Thursday, January 26, 2006

Upgrade time

Well, the time has come to start the process of upgrading the boat for the big cruise. First item on the agenda is the head. Yeah, Ugh! A nasty topic, but it has to be handled.
It seems the Great Lakes in their entirety constitute a "no discharge zone." This means that even treated waste cannot be dischaged into the water. Authorities bordering the Lakes, especially in Canada, insist on inspecting all boats entering waters under their jurisdiction. They require sanitation systems that are competely self contained, with no possible manner of discharge. Since portable toilets can be picked up and dumped overboard, they are illegal in Canadian waters. Of course, Bolger designed the AS-29 to use a portable toilet.
So, back to the drawing board - literally. I've had to measure the head space on the boat and try to design a self contained, permanently mounted system. I purchased a "Head Mate" compact marine head. This will fit easily into the space designed for the portable. I also bought a holding tank, but now I have to figure out exactly where to mount it. As soon as the weather permits, I'll take a trip to the marina with the tank in hand and test fit it into the three possible sites I've identified. Once I decide where it fits best, I have to run the necessary hoses.
Once all is said and done, I will have a solid waste handling system. This will be important as the boat will be my home for a year.