2011, Yet Another Year Begins--More Progress Planned

Imminent projects for the next couple of days:

1. Remove about 1/4" of edge along all wet locker doors, and add back that same amount in epoxy and thickener, commonly called "bog." I want all raw wood edges TOTALLY sealed from water penetration;
2. Drill out the primary and secondary shroud chain-plate bolt holes in the new stainless material;
3. Primer with the two-part special primer all the flat surfaces of the pieces I brought home;
4. Between 6 and 48 hours later, apply the first coat of this new paint I am experimenting with on the primered surfaces.

The hole I plugged in the cabin top where the old, leaky Nicro-Fico vent used to be, is now filled and strong.  It only needs leveling with the surrounding wood/epoxy to disappear completely.

An interesting concept I got from Mark Johnson of the Searunner 34 DELPHYS on the east coast, is painting all surfaces, especially the horizontal ones that get lots of sun, a dark primer color before going to the lighter finish coat.  His thinking is that the UV goes through a light color and eventually does damage to the expoxy substrate.  I first thought that this penetration would not occur through a good coating in primer, but as I look at areas I have covered where there is no wood substrate (such as bolt holes), I can actually see the light coming through.  Man, are the people going to get a surprise when they see me rolling on a primer that is dark gray, almost black!   On a sunny day, it surely will warm things up until the next primer coat in white goes on!

The human-wast issue keeps coming to mind as I plan the interior changes at this point in the refurbishment stage of things.  There are a number of approaches that have been used over time:

1. Bucket-and-chuck-it (only good outside the legal limits in the oceans);
2. Porta-potty with small holding tank, common in smaller recreational vehicles;
3. Typical marine-head with complex pump with affluents going to a holding tank;
4. Vacuum head such as the Lavac with much simpler pump-out than in 3 above, still pumping to a holding tank;
5. Incinerating toilet such as used on the bombers in World War II (not very practical on a sailboat with the energy required plus the danger of fire below);
6. Toilet that treats the waste and purifies it.  Are there any?
7. Composting toilet;
8. WAG bag system as used by the masses after Hurricane Katrina.

There probably are other approaches not listed above.  Your comments are solicited!  I once had a Lavac hand pump vacuum lid toilet on board and really liked its simplicity.  At that time we had no holding tank so its use was very limited, primarily for use in international waters.  With a holding tank, one is back to the dilemma of a holding tank situation (hoses, capacity, where to install it, pump out set-up, etc.).  I like the WAG bag concept.  It is what Lynn and Larry Pardey use on their boat, with the bucket-and-chuck-it approach when at sea.  Cost is a factor, as it is on-going to buy the commercially available bags or Pooh Powder.  But a toilet and system, ain't cheap either, at least initially.  Perhaps going back to the Lavac head without a holding tank (or a minuscule one to meet coastal regulations, and combining it with a WAG bag or PETT gelling system would work.  But, it is getting close to decision time.