Whoever said boating was glamorous....

[Naughty Cal]

Whoever said boating was glamorous is a liar. Take it from me.

 

On a wet and windy Saturday for no reason other than we could and we wanted to we set off from the marina on what would be our last outing before we go away in a couple of weeks. The run upto Lincoln doesnt go bad and the weather looks like it might brighten up so we head off to Fiskerton. Once we have decended Stamp End Lock however things start to go downhill from there.

 

The River Witham is currently very weed infested and even 170hp isnt enough to keep you ploughing through. So every kilometer or so we needed to stop and deweed the props. No problem we will make it eventually there is no rush. Until clunk. We pick up a piece of wood between the props and smash the props in good and proper. We hadnt even seen the wood for the weed.

 

We eventually moor up at Fiskerton to survey the damage and it isnt good. They will need sending away for refurbing and quickly. No worries these things happen. So we moor up and settle in for the night only to now find that the bathroom light has packed up as well. This trip really aint going well but it is set to get even worse. We had emptied the holding tank prior to setting off and flushed it through with fresh water. We now needed to get rid of the fresh water. So we press the macerator button to find to our horro it aint working, just creating a dead short.

 

So on a miserable, wet sunday morning, in the middle of a nature reserve we set about dismantling the midships cabin to find the pump and the cause of the problem. Armed with bucket loads of disinfectant and warm water Liam, the brave soul, delves into the unknown and resurfaces with the offending item. He is quickly ejected onto the wet pontoon where he sets about dismantling the disgusting pump. It is soon apparent that the thing is clogged up with hair and the remains of a wet wipe. Moral of the story if you have guests aboard or anyone uses your loo make sure they know what can and can not go down it. The pump is eventually reassembled but not before we have to track down a new impellor for it.

 

It is all now working again but it is safe to say this weekend has not gone according to plan.

 

[cereal tiller]

nice picture

it looks,a bit like,ermm that's it!NARROW BOAT country.

[Naughty Cal]

nice picture

it looks,a bit like,ermm that's it!NARROW BOAT country.

 

Ermm couldnt be further from the truth. Its a bit like ermm, thats it, cruiser county

[by'eck]

Guests on board will always block the loo.

 

Doesn't matter how much you brief them; how good or well maintained its is.

 

Some sort of Murphy's law

Edited June 20, 2011 by richardhula

[Naughty Cal]

Guests on board will always block the loo.

 

Doesn't matter how much you brief them; how good or well maintained its is.

 

Some sort of Murphy's law

 

We had so many people using the loo last weekend at the Burton Waters Pontoon Party that it is impossible to say who it was. Most of them were boat owners so it seems strange that one of them stuck a wet wipe in there. Could have been one of the kids i suppose. Still its working now and another job we can say we have tackled.

[Guest]

Guests on board will always block the loo.

 

Doesn't matter how much you brief them; how good or well maintained its is.

 

Some sort of Murphy's law

 

Even after we had our cassette fitted I retained the -

 

'Do not put anything down this toilet unless you have eaten it' sign as a reminder.

 

(and no this does not mean you can't put toilet tissue down it as was mentioned last time I mentioned this in here )

[mrsmelly]

Whoever said boating was glamorous is a liar. Take it from me.

 

On a wet and windy Saturday for no reason other than we could and we wanted to we set off from the marina on what would be our last outing before we go away in a couple of weeks. The run upto Lincoln doesnt go bad and the weather looks like it might brighten up so we head off to Fiskerton. Once we have decended Stamp End Lock however things start to go downhill from there.

 

The River Witham is currently very weed infested and even 170hp isnt enough to keep you ploughing through. So every kilometer or so we needed to stop and deweed the props. No problem we will make it eventually there is no rush. Until clunk. We pick up a piece of wood between the props and smash the props in good and proper. We hadnt even seen the wood for the weed.

 

We eventually moor up at Fiskerton to survey the damage and it isnt good. They will need sending away for refurbing and quickly. No worries these things happen. So we moor up and settle in for the night only to now find that the bathroom light has packed up as well. This trip really aint going well but it is set to get even worse. We had emptied the holding tank prior to setting off and flushed it through with fresh water. We now needed to get rid of the fresh water. So we press the macerator button to find to our horro it aint working, just creating a dead short.

 

So on a miserable, wet sunday morning, in the middle of a nature reserve we set about dismantling the midships cabin to find the pump and the cause of the problem. Armed with bucket loads of disinfectant and warm water Liam, the brave soul, delves into the unknown and resurfaces with the offending item. He is quickly ejected onto the wet pontoon where he sets about dismantling the disgusting pump. It is soon apparent that the thing is clogged up with hair and the remains of a wet wipe. Moral of the story if you have guests aboard or anyone uses your loo make sure they know what can and can not go down it. The pump is eventually reassembled but not before we have to track down a new impellor for it.

 

It is all now working again but it is safe to say this weekend has not gone according to plan.

 

 

Ahhh Phylis looks like another vote for the good old solid sewer tube prop AND A PROPER Boat bog not a silly macerator.....

[blackrose]

I have one on these signs above the toilet.

 

 

By the way Phillis, how do you de-weed your prop? Is yours an inboard engine with some kind of weedhatch or an outboard?

[Naughty Cal]

Ahhh Phylis looks like another vote for the good old solid sewer tube prop AND A PROPER Boat bog not a silly macerator.....

 

Erm Nope

 

I have one on these signs above the toilet.

 

 

By the way Phillis, how do you de-weed your prop? Is yours an inboard engine with some kind of weedhatch or an outboard?

 

Inboard engine with a stern drive unit on the transom. The sterndrive unit propels and steers the boat and has a tilt function for shallow water and beaching the boat. We can get the props to the surface of the water to deweed them. Most often it comes off with a good blast of reverse, not so easy when dragging the dinghy though as it keeps headbutting the stern of the mothership.

[cereal tiller]

absorightly lute!

macerator pumps always fail eventually,they are not a sensible device to install on any boat.

i suppose that the tuppy cruiser could be modified with an uxter plate/swim type underwater profile.

would not take long,a diamond disc cutter,some polyester resin,chopped strand mat,scissors and glue.

at least the sterngear would stand a chance of completing the round trip?

[Josher]

Whoever said boating was glamorous is a liar. Take it from me.

 

It does have it's moments ... approaching Wrenbury on Saturday, a hooded youth left a nasty 'deposit' on the tow path under a bridge, before then 'mooning' at us and then turning round to showing us his full glory!. Bad enough, but we did not expect more theatricals at the next bridge! Can't be the first time he has done this, if you see him you should have enough time to get a bucket of cold water ready for his encore!

[Naughty Cal]

absorightly lute!

macerator pumps always fail eventually,they are not a sensible device to install on any boat.

i suppose that the tuppy cruiser could be modified with an uxter plate/swim type underwater profile.

would not take long,a diamond disc cutter,some polyester resin,chopped strand mat,scissors and glue.

at least the sterngear would stand a chance of completing the round trip?

 

You are full of shite

[cereal tiller]

possibly.

but i do prefer language of a more pleasant nature

ti's better to stay on the "high moral ground"and maintain a sense of humour.

oh yes,and have the ability to see the obvious,and maintain one's decorum.

[Chertsey]

Even after we had our cassette fitted I retained the -

 

'Do not put anything down this toilet unless you have eaten it' sign as a reminder.

 

(and no this does not mean you can't put toilet tissue down it as was mentioned last time I mentioned this in here )

Well quite, so it's not a very helpful sign is it as it obviously doesn't mean exactly what it says.

[Naughty Cal]

possibly.

but i do prefer language of a more pleasant nature

ti's better to stay on the "high moral ground"and maintain a sense of humour.

oh yes,and have the ability to see the obvious,and maintain one's decorum.

 

There is no moral high ground to be had. You are being a complete and utter idiot and seem to be lacking the knowledge to realise this. You cant take the moral high ground with someone who has the mental age of a small child.

[carlt]

possibly.

but i do prefer language of a more pleasant nature

ti's better to stay on the "high moral ground"and maintain a sense of humour.

oh yes,and have the ability to see the obvious,and maintain one's decorum.

Yes one can always maintain a satisfactory level of smugness when using polite, yet condescending language.

[blackrose]

Well quite, so it's not a very helpful sign is it as it obviously doesn't mean exactly what it says.

 

The sign means exactly what it says on my boat. Toilet paper goes in a bin. I've seen macerators and pipes blocked by toilet paper and I never want to go there again.

[Naughty Cal]

The sign means exactly what it says on my boat. Toilet paper goes in a bin. I've seen macerators and pipes blocked by toilet paper and I never want to go there again.

 

Ours had, up until the weekend, been trouble free and didnt look as though it had ever been dismantled until we set about it. So it managed over 8 years of use. If it manages another 3 or 4 years without any maintenance it will be fine by us. We will just be careful now to ensure that people know what can and can not go down the loo.

 

Thankfully we found the problem this weekend and not when we were away in a couple of weeks time. That would have been worse im sure.

[alan_fincher]

Even after we had our cassette fitted I retained the -

 

'Do not put anything down this toilet unless you have eaten it' sign as a reminder.

 

(and no this does not mean you can't put toilet tissue down it as was mentioned last time I mentioned this in here )

 

Well quite, so it's not a very helpful sign is it as it obviously doesn't mean exactly what it says.

 

The sign means exactly what it says on my boat. Toilet paper goes in a bin. I've seen macerators and pipes blocked by toilet paper and I never want to go there again.

Well, I guess then as long as the same people don't visit Martin's boat as have visited yours, he may get away with it, and not end up with unexpected odours coming from his waste bin!

 

No doubt we shall hear again about what is normal in some foreign countries, but the thought of a boat toilet that is not man enough to deal with normal volumes of "used" toilet paper just about beggars belief in my view, particularly knowing what some of the buggers cost!

 

"Not fit for purpose" would be my simple description, and I marvel at the salesmanship of those like Leesan who continue to make good profits from them!

[blackrose]

Well, I guess then as long as the same people don't visit Martin's boat as have visited yours, he may get away with it, and not end up with unexpected odours coming from his waste bin!

 

No doubt we shall hear again about what is normal in some foreign countries, but the thought of a boat toilet that is not man enough to deal with normal volumes of "used" toilet paper just about beggars belief in my view, particularly knowing what some of the buggers cost!

 

"Not fit for purpose" would be my simple description, and I marvel at the salesmanship of those like Leesan who continue to make good profits from them!

 

I thought I'd explained this to you before Alan? Clearly you didn't understand last time - or perhaps you did but just insist on repeating yourself? Anyway, whichever it is, let me explain again: There is nothing in the instructions for my toilet which recommends not throwing toilet paper down it. That's purely a personal preference after having cleared a previous toilet which also gave no such recommendations.

 

The trouble is that what constitutes a "normal volume" of toilet paper seems to be quite subjective depending on who is wiping their arse.

[Chertsey]

The sign means exactly what it says on my boat. Toilet paper goes in a bin. I've seen macerators and pipes blocked by toilet paper and I never want to go there again.

Well that seems like a very good reason not to have a macerator.

 

If you're happy putting paper in the bin, then you might as well save your money and just use a bucket.

[alan_fincher]

The trouble is that what constitutes a "normal volume" of toilet paper seems to be quite subjective depending on who is wiping their arse.

Can't disagree with you there, at least!

 

Flush water volumes is another area of great variance.

 

Without going into detail, when just Cath and I boat alone we find toilet emptying duties are far less frequent and far less arduous than can just be explained by reducing "crew" numbers from 3 to 2! (May have something to do with those who never have to empty it not being overly concerned on how quickly they fill it!.....)

 

I still rate a straight "dump through" cassette over other toilet types in this respect though - admittedly I have not had anybody putting anything incredibly stupid down one, but it doesn't seem to matter much what the solids/paper/fluids mix ( :sick:) is, it can usually be flushed out pretty rapidly, to leave a fully emptied cassette.

[blackrose]

Well that seems like a very good reason not to have a macerator.

 

If you're happy putting paper in the bin, then you might as well save your money and just use a bucket.

 

And also a good reaon not to have any connecting pipework no doubt...

 

I am happy to put my toilet paper in a bin, but I wouldn't be happy using a bucket.

 

Your move Sherlock.

[Proper Job]

............The trouble is that what constitutes a "normal volume" of toilet paper seems to be quite subjective depending on who is wiping their arse.

Ah..........

 

The old...... Do you scrunch or do you fold question?

[Naughty Cal]

Ah..........

 

The old...... Do you scrunch or do you fold question?

 

Or in the case of our mystery toilet blocker, do you wet wipe