Hi All, our E27 was built in 1976 prior to the marine pollution regulations so the current system is illegal. We seem to have two choices, either install some kind of holding tank somewhere and cut a hole in the deck for pumpout purposes or go with a portable. We are leaning towards the portable because we're mostly day sailors. My main concerns with this are what's the method for pumping out a portable head and what to do with the existing thru-hulls/seacocks for the current head? Thanks
MM
Choices, choices.....
The best long range upgrade would be to put in an H.T. system. Then you are both legal when/if the USCG boards you, and you have added real value to the boat for that day, someday, when you put it back on the market. Note that most folks
really dislike carrying 3.5 gallons of sloshing poop ashore, down a long dock and up the ramp! That factor alone was one of several reasons for our first major boat move-up from a 20 footer with a porta-potty to a 26 footer with a marine head!
I later did add an H.T. and deck pump out plate to that 26 footer.
For just day sailing, a portable head will work OK as long as you have somewhere legal to dump the tank when you come back to the dock for the evening. The thing is... you now have a boat suited for
coastal as well as inland passages, and you can spend a couple of weeks at a time aboard on your vacation. Sister ships have
crossed oceans...
This really argues for a better sanitation system befitting such a true cruiser-racer.
IF you have a pump out adjacent to where you dock, the simplest "100% legal" system is probably one where the head goes to the H.T. and thence to the deck fitting for pump out. Strive to find room for at least a 15 gallon tank so that you can easily spend a three-day-weekend aboard at anchor.
The only other added feature you really should have would be a Y-valve for direct overboard discharge in legal waters. And, then, there may come a day when you are out for several weeks of vacation, all the local pump out stations are out of order or there simply aren't any around and the tank is full (!) .... you will need the option of direct discharge, "legal" or not!
That's why, in the 80's, Ericson started putting in the additional option of an on-board hand pump dedicated to pumping out the full H.T. overboard through the boat's discharge seacock with a change in valving (and additional hoses). That way one can use the tank in inshore waters where required and pump it overboard when out at sea. In this narrative, one's definition of "out at sea" may be sometimes loosely interpreted... but you must
not infer anything from those words...
Should you decide to use a porta potty for now, you can just close the valve, remove the hose, and then put a plug into the top of the valve just to make darned sure that sea stays outside. Next haulout you could take out the valve and glass in the hole. Just follow the excellent instruction in the West System booklet on grinding back the opening and layering in the cloth and epoxy, and grinding/sanding all smooth before applying bottom paint. That hull opening will just disappear.
Whatever you do, sail that E-27 a
lot!
It is comfortable boat for a long vacation, can do all the club racing you would ever want and bring home a lot of silver, and is a true Small Yacht in every way.
Regards,
Loren
(who used to crew on one, many years ago)
