Heading into sanitary spaces

The 'head' on a boat is the loo, or toilet. Originally one climbed out onto the bowsprit or the netting attached there and relieved oneself. Hence the term 'head', being the forward part of the ship. Eclipse came with the stock porta-potty, which uses a two tank system, where the upper tank contains a deodorant and anti-bacterial solution in water, while the lower tank holds the waste, with a small quantity from the upper tank added to the lower at each use. While good for a weekend, we weren't excited about this system for long-term use.

Most live-aboard yachts use a marine toilet, which involves a large tank, various valves and pumps, and must be pumped out at a marina. When they fail, and they do, the stories can be epic. We weren't excited about this either.

Solid waste can be dumped overboard if one is far out to sea, but we're not going there. We are told that liquids can be dumped overboard or on land.

Recently, the marine composting toilet has come on the market. We really like this idea. It separates solid from liquid waste, and mixes the solids with peat moss which breaks it all down fairly quickly. Liquids are dumped overboard. But Eclipse is small. The two commercially available composting heads are about 19” high, which doesn't leave enough room to sit on it.

At the Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland, we got to see one of these, take it apart, and see how it really works, and contemplate modifying it for our low ceiling. The option to modify was quickly ruled out.

So I set to work to build one. From a different manufacturer we bought a separating toilet bowl with seat and lid, called a 'Separette' (blue plastic in the photos). 

The liquid waste goes into a 1-gallon laundry detergent bottle. We generally empty this daily. (dark blue in the front of the box.) Everything else I built. 

The solid waste goes into a custom bucket. The space available is confined by the shape of the hull, so this is an odd shaped bucket. I made a styrofoam block to fit in the space, then rounded the corners over generously, wrapped that in polyethylene sheet, then covered it in several layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy. On a good day I could get two layers built-up. Once the fiberglass was thick enough, I tore out the foam and plastic sheet.

Then there's the auger. The peat and solid waste must be broken up and mixed. I found up a piece of 3/8” solid stainless steel rod, and using a torch, was able to bend it into it's convoluted shape for mixing the peat. A wooden handle and crank arm screws onto the end.

There is very little smell with this system. That doesn't mean there is none. The final component is a very quiet computer fan with some PVC ducting to outside. You can see it inside the space with a wire coming out. And in the first photo you can see a 1-1/2" PVC pipe leading up to the outside world. 

We're very happy with this system. It's simple, easy to clean, no odor, legal, and with enough headroom. The only downside is the countless hours it took to build it!

Life in the gutter

Earlier I posted about the cockpit drain through the lazaret, where you could also see the pipe for the port side bilge pump. At the time there was no pump. Now there is!
The pump protrudes above floor level, but there will eventually be cabinetry over that spot.
Eclipse doesn't leak like a wooden boat. Indeed she spends most of her time on dry land. But should we get a serious leak while out sailing, this will pump 600 gallons overboard per minute.
The photo is looking aft from the V-berth along the port side.

Feeling drained

Should rainwater or spray enter the cockpit and/or motor well, it drains into a pipe through the lazaret and back to the sea. I've had to snake out this pipe several times, so it's gotta go!

Hole for motor well drain, and short pipe.

The motor well now drains directly through the wall with a 2" piece of pvc pipe. Simple!

Motor well drain. Note old hole to left, which will be plugged. 

The cockpit still drains through a pipe, but now there are no elbows or T's along the way to collect debris. Using a heat gun, I molded gentle curves into the pipe to fit.

Cockpit drain. Note also bilge pump pipes.

Feeling Wired

The more I've been trying to make the existing wiring work, The more I've come to realize that what Eclipse really needed was all new wiring. I purchased a goodly roll of 16 gauge Marine wire for all o

the lighting and created trunk cables for core circuits, labeling everything in the process. I know that at some point I'm going to need to do some sort of repairs and having my wires labeled now will make my job that much easier a year or two years from now when something goes awry or modification is required.

A new radio was installed as well and this also called for a new through hull connection. New RG58 coax cable and pl259 connectors were installed.

The process of changing out all the wiring on the boat is slow, tedious and intricate work but it needed to be done. Now I need to order some 16 AWG Marine cable for the radio.  The Projects never end.

Eclipse Takes to the Sea

We went sailing! First time! Our trip took us throughout the Piscataqua estuary system in New Hampshire (local waters). We launched at Jackson's Landing in Durham, where we found that it took us what seemed to be forever to get Eclipse's Nissan 9.9 started.  After just having had a professional tune-up, we found ourselves quite dismayed. It was only after we called the marine dealer where we had the motor tuned up that things turned around. We were told that our carburetor might be stuck and that we should check it. After popping the top of the motor, we noticed that the fuel line had become disconnected from the inlet port on the engine.....likely falling culprit to a combination of an overzealous attempt to pump and prime the engine along with a very loose band clamp on the fuel line. A perfect combination to create a comedy of errors. Once the fuel line was properly reconnected, the motor started quickly and with great ease.

Eclipse being launched for our first adventure with her!

We motored down the Oyster River to where it opens up, then hoisted sail. Against a strong tidal current we headed toward Adam's Point. Tacking wasn't getting us anywhere, so we motor-sailed into Great Bay where we found excellent sailing there on the wide open waves and under blue cloud filled skies and a comfortable breeze

 Christen is at the helm on Great Bay

.Gary is cranking the jib tighter as Christen sets the course for a close reach

With about two hours until low tide (8 feet, twice a day) we found a quiet cove near a wildlife preserve on the bay where we set up for burgers on the barbie and a quiet and restful night's sleep. It was as we were preparing dinner that we realized we'd forgotten spices, plates, spatula and half the kitchen stuff. No worries, we enjoyed dinner anyway as we listened to the gobbling of a flock of wild turkeys as they straddled the shoreline under an enveloping dusk.

 Gary is grilling our dinner as we watch the sun set over Great Bay

Morning came all too quickly.  We were due at a party on Little Bay at 11:00 but the tide hadn't come up much by this point so that when we arrived, we found their floating dock to be perched on the mudflats. A Mac 26S draws little water and can beach, which we did. I was able to throw a line to an assistant on the float, and a nearby kayak was hand torpedoed out to us for us to judiciously catch, climb in to and paddle to shore. The tide was rising quickly, as it does in this bay.  This meant that our merrymaking at the party was intermittently interrupted every 5 minutes.  We found that we were excusing ourselves from conversations so that we could run down to the dock where we'd give the line a tug, nudging her nose a few meters closer each time.  It was not very much longer before Eclipse found herself tied up properly at the dock.

After the party we tacked up Little Bay to the General John Sullivan bridge, then ran downwind and into the Oyster River to a borrowed mooring for another night out. Being close to home, we fetched the kitchen box. High tide came at the break of dawn, so I got the trailer while Christen motored back to Jackson's Landing where she was hoisted out of her element and onto the trailer without a hitch.

 Gary wings the jib as I keep a close eye on the mainsail as we head downwind and up the Oyster River

This was a shakedown voyage and as a result, we were able to acquire what has now become a two page list of tasks, additions, modifications, and purchases for Eclipse.  Sailing a boat is the only way to really get to know her and know her needs.  Our relationship with Eclipse is only just beginning, but it is off to a wonderful start.  More adventures await us, and her, in the near future.

Crazy Guy With a Saw

Eclipse is seeing some major changes to the stock fiberglass shell.  These were simply two seating areas, really just benches on the port and starboard side.  It was a fairly useless use of space in our minds.....

The port side will be home to a dinette table with two seats and a storage cabinet will be located just forward of it.  The starboard side will be home to a new counter top and cabinets.  Behind the crazy guy with the Sawzall, we see the opening created to accept the new stainless steel sink and stove.

The boat needs to be comfortably configured for the planned multi-month voyages it shall embark upon and it must be serviceable to the many guests who will travel along for portions of the intended journeys she shall make.

Gary is in his element here, Sawzall in hand...

Pieces of the boat, now liberated to the driveway, and off to the dump.....

Cockpit Boards and LED Lights

I've made a set of boards to level the cockpit for sleeping. They'll get polyurethane next.

Christen is working on installing LED lights in the aft berth space.....

Fiberglassing Commences & Depth Gauge Gets Installed

 Installed a bus bar to ease the installation of wiring to the negative terminal.  Wired in the Depth Gauge.

Panel installed.  SPST throw switch added for Depth Gauge Power to separate it from the main instrument block.




 Depth Gauge Positioned but not yet permanently installed on starboard side of cockpit.

 Fiberglass for the galley being laid down.  Foam on top to facilitate even layout and plastic beneath foam to facilitate removal.

Three layers of fiberglass for the head.  More space now for a composting toilet to be created and installed!

We Bought a Sailboat!

Sailing.  I've always loved sailboats and sailing.  While many share a passion for the power of wind against sail and the means by which it may propel an entire vessel to foreign lands, there are many who would scoff at the thought.  A power boat is as simple and turning a key, starting an engine and whisking through waters at superlative speeds to reach a destination.

The point of sailing is not one of speed or ease of achieving a destination in the shortest time possible.  The magic of sailing is deeply held within attributes far more ethereal, perhaps ephemeral and certainly a hell of a lot less tangible than one who is inclined to power boating may imagine.  It is a very different realm.  It is not better nor superior.  It is a difference of mindset and of goals, of passions and purpose.  It is beauty in motion and the challenge of attaining that motion through one's own ability to marry the forces of nature to the whims of man.

Eclipse is the realization of a life long passion to ply the waters of possibilities, to embark upon an adventure of travel for the sake of travel and not so much upon it as a means to a destination.  It is a vehicle which will test our ingenuity and our mettle.  It is an instrument we must, like a musical one, learn and master if we are to be successful in our nomadic enterprises. When we are in harmony with the winds and waves, and when we can harness these to our advantage to propel us forward towards an ever receding horizon, then we will find ourselves connected to sail, sea and as one with the natural world.  To tame the beast shall beget the reward of distant lands, friends not yet met and adventures not yet made.  She will travel far from port, crossing international boundaries, on itineraries that will span months at a time.  She will entertain a myriad of friends and guests who will join us along the way for portions of the voyages made.  She will be a home at sea and upon inland seas and she invites you to join us here to be a part of the dream.

Eclipse is more than a boat.

Eclipse is an extension of ourselves allowing us the privilege to ply cerulean waters of places, people and possibilities.  Join us on this live-aboard-sailboat as we undertake our own Odyssey, guided by the mystical muse of nomadic wanderlust.