pic and paste the link here.

Regards,

Rob
 
Tho I am still a "wannabe" in the C-dory realm, my potty progression in RVs went something like this:

Bucket & Chuckit; VW van, 20mpg
Real portapotty; Alaskan camper on F250, 10mpg
Real (RV) toilet; Bigfoot RV, 7.5mpg.

YMMV, but it seems like "civilized" biology management comes with significant costs.
 
Donald Tyson":18mbk299 said:
Has anyone installed a potty enclosure onto the outside deck or interior of their 22 Cruiser? I despise portable potties in the Vee birth area.
Then, after all the goings-on with C-Headgoing out of business, is there any other toilet, composting or otherwise, that fills its place besides Airhead and the other???
I fully intend, whatever boat I purchase, to be civilized aboard...there will be no plastic lined buckets, lol...
Click to expand...

I was thinking outside behind the the cabin door. Removable Pipe Frame bolted to floor with canvas surround.
 
If you are anchored out in remote locations, the requirement for an enclosure may be reduced. We used to put the porta potti in the cockpit for most uses and really didn't worry about an enclosure. Of course, we did not use it like that when we were in places like marinas.

One example given in the past was a porta potti in the cockpit and a rain poncho.

FWIW, while some people may wish for a proper comfort station, you kind of have to consider how much time you actually spend using it and whether the trade off of having a nice enclosure vs. the space and materials it will take to have one is worth it.

In my mind it is kind of like buying an expensive car. Do you really want to spend a lot of money on something that is going to sit unused most of the time? Some people think it is worth it and others do not.

There is also the whole KISS principle when it comes to waste handling and porta pottis and the like (e.g. Trelino). Not much to them so there is not much that can go wrong. And if it does fail, pitch the whole thing and get a new one. After repairing a marine toilet system (and it will need repair), you will have a whole new level of appreciation of the humble porta potti.
 
I guess I'll have to get the boat first to decide if I can sacrifice any space for a permanent head.
 
Donald Tyson":1vrx19ds said:
I guess I'll have to get the boat first to decide if I can sacrifice any space for a permanent head.
Click to expand...

Come to think of it. Perhaps I should buy a unit and "see how it goes" being used on my properties at home. They don't cost too much and the pre-boat testing may pay dividends.
 
Okay okay! Now I have a boat and one by one I want to adapt things that irritate me the most to less irritable things.
Gotta change out the portapotti to something less infuriating. I'm a bigger person and these little thetfords are very small.
I know that there are consequences for whatever type one might choose but in concept I like the Gottago by Joolca. It has replaceable cassette type receptacles which can make it nice for extended trips...not that I'm purposely collecting this stuff but I don't want to dump it into an otherwise pure environment either. The portapotti/chemical system seems to be wrought with problems. Not to mention the potential to be sprayed on hot days.
My daughter showed me a system she is using aboard their converted bus. It simply looks like a toilet, sits like a toilet and is an overall good experience. It co-mingles your business and when you're done you lightly cover your business with Pine pellets. There is no odor that I can determine and I now use it at a remote property I own. The system is lined with fitted small bags which lift out and seal for legal disposal. No separating is involved.
I found an improvement in this with a system that separates your business into a liquid tank or a solids tank. It can be used as a bagged system as above or it can be used as a chemical toilet. It all depends on which Cassette you install into it.
No fans and no electric needed. And you can order extra cassettes as needed for the duration of your trip.
Has anyone used the "GottaGo by Joolca. If so I'd like your take on it.

https://www.joolca.com/collections/main?filter-value=.Filter_toilet
 
I like the idea of keeping liquids and solids separate, it is definitely less stinky that way. I have no experience with composting toilets though.

Might want to check if 16.9" tall will fit under your V-berth.
 
I have an Air Head composting toilet in my new to me boat and have used it for a full summer now, I can attest that it work very good for me and was pleasantly surprise as I was not expecting to like it very much. It does separate liquids and solids, I empty the liquid every day, the solids, still all in there. I do not use it full time, but I spent 17 night at anchor with 2-4 people on board and another 5 night while traveling back home after I purchased the boat where I use the boat as a camper and sleep in it every night. I much prefer to use my own toilet (remember, it is use as a camper so it’s not a marine head for those few days) then the public one available. It does have a small fan but I do not use it very much, maybe just for 30 minutes or so after use. Once well mixed, it has a little bit of a compost odor that I don’t mind, and only when it’s open.
 
Although composting heads work very well, it is difficult to adapt to a C Dory 22. The 25 on up, where there is a separate head works well. For the last 70 or so years I have used all manor of RV and marine heads. The porti potty is not bad as they go. With the separation of urine and feces, you have to cart the urine to a deposition station every two or three days.

None of these are made to dump in the woods. If you completely compost the fecal material, it is fine for gardens, but this takes a number of months after removal from the boat's storage area, composting or not.

Some have put regular marine heads into the area under the forward bunk-I certainly don't advise that. If you want to use the boat as a "Boater home as you travel, it will not work out well. We always catch our grey water and put it into sewer when we leave a campground. Places like Lake Powell have floating pump out stations, with outside SS porti potty discharge places.
 
I forgot to say that I'm thinking that the potty needs to be outside in the cockpit. I'm not a giant. That said I 'cant use the potty in the vee berth area anyway. I simply don't fit. So I've been using it in the aisle and it gets in the way sometimes. Worse yet it is difficult to sit properly and comfortably on something that low and small. To assail this poor thing, this small target, is to fall in a controlled manor with hope that you hit the correct runway. I'll figure it out I guess but on my next adventure I'm going to put it outside.
 
thataway":13p34sn0 said:
None of these are made to dump in the woods. If you completely compost the fecal material, it is fine for gardens, but this takes a number of months after removal from the boat's storage area, composting or not.
Click to expand...

Bob is right, and it is a bit misleading. Compost toilet (at least the one we are talking about here) do not produce a finish product. It start the process but will not be usable unless finish in a much bigger compost bin, or can be dispose of in other ways.
 
Donald Tyson":1j1ht74i said:
I forgot to say that I'm thinking that the potty needs to be outside in the cockpit. I'm not a giant. That said I 'cant use the potty in the vee berth area anyway. I simply don't fit. So I've been using it in the aisle and it gets in the way sometimes. Worse yet it is difficult to sit properly and comfortably on something that low and small. To assail this poor thing, this small target, is to fall in a controlled manor with hope that you hit the correct runway. I'll figure it out I guess but on my next adventure I'm going to put it outside.
Click to expand...

Most compost marine head are self contained and could be keep in the cockpit and easily cary inside the cabin if more privacy is needed or for night time. That will work good on the 22. They are also much taller then the standard porta potty, much more comfortable to use.
 
I was in charge of the leaf composting at Lafayette College in the nineties and I must say that it takes a year of turning the leaves weekly to get a good product. and to do it right the temps in the pile should reach 140 degrees. Then when done, and before using it, the pile has diminished in bulk to 1 tenth or less its original size. So the amount of compost one might produce in a potty would amount to a small amount in the course of a year. The better reason to use the composting toilet is to get the right gasses working in your favor, aerobic (low earthy odor) and not anaerobic (stinky and volatile).
With the right gasses (non stinky) I wouldn't mind storing the head in the galley at night during cold weather.


C-Wolfe":yzzatgiv said:
thataway":yzzatgiv said:
None of these are made to dump in the woods. If you completely compost the fecal material, it is fine for gardens, but this takes a number of months after removal from the boat's storage area, composting or not.
Click to expand...

Bob is right, and it is a bit misleading. Compost toilet (at least the one we are talking about here) do not produce a finish product. It start the process but will not be usable unless finish in a much bigger compost bin, or can be dispose of in other ways.
Click to expand...
 
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