The Grateful Head
Yes, it’s time to share the nitty-gritty of boat living. I know many of you are wondering what we do about sewage disposal. Now trust me, I’ll make this fun, or at least you’ll get a chuckle out of some of this story. But first some background. In the USA, it’s illegal to discharge untreated sewage on inland waters and within three miles of shore. I’m sure all our readers are excited to know this, since many of you relax and swim at ocean beaches or just enjoy boating on rivers and streams. Cruising boats like Belle Bateau have holding tanks, for holding…well, you know. Many marinas as well as municipalities in the USA have pump-out stations for the oh so pleasant emptying of those holding tanks.
The Grateful Head pump-out boat in Charleston, circa 2016.
When we set sail on Belle Bateau for our seven-month sailbatical in 2015, we became quite diligent about “pumping out” our holding tank, whether it needed or not. We learned the hard way that even if the next destination advertised a pump-out, quite frequently they weren’t operational on the day we visited, and we wouldn’t discover that vital tidbit until too late.
Belle Bateau has two heads, aka bathrooms/toilets, and the total capacity of our holding tank is 70 gallons. We have a tank monitor that helps us know when we are approaching full capacity, but as you can imagine, we try not to cut it close. So whenever we dock at a marina or refuel our tanks, we usually get a pump-out.
Most marinas have their pump-out hoses located near their fuel pumps, which makes it quite easy to refuel and “release” at the same time. And yes, we tip dockhands to perform doody duties, although very often we are also handling the hoses. Not a fun job, but hey, someone has to do it.
Some marinas and municipalities also have a mobile option. Yes indeedy---a pump-out boat that comes to individual boats.
When we were in Charleston SC many years ago, we scheduled a pump-out and I literally laughed aloud when I noted the name of the doody skiff: The Grateful Head. They even used the same type font as The Grateful Dead! I was a bit disappointed that Robert wasn’t sporting a Jerry Garcia tie, but I digress. We got a pump-out without having to move our boat against the strong current and crazy crosswinds. Yay!
Ever since seeing The Grateful Head, we’ve been on the lookout for a better named pump-out vessel. We have yet to find one!