The Loo

The bathroom (or Heads as boaty people call it) has a few scary looking buttons and a gauge

Don’t panic. It couldn’t be easier to use as long as you are careful.

There’s a control panel on the right with just 2 buttons – Flush and Fill.

Flush (1) when finished then press Fill (2) to put some water back in the bowl to seal it.

The functions only work in sequence so if the flush button doesn’t work, it is probably simply that the previous user didn’t press the fill button. We’ve had a couple of occasions where the system gets confused and neither button works. The solution is to power off all the electrics on the boat and switch back on – see below.

Please don’t put anything down the loo except stuff you’ve produced or the special soluble loo roll that we provide. You’ll find stocks in the locker under the sink or in the cupboard in the front cabin. Try to use as little as possible as it all goes down a very small pipe that can get easily blocked.

Boat toilets can be a bit smelly – not normally because of the holding tank but because they flush with sea water. If the loo isn’t flushed for a while, microbes in the sea water can decay and smell. We’ve fitted a gadget called SeaSmart down the side of the loo that injects disinfectant into the inlet pipe as it enters the boat. This helps to get rid of any nasty smells at source.

A delicate subject this, but we try to use it for “No 1s” only where possible as everything is kept in a septic holding tank on board and ultimately ends up in the sea when pumped out. We use the marina loos instead. You can use it as you see fit – you are paying customers, after all!

To the right of the loo is a gauge (3). It shows the level of “content” in the septic holding tank. There should be plenty of capacity for you stay. We regularly move the boat to the marina’s pump-out station to empty the tank.

However, if it looks like it is about to fill up, you can, in an emergency, push the button (4) next to the gauge to activate what my family call the “poo pump” and the tank contents will be pumped into the marina. That sounds horrendous but there’s a macerator between the loo & the tank and another between the tank and the sea. We treat the tank with chemicals that break everything down. Compare this with the yachts around us – few if any have holding tanks. Best not to swim in marinas!

If the Loo won’t flush

First, try the fill button then try to flush. Those options have to be run in a sequence – fill then flush then fill. It could just be that the last user didn’t fill after use.

It that doesn’t work, the electronics have probably become confused and should fix themselves if you reboot the domestic 12 volt electrics.

To do this, first warn everyone that the lights downstairs might go off if dark. Go back upstairs to the driving seat. Lift up the bottom left edge of the cover to reveal the line of switches. Switch off the switch marked with a taps image and the switch marked water pumps – these are 2 of the 4 that should always be left on. Switch back on – try the loo.

If this fails, give me a ring!