Thanks again for posting the information that really answers the questions that will make or brake a cruise. Not the most glamorous topic but one of tremendous import.
Cheers Ken! We're not glamorous people anyway ;) The whole point of making videos for us is to share our experience (the good and the bad) and help other people who want to go cruising get out there. So these practical topics need to be addressed, somehow. Elena writes quite a lot of useful stuff on the blog too, if you fancy checking it out. sailingkittiwake.com/
To compost , you need moisture and oxygen for the bacteria so they can thrive and multiply so they break down the poop and fibre. When it is working well you only need to empty about half of it twice per year.There should be a slight sheen on it when mixing it. You mix it to incorporate oxygen into the process so the bacteria can breath. You've got the right bacteria working for you if there is no smell at all and the finished product looks and feels exactly like odourless potting soil. Drying out fresh poop sounds dangerous. I'm sure that would make all kinds of pathogens air bourn when it comes time to empty it. I give a little spray of "compost quick"on my turd and cover it with a little scoop of compressed peat moss mixed 50/50 with confetti from a paper shredder and mix in a gallon of warm fresh water once a week. Don't over water it or you'll kill your bacteria and you'll have a problem to get it working again. Ive been using mine for 16 years and it hasn't failed me yet. If you take care of it . It will take care of you ! Cheers
I have had an envirolet for almost 40 years in a log cabin on a mountain. It requires it's own solar panel and 12 volt battery as well as an air vent to the outside. A fan and heater inside the unit dries out the fecal matter and evaporates the urine. A series of shake trays breaks the fecal matter down into what looks like dust which you then throw out. I have wondered why more people haven't installed them on boats. I am happy yours is working for you. Great episode.
Hi, do you have any experience what happens when you empty the composting toilet, than leave it for - let`s say - 6 months with only the fan on. Any smell or debree build up? Our boat is used only a few times each year and is posted far away from us (about 600 miles), so we close it down for the winter.. best regards.
Hi Tibor, we've done exactly that lately - while we've been in the yard we've just been using the loos in the yard. We emptied it when we first got here and turned the fan off after that. There hasn't been a smell. If you liked, you could clean the bucket (maybe with bleach?) I guess but we haven't felt the need to and it hasn't been stinky.
Tibor Kiss Hi guys. I haven't had a problem up on the mountain either. Usually, we dump the ashes, and make sure the urine is all evaporated before we are gone for a while. The only thing going is the ventilator fan on the roof which is wind driven. Never had a problem with smell in forty years.
I like that you gave a shout-out to your number one fan, but really I was here to learn about your number two.... In all seriousness, thanks for putting this video up. It's probably the most mundane topic in sailing, but I came here looking for someone to talk me into getting a boat that already had a composting head installed, and you've set my mind at ease.
I have not added a composting toilet to my boat but have one at my hunting cabin. Using a Nature's Head, it has been trouble-free and runs off a solar powered fan. I did rig mine so that the liquids drain directly outside into a gravel filled pit so no issues with freezing of the urine if not emptied during winter.
Thank you for the information, I'm building my boat and have been planning on a standard head and all of the complications that go with it. After some research and your video I am now leaning towards a composting head. Thanks for sharing!
I had large holding tank on my boat. Worked well no smell. Problem was the nearest pump out was 75 miles away. Only options were to hire porta pottie pump out truck or pump overboard. Next boat will be composting or if big enough both.
Yes, it can be tough to find a pump. We think you're making a good decision Ed. Having both, if the boat is big enough, is also a good option. Our friends' holding tank overfilled into the bilge while they were crossing Biscay... It wasn't a pleasant passage - they had to spend the whole crossing in the cockpit. They felt sick as soon as they went down below.
We hope you find this video useful, guys. If you have any questions on our composting loo, please leave them below in the comments. Fair winds, Elena & Ryan
Interesting info thank you. This product looks very good value compared to its competition. Two questions if I may: 1) how do you prevent sea water entering the venting that goes through the deck? Do you put a weather proof cap on it or something? 2) how did you secure it to the loo to the floor?
Good info, I have a jabsco so far so good however I only do weekend sailing. I have also heard the lavac are good, I stick to the rule of cheep toilet paper for the following reasons so light it has less chance of blocking the toilet and breaks up easier in the sea also cheep to buy.
There are only 2 models people recommend in the USA and they only seem to have small holding tank for the pee and a very shallow bowl for the pee. People complain about forgetting to empty tank. Do you have a small pump to move the liquid overboard? . The USA models also usually have an agitator for the solids and peat or coconut husk base in the container so using a bin liner is not an option, So the toilet has to be dissembled and the waste dumped in a bag before taking ashore. But with the 'added media and the agitprop they seem. To last about 4 weeks typically. The Uk/ European models seem to be designed better. I don't have one yet but have read a lot of reports from cruisers and RVers. Thanks for the video. Warren
Hi I read the comments and your toilet is above the waterline so you use a gravity drain for the liquids, a small holding tank and hand pump would be a good option. The solid composting part is different from the USA models , airhead and natural head are the 2 main options available. Your brand 'Simploo' appears to have a larger air fan and flow and mainly dries out the poop like kitty litter but with air flow and taking any odor outside with it. The USA model with the peat moss added actually breakdown the solids so they are legal in many areas to apparently dump on the ground ( or overboard) although a trash dumpster sounds a better option. With the small addition of the Peat moss and a little water it would probably actually 'compost' the solids . Yours is actually a waterless toilet that just dries out the solids like kitty litter. There are many no drain toilet options out there and yours clearly has merit and some well designed components. Thanks for sharing this tricky issue that can be very off putting to some folks. Cheers Warren.
Hi Warren, that's right - it's called a waterless composting loo on the company website - it doesn't compost completely in our loo but dries out and then we dispose of it.
Actually there are "three" urine diverting compact composting toilets on the market in the USA. All three were originally designed for boats in general and sailboats in particular. The C-Head is the second best selling model between #3 the Airhead and #1 the Nature's Head. That being said, the cost of any of them is expensive compared to those manufactured in the UK. With VAT taxes, exchange rates and tariff pissing contests, it can be difficult to compete. Full disclosure, I manufacture the C-Head and I was invited to visit this site by a subscriber and C-Head customer. Twenty years ago, I came very close to buying a Heavenly Twins as we had the unusual good fortune of having two of them in a tiny marina on the St Johns river north of Orlando. One was for sale for $9000. It needed a lot of TLC for sure (the owner had painted it with house paint, stem to stern it looked like) but she was definitely salvageable. I wound up with one of Tony Smith's new Geminis. Lived on her for five years. Wonderful boat.
That is the plan, however the build may change to a Wharram Cat for the first boat (2 jobs fell through as well as some freelance work here so can build the Wharram for 1/3 of the cost).... but you know what they say... your second boat is 2x as fast as the first! so may not loose to much time and will still have a boat (and faster as the build will take about 1/2 the time).... Will be putting an update soon on the channel (this week) to catch everyone up.... loosing the jobs bummed me out and got lazy lol
Sorry to hear about the work. We've been on a couple of Wharrams and we're fans. If you go for it, maybe try and rearrange the indoor spaces - they are usually pretty small for the boat's size, so you need to be smart with how you plan them out.
I have two questions. Two years on are you still a fans of your composting loo? and what happens in a storm/rough seas when things are tossed about? does everything (wee/poo/the poo door) stay put? Sorry for the graphic questions but we are hoping to follow in your footsteps in 4 years time and so we want the upgrades that we make to be right for all types of weather - not just our comfortable marina on the east coast of England.
currently building my own....Less holes in the boat is better, and a holding tank is a nightmare. At some point any complex toilet will fail and some one has the glorious task to fix it.
I've got 22k of my early retirement lump sum left and get 600 a month .You two make my dreams expand!Thanks.Shit video btw!!aw c'mon surely someone else said it too!Honestly tho you've lessened my fear of composting loos !thanks again!!keep safex
Hello Sailing Kittiwake, thank you for your videos. My wife and I have been following you with interest. Which composting loo did you go for? If you don't mind would you mind explaining how you came to choose the one you have as well? I'm currently looking at the Airhead for our upcoming boat, but the Nature's head looks equally as good.
Cheers guys! We have a Simploo. We chose it because it was much cheaper than any other composting heads, easily shipped directly to us in Falmouth, and it doesn't need any sawdust. The fan also doesn't draw any energy whatsoever - we can't see it in our energy use report from the solar panels controllers. It was also the perfect size for our boat, of course. We hope this helps :) Let us know if you have any more questions. Fair winds!
Nice info on a sticky topic! Seriously, tho, more info could have been provided. What do you use to mix it with? sawdust? Cedar mulch? Others? How easy is it to get abroad? Thanks!
Thanks for commenting Watrworld. As we said in the video, our loo doesn’t need any sawdust, so we don’t mix it with anything. We’ve been cruising Europe and it’s been fine. Each country/area has its own rules though, you need to check the rules for the area you want to cruise.
It's a Simploo. It's a small UK-based company, more like a one-man band really. They're built in-house and they're way cheaper than most composting heads on the market. Cheers Harry!
We’d still choose composting/waterless. Both the manual and electric ones stink so much and all the time! The composting one only smells when you get the bag out and the smell is gone in five minutes.
Hi Guys, Could you let me have the info on your compo toilet I'm thinking of going that way? Do you put paper in the toilet or use a baggie ? whats its price ? would you get a different version next time? thanks, Steve.
How clean is the bowl after a huge man size load is recklessly tossed in there ? That design looked like there was a fine margin for error . Thanks for the info
@@SailingKittiwake Ha !!!!! 😂😂😂😂 Cool man I was born with a defect it's not my fault. Been trying to narrow down a composting head choice . Thanks for the feed back ✌️✌️
Thanks for this episode Elena and Ryan, I've been considering a composting loo for my boat (fewer holes in the hull the better in my opinion) so far all of the separator ones I've looked at divert the liquid in to a bottle, so the drain pipe on yours seems a real winner. However, how do you get it to drain? presumably the skin fitting is not above the water line and if it's below the water line haven't you put a goose neck in to prevent siphoning or do you have it going out via a pump? Or am I just being really stupid and missing something obvious?
Hi guys! What brand toilet did you go with? I would like to do the same setup where my liquids can go out the hull when avail to do so. I didn't realize you could setup a compost toilet to do this. Was it difficult to switch the old head out for the new system?
I tried the find the information in the comments below but didn't see it asked so if someone did and you answered, I apologize in advance but what manufacture is your composting loo? I'm currently building my own for my Pearson 26, just waiting for the main part I ordered to come in.
At 2:00 what you call a big bottle container we call a gallon jar or jug. Just pee in an old wide mouth gallon pickle or olive plastic jug from your used up food stores. Better yet, always have a porta pottie onboard and pee like a pro :-) BUT, space being a premium, perhaps you should dump that toilet and use a porta pottie and making it a composting porta pottie. Put the DIY how to video up for everyone to enjoy o----) Over the decades I have had to do everything form using a bucket to,,, (in the hurricanes for weeks) only being able to hold on the lifelines as you squat over the side on the leeward (while the man on the tiller sat on the high side and of course gave you as much privacy as possible. The great news is that the waves would wash your butt so no TP was ever needed. If you have to ask why we did not (could not) use the toilet, then you have never sailed in a hurricane bouncing like a bronking horse with seas well above your mast, day and night. Think about it. Very messy and everything was wet so no TP to be had anywhere. Make sure you harness in. Sadly we only had one harness and that was for the helmsman. The pooper had to risk their life and hold on for dear life. Oddly I was tossed overboard one night but grabbed the lifelines as I flew from sitting in the hatch to flying overboard. My legs were being sucked under but when the boat healed the other way my legs broke free and I saved myself. I did flip over the rail and hit my head which was bleeding but hey, at least no brains fell out :-) And that was my first trip. Ahhh the 1970s and sailing into a hurricane to escape Haiti pirates 30 ft off our stern at the southern tip of Haiti. NEVER sail a dangerous area with no moon. OH, they have radar now. What if it is not working? What if the person on watch is reading a book or in la la land or on their 1st cruise like I was and just enjoying the restful feelings??? Ahhhh the good ole days and God taking care of fools like all of us can be from time to time...
Problem 1): Clearly there will be times when the solid waste doesn't make it down the proper hole completely, so, wiping bowl clean by hand often is required, I ass-u-me. Solution: Purchase a box or two of heavy rubber gloves. 2): I struggle to comprehend that two adult humans, assumption of one solid movement daily per person could go longer than 7 days without emptying container. So, if you're at sea for a month or more, storing 4 or more bags of un-composted "Human waste" on board could present storage & odor problems while awaiting to harbor the vessel for waste disposal, also the possibility of those bags getting splashed open on the deck from mild to rough seas would be unpleasant to say the least. I would bet that every commercial and most assuredly "most" if not all private yachts and sailing vessels legally dump their sewage overboard while at sea, I'm assuming here. I'm just curious why you decide to store the bags on deck awaiting for disposal at harbor. Thanks and all the best.
Yes you are right their toilet 'simploo' is sold as a waterless design it uses larger air flow to dry out the solids like kitty litter instead of true composting. But it's clearly an interesting option as the USA composting models don't allow the use of bin liners which makes disposal of the waste simpler than the USA models that require transfer the waste to a separate bag to take ashore to dump ( unless you dump overboard!) Cheers Warren
Just shows your skills ... you’ve actually made an interesting video about your loo .... awesome. 🤣 Sail on, guys, you’re an inspiration.
😂😂😂 Roy, you’re the best. Thanks so much.
Thanks again for posting the information that really answers the questions that will make or brake a cruise. Not the most glamorous topic but one of tremendous import.
Cheers Ken! We're not glamorous people anyway ;)
The whole point of making videos for us is to share our experience (the good and the bad) and help other people who want to go cruising get out there. So these practical topics need to be addressed, somehow.
Elena writes quite a lot of useful stuff on the blog too, if you fancy checking it out. sailingkittiwake.com/
To compost , you need moisture and oxygen for the bacteria so they can thrive and multiply so they break down the poop and fibre. When it is working well you only need to empty about half of it twice per year.There should be a slight sheen on it when mixing it. You mix it to incorporate oxygen into the process so the bacteria can breath. You've got the right bacteria working for you if there is no smell at all and the finished product looks and feels exactly like odourless potting soil. Drying out fresh poop sounds dangerous. I'm sure that would make all kinds of pathogens air bourn when it comes time to empty it. I give a little spray of "compost quick"on my turd and cover it with a little scoop of compressed peat moss mixed 50/50 with confetti from a paper shredder and mix in a gallon of warm fresh water once a week. Don't over water it or you'll kill your bacteria and you'll have a problem to get it working again. Ive been using mine for 16 years and it hasn't failed me yet. If you take care of it . It will take care of you ! Cheers
You really know your shit :) thanks for the additional info
I have had an envirolet for almost 40 years in a log cabin on a mountain. It requires it's own solar panel and 12 volt battery as well as an air vent to the outside. A fan and heater inside the unit dries out the fecal matter and evaporates the urine. A series of shake trays breaks the fecal matter down into what looks like dust which you then throw out. I have wondered why more people haven't installed them on boats. I am happy yours is working for you. Great episode.
Cheers Charles - sounds like a great setup and we love the sound of a log cabin on the mountain - very John Muir :)
Hi, do you have any experience what happens when you empty the composting toilet, than leave it for - let`s say - 6 months with only the fan on. Any smell or debree build up? Our boat is used only a few times each year and is posted far away from us (about 600 miles), so we close it down for the winter.. best regards.
Hi Tibor, we've done exactly that lately - while we've been in the yard we've just been using the loos in the yard. We emptied it when we first got here and turned the fan off after that. There hasn't been a smell. If you liked, you could clean the bucket (maybe with bleach?) I guess but we haven't felt the need to and it hasn't been stinky.
Tibor Kiss Hi guys. I haven't had a problem up on the mountain either. Usually, we dump the ashes, and make sure the urine is all evaporated before we are gone for a while. The only thing going is the ventilator fan on the roof which is wind driven. Never had a problem with smell in forty years.
I like that you gave a shout-out to your number one fan, but really I was here to learn about your number two.... In all seriousness, thanks for putting this video up. It's probably the most mundane topic in sailing, but I came here looking for someone to talk me into getting a boat that already had a composting head installed, and you've set my mind at ease.
😂😂😂👍
Great practical video. Keep up the great work.
Thanks a lot Geremy!
I have not added a composting toilet to my boat but have one at my hunting cabin. Using a Nature's Head, it has been trouble-free and runs off a solar powered fan. I did rig mine so that the liquids drain directly outside into a gravel filled pit so no issues with freezing of the urine if not emptied during winter.
It sounds very efficient! Nice.
Thank you for the information, I'm building my boat and have been planning on a standard head and all of the complications that go with it. After some research and your video I am now leaning towards a composting head. Thanks for sharing!
Really enlightening video
Had a home built compost toilet on my narrowboat for the last two years. Cost under £30 and is brilliant.
Perfect! Even cheaper than ours :)
I had large holding tank on my boat. Worked well no smell. Problem was the nearest pump out was 75 miles away. Only options were to hire porta pottie pump out truck or pump overboard. Next boat will be composting or if big enough both.
Yes, it can be tough to find a pump. We think you're making a good decision Ed. Having both, if the boat is big enough, is also a good option.
Our friends' holding tank overfilled into the bilge while they were crossing Biscay... It wasn't a pleasant passage - they had to spend the whole crossing in the cockpit. They felt sick as soon as they went down below.
We hope you find this video useful, guys. If you have any questions on our composting loo, please leave them below in the comments. Fair winds, Elena & Ryan
Good stuff,guys. Informative. I think you're doing a great job of portraying the simple, budget cruising life. I know it works. Enjoy!
Cheers! It's great, isn't it? Good luck with your project - looks like it's coming along well!
Thank you. I'll be fitting a composting loo. The boat will be low-tech :-)
Great choice! But we're biased, of course. Hehe! All the very best, Elena & Ryan
Interesting info thank you. This product looks very good value compared to its competition. Two questions if I may: 1) how do you prevent sea water entering the venting that goes through the deck? Do you put a weather proof cap on it or something? 2) how did you secure it to the loo to the floor?
Good info, I have a jabsco so far so good however I only do weekend sailing. I have also heard the lavac are good, I stick to the rule of cheep toilet paper for the following reasons so light it has less chance of blocking the toilet and breaks up easier in the sea also cheep to buy.
Great tip! Cheers Al.
There are only 2 models people recommend in the USA and they only seem to have small holding tank for the pee and a very shallow bowl for the pee. People complain about forgetting to empty tank. Do you have a small pump to move the liquid overboard? . The USA models also usually have an agitator for the solids and peat or coconut husk base in the container so using a bin liner is not an option, So the toilet has to be dissembled and the waste dumped in a bag before taking ashore. But with the 'added media and the agitprop they seem. To last about 4 weeks typically. The Uk/ European models seem to be designed better. I don't have one yet but have read a lot of reports from cruisers and RVers. Thanks for the video. Warren
Hi I read the comments and your toilet is above the waterline so you use a gravity drain for the liquids, a small holding tank and hand pump would be a good option. The solid composting part is different from the USA models , airhead and natural head are the 2 main options available.
Your brand 'Simploo' appears to have a larger air fan and flow and mainly dries out the poop like kitty litter but with air flow and taking any odor outside with it. The USA model with the peat moss added actually breakdown the solids so they are legal in many areas to apparently dump on the ground ( or overboard) although a trash dumpster sounds a better option. With the small addition of the Peat moss and a little water it would probably actually 'compost' the solids . Yours is actually a waterless toilet that just dries out the solids like kitty litter. There are many no drain toilet options out there and yours clearly has merit and some well designed components.
Thanks for sharing this tricky issue that can be very off putting to some folks. Cheers Warren.
Hi Warren, that's right - it's called a waterless composting loo on the company website - it doesn't compost completely in our loo but dries out and then we dispose of it.
Actually there are "three" urine diverting compact composting toilets on the market in the USA. All three were originally designed for boats in general and sailboats in particular. The C-Head is the second best selling model between #3 the Airhead and #1 the Nature's Head. That being said, the cost of any of them is expensive compared to those manufactured in the UK. With VAT taxes, exchange rates and tariff pissing contests, it can be difficult to compete. Full disclosure, I manufacture the C-Head and I was invited to visit this site by a subscriber and C-Head customer. Twenty years ago, I came very close to buying a Heavenly Twins as we had the unusual good fortune of having two of them in a tiny marina on the St Johns river north of Orlando. One was for sale for $9000. It needed a lot of TLC for sure (the owner had painted it with house paint, stem to stern it looked like) but she was definitely salvageable. I wound up with one of Tony Smith's new Geminis. Lived on her for five years. Wonderful boat.
Nice to meet you. Congratulations for your channel. Could you share the brand of your composite toilet please. Thanks.
thank you for sharing this, I am planing for a composting head for our sailboat build.
You have our full support :D Hehe!
hehehe, thanks I can use all the support I can get :)
Your build sounds really interesting. Is the plan to sail in high latitudes?
That is the plan, however the build may change to a Wharram Cat for the first boat (2 jobs fell through as well as some freelance work here so can build the Wharram for 1/3 of the cost).... but you know what they say... your second boat is 2x as fast as the first! so may not loose to much time and will still have a boat (and faster as the build will take about 1/2 the time).... Will be putting an update soon on the channel (this week) to catch everyone up.... loosing the jobs bummed me out and got lazy lol
Sorry to hear about the work. We've been on a couple of Wharrams and we're fans. If you go for it, maybe try and rearrange the indoor spaces - they are usually pretty small for the boat's size, so you need to be smart with how you plan them out.
"Our Number One fan Manfred Schmalmach... " Looking forward to hearing from your Number Two fan...
I have two questions. Two years on are you still a fans of your composting loo? and what happens in a storm/rough seas when things are tossed about? does everything (wee/poo/the poo door) stay put? Sorry for the graphic questions but we are hoping to follow in your footsteps in 4 years time and so we want the upgrades that we make to be right for all types of weather - not just our comfortable marina on the east coast of England.
currently building my own....Less holes in the boat is better, and a holding tank is a nightmare. At some point any complex toilet will fail and some one has the glorious task to fix it.
Agreed! We might have to deal with a bag of dry poo every few weeks, but we happily trade that for no risk of sewage in our bilges, ever 😁
Loo, that's just a funny word... :) loved it!
Haha. We didn’t realise it was only a British word 😁
head, toilet, loo, youtube expanding my vocabulary... :)
Good information.
Thanks a lot Brian. It's really nice of you to comment often on our videos. We appreciate it. Elena & Ryan
Where did you buy your loo from ? Also where did you buy your solar panels and what make are they? Thanks :D Great video x
Hi, I think we got the loo direct from simploo and we got the panels from Renytek
I seem to have missed the brand of the CT you installed...can you advise? Thanks for the vid
I've got 22k of my early retirement lump sum left and get 600 a month .You two make my dreams expand!Thanks.Shit video btw!!aw c'mon surely someone else said it too!Honestly tho you've lessened my fear of composting loos !thanks again!!keep safex
Hi Andrew, sounds like you've got the makings of an adventure! All the best. Ryan and Elena.
Hello Sailing Kittiwake, thank you for your videos. My wife and I have been following you with interest. Which composting loo did you go for? If you don't mind would you mind explaining how you came to choose the one you have as well? I'm currently looking at the Airhead for our upcoming boat, but the Nature's head looks equally as good.
Cheers guys! We have a Simploo. We chose it because it was much cheaper than any other composting heads, easily shipped directly to us in Falmouth, and it doesn't need any sawdust. The fan also doesn't draw any energy whatsoever - we can't see it in our energy use report from the solar panels controllers. It was also the perfect size for our boat, of course. We hope this helps :) Let us know if you have any more questions. Fair winds!
Sailing Kittiwake superb... Thank you.
Nice info on a sticky topic! Seriously, tho, more info could have been provided. What do you use to mix it with? sawdust? Cedar mulch? Others? How easy is it to get abroad? Thanks!
Thanks for commenting Watrworld.
As we said in the video, our loo doesn’t need any sawdust, so we don’t mix it with anything.
We’ve been cruising Europe and it’s been fine. Each country/area has its own rules though, you need to check the rules for the area you want to cruise.
Oops, sorry, I guess I did not hear! Wow, thats excellent.
What brand is your composting toilet ? Keep vides coming.
It's a Simploo. It's a small UK-based company, more like a one-man band really. They're built in-house and they're way cheaper than most composting heads on the market.
Cheers Harry!
Good info tks
Cheers 😊
if you would mostly be out on the ocean/sea it would be still better than a normal one that dumps all out?
We’d still choose composting/waterless. Both the manual and electric ones stink so much and all the time! The composting one only smells when you get the bag out and the smell is gone in five minutes.
Hi Guys,
Could you let me have the info on your compo toilet I'm thinking of going that way?
Do you put paper in the toilet or use a baggie ?
whats its price ?
would you get a different version next time?
thanks,
Steve.
How clean is the bowl after a huge man size load is recklessly tossed in there ? That design looked like there was a fine margin for error . Thanks for the info
Not sure if your butt hole is as huge as you paint it, but there is ample margin for error for an average-sized butt hole 😂
@@SailingKittiwake Ha !!!!! 😂😂😂😂 Cool man I was born with a defect it's not my fault. Been trying to narrow down a composting head choice . Thanks for the feed back ✌️✌️
Thanks for this episode Elena and Ryan, I've been considering a composting loo for my boat (fewer holes in the hull the better in my opinion) so far all of the separator ones I've looked at divert the liquid in to a bottle, so the drain pipe on yours seems a real winner. However, how do you get it to drain? presumably the skin fitting is not above the water line and if it's below the water line haven't you put a goose neck in to prevent siphoning or do you have it going out via a pump? Or am I just being really stupid and missing something obvious?
Hi Darren, on our cat the loo is just above the waterline so it drains straight through the thru hull. A pump could work also though I think.
Thanks guys, that's helpful
Which brand/model did you go for?
Is it hard to find coco coir or peat moss while cruising? What do you use to fill it after dumping?
What brand and model composting toilet do you have?
Is the fan on all the time or just on a timer from when last used?
All the time 😊 But the solar panel controllers don’t even show it in the consumption report so it must draw next to nothing.
Hi guys! What brand toilet did you go with? I would like to do the same setup where my liquids can go out the hull when avail to do so. I didn't realize you could setup a compost toilet to do this. Was it difficult to switch the old head out for the new system?
It's a Simploo, a British tiny manufacturer (a one-man band). No, it was easy, took a day.
Hi. Silly question, but does the wee get out the through hole? Is your loo mounted above the water line?
They have answered earlier: "The loo is just above the waterline so it drains straight through the thru hull."
I tried the find the information in the comments below but didn't see it asked so if someone did and you answered, I apologize in advance but what manufacture is your composting loo? I'm currently building my own for my Pearson 26, just waiting for the main part I ordered to come in.
We got ours from the UK - Simploo 😊
I'm curious about the venting that goes through your deck. Do you notice any odour while ondeck?
Only if you’re very close to the vent (meaning your nose is right next to it) and someone’s just been 😁 It’s never been a problem for us.
good to know. thanks. I'm disturbed you know the specifics :)
Terence Alderson then maybe a composting loo isn’t for you 😁 you will get disturbed a lot sharing it 😁 (joking, sort of)
Which Kind of Composting Toilet have you got?
No problem Ni! We took out any brand references because we didn’t want this video to feel like an ad.
It’s a Simploo.
LOL. The sh-HOOT-it bag! :)
😂🙌
Great video..as usual. I have a std head.. but I'm glad to know if it fails I could still pee overboard and poo in a bag as a back up.
😂 that’s another way of doing it.
Or you could just go for the good old bucket and chuck it 😁
At 2:00 what you call a big bottle container we call a gallon jar or jug. Just pee in an old wide mouth gallon pickle or olive plastic jug from your used up food stores. Better yet, always have a porta pottie onboard and pee like a pro :-) BUT, space being a premium, perhaps you should dump that toilet and use a porta pottie and making it a composting porta pottie. Put the DIY how to video up for everyone to enjoy o----) Over the decades I have had to do everything form using a bucket to,,, (in the hurricanes for weeks) only being able to hold on the lifelines as you squat over the side on the leeward (while the man on the tiller sat on the high side and of course gave you as much privacy as possible.
The great news is that the waves would wash your butt so no TP was ever needed. If you have to ask why we did not (could not) use the toilet, then you have never sailed in a hurricane bouncing like a bronking horse with seas well above your mast, day and night. Think about it. Very messy and everything was wet so no TP to be had anywhere. Make sure you harness in.
Sadly we only had one harness and that was for the helmsman. The pooper had to risk their life and hold on for dear life. Oddly I was tossed overboard one night but grabbed the lifelines as I flew from sitting in the hatch to flying overboard. My legs were being sucked under but when the boat healed the other way my legs broke free and I saved myself. I did flip over the rail and hit my head which was bleeding but hey, at least no brains fell out :-)
And that was my first trip. Ahhh the 1970s and sailing into a hurricane to escape Haiti pirates 30 ft off our stern at the southern tip of Haiti. NEVER sail a dangerous area with no moon. OH, they have radar now. What if it is not working? What if the person on watch is reading a book or in la la land or on their 1st cruise like I was and just enjoying the restful feelings??? Ahhhh the good ole days and God taking care of fools like all of us can be from time to time...
Lol @ "No 1 fan" :)
😳
Problem 1): Clearly there will be times when the solid waste doesn't make it down the proper hole completely, so, wiping bowl clean by hand often is required, I ass-u-me. Solution: Purchase a box or two of heavy rubber gloves. 2): I struggle to comprehend that two adult humans, assumption of one solid movement daily per person could go longer than 7 days without emptying container. So, if you're at sea for a month or more, storing 4 or more bags of un-composted "Human waste" on board could present storage & odor problems while awaiting to harbor the vessel for waste disposal, also the possibility of those bags getting splashed open on the deck from mild to rough seas would be unpleasant to say the least. I would bet that every commercial and most assuredly "most" if not all private yachts and sailing vessels legally dump their sewage overboard while at sea, I'm assuming here. I'm just curious why you decide to store the bags on deck awaiting for disposal at harbor. Thanks and all the best.
What a shity subject! Haahah Great video! ☆☆☆☆☆
Not a composting toilet, it is a poop and sawdust in a bag and throw away. Nobody composts this stuff. Ridiculous.
Yes you are right their toilet 'simploo' is sold as a waterless design it uses larger air flow to dry out the solids like kitty litter instead of true composting.
But it's clearly an interesting option as the USA composting models don't allow the use of bin liners which makes disposal of the waste simpler than the USA models that require transfer the waste to a separate bag to take ashore to dump ( unless you dump overboard!)
Cheers Warren
Their toilet does not require sawdust.