On board septic waste management is just a fact of life on a boat. Most smaller boats have what is called a “Type III Marine Sanitation Device”, or in plain English a toilet connected to a tank to hold what goes into it, with some plumbing that lets you pump the contents of the tank out at an appropriate facility. More than three miles off shore it is legal and environmentally not-awful to simply open the valves and empty the tanks; I’m reasonably certain your average 30 ton humpback whale feeds the crabs and other scavengers more in a day that our boat would in a week. Close to shore you need to get the tanks emptied. Yes there are crabs there too, but the water doesn’t get changed as often in a small shallow bay compared to when you are in 300 feet of water.
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| Fairly typical shore installation. |
So this time the plan was to stop by the very nice Hinckley yard in Southwest harbor on our way off shore to pump out the heads (boat speak for “bathroom”) and take on fresh water. After some cross currents at the dock provided some entertainment for the other yachtsmen as we took three tries to land, it was time to get down to work.
The process is rather simple, there is a hole in the deck that connects to each holding tank (we have two heads and two tanks). There is a device like the one pictured on the shore which connects to a high powered pump and a mysterious yuck removal system (Another tank? Direct to a sewer? I don’t really want to know.). You open the hole in the deck, connect the end of the hose and open the valve on the end of the hose to remove the contents of the tank as it is pumped out through the hose. A tight seal between the deck and the hose is needed to maintain the suction. Most pump out devices I’ve seen have either a rubber flange around the head that seals against the deck, or a screw in insert that goes into the threads for the cap, then the hose clamps over the fitting. Depending on where you go this is either a self service operation, or sometimes the deck hands climb on your boat and do it for you.
The fitting at Hinckley didn’t have the flange or the lock. It was sized so you got the nice seal by jamming it into the opening. Also, it was a rather mighty pump with a lot of pressure. The dock attendant handed me the hose, I started the pumpout by emptying the forward head. The next step is that someone in the head pumps some clean water in to the tank to give it a rinse; it is generally better to turn off the suction at this point so you don’t pull the rinse water out faster than it can be pumped in. So far so good.
Let’s just say I was happy I was wearing my sunglasses for what happened next.
They way I figure it I must have leaned or tipped the suction head and broken the seal with the deck fitting. When I restarted the suction to remove the rinse water I was greeted with a loud noise and a blast of…material…out of the top of the tank which splattered all the surrounding area. I was part of that surrounding area.
Gamely I went back and pumped out the other head after a quick rinse of my face in the deck shower. “I’ve never seen THAT happen before!” said the dock attendant. I bet she hadn’t, and I admire her ability to endure the entire debacle with a straight face. I don’t think I could have done that.
Fortunately I had more than enough time for a long hot shower while the water tank was being refilled.
