Heads and hosetails

Holding tanks, electric versus manual heads, and stamping out unwanted smells - Ali Wood gets some advice on sea toilets

- Ali Wood

With our PBO Project Boat Maximus now safely afloat in Chichester Marina, my thoughts turned to the jobs that needed doing before the two-day delivery trip to Poole.

It was also the end of the school summer holidays and trips to the boat were accompanied by three impatient children wanting to climb trees or swim in the harbour. DIY time was limited.

Top of my list was getting the hoses connected to the heads and galley sink. The corroded seacocks had already been replaced with TruDesign composite ones, but we’d run out of time to actually fit the hoses. While the seacocks were closed – and cable-ties protected them from curious little hands – as a double-measure I wanted the hoses fitted to the heads before we set sail. I don’t know if this was so much a safety issue as my own worries. The seacocks were, of course, exceptionally robust, but I just didn’t like the idea of them being our only defence against sinking.

Admittedly, now would be a good time to fit a holding tank, but we’d just come out of lockdown which, coupled with Brexit, meant prolonged delivery times for marine equipment. For now, I decided to simply refurbish the heads and replace the hoses, and fit a holding tank later.

To my enormous relief, PBO contributor Gilbert Park came to the rescue. Living in nearby Emsworth, and being handy with a toolkit and a camera, he offered to help me out. I also sought advice from Richard Call of water tech company Xylem, who distribute Jabsco toilets, and Ashley Marles of Lee Sanitation.

Choosing hoses