FOG!
Is the boat (and you guys) about ready to escape for the Loop yet?
Any other improvements or changes you are doing to your very nice looking boat?
Tim
Tim - thanks for asking. We are still planning to start the Loop in April.
Currently working on installing a new holding tank, aft head toilet, and associated plumbing. I'll post some pictures soon. Hopefully this will be the last major project before we leave.
After researching several holding tanks for installation in a number of locations on our Prairie 36. I decided to install it in the bilge area of the engine room.
BTW my wife calls my research, procrastination. Whatever!
I bought a 45 gallon tank at Ronco Plastics in Irvine, CA. and had it shipped to North Carolina. No accident, I had purchased a holding tank from Ronco many years ago to replace a rubber bladder on one of my previous sail boats when we lived in Southern California. I think they make a quality tank, but with anything boat, check the measurements. I found them to be a little off, so measuring all sides is instrumental to a good fit.
I have had some people ask why I'm replacing or installing a holding tank. My Prairie 36 didn't come with a holding tank. It had 2 Lectra San marine sanitation devices (MSD). One for each head and that's it. Treat the waste and dump it overboard. There are a number of areas along the Great Loop that have No Discharge Zones (NDZ). Which means you cannot discharge treated waste, even from a qualified MSD. New Hanover county, where we live in Wilmington, NC is also a designated NDZ.
So I decided to go with a holding tank with a deck pump out. I may also go with a macerator pump out to empty the holding tank when I'm over 3 miles off shore. But that may be problematic because I've read that you have to disable it when in the Great Lakes by removing the sea cock handle or plugging the discharge hose. From what I've read the fine is high and the disablement is unclear. So I may forego this option for now and just stay with the deck pump out.
Here are some pics to show my progress so far. I need to do another final fitment to make sure there aren't any gotcha's. Then I'll glue and paint the plywood tank enclosure, drop it in the bilge area and proceed with the plumbing.
I considered 2 tanks, one for each head, but couldn't find a good location to install them. Where are your tanks located? How many gallons each?
The aft one I replaced. I know that is only 15 Gallons. It's under the sink, behind the drawers. Horrible location, no way to get anything larger in there.
The forward one is probably about the same size, under the v berth on the port side, just forward of the bulkhead for the head.
I notice that both heads had some major lay-out changes in later models. There was also a galley-down design. Mine has galley up, v berth forward, aft of that is the head to port and stowage to starboard. The aft head has the sink on the far left-hand side as you enter. I think that changed later, too.
The aft one I replaced. I know that is only 15 Gallons. It's under the sink, behind the drawers. Horrible location, no way to get anything larger in there.
The forward one is probably about the same size, under the v berth on the port side, just forward of the bulkhead for the head.
I notice that both heads had some major lay-out changes in later models. There was also a galley-down design. Mine has galley up, v berth forward, aft of that is the head to port and stowage to starboard. The aft head has the sink on the far left-hand side as you enter. I think that changed later, too.
I think your layout is the same as mine. In the aft head the Lectra San unit was under the sink, behind the drawers. The other Lectra San unit was under the v berth on the port side, just forward of the bulkhead for the head. Both seem to have been in the same location as your holding tanks.
One option I considered was replacing the Lectra San units with holding tanks in the same location. I think the forward head would have been fine. But the aft head was a concern because the bottom of toilet was only about 7 inches above where bottom of the holding tank would be under the sink. I just couldn't see getting a proper downhill flush into a tank in that location.
So once I started looking in the engine room it opened up other location possibilities. The down side was it was going to be much more work. But the up side was a larger single holding tank.
I've made a little more progress on installing the holding tank over the past few days. I screwed, glued, and painted the plywood enclosure then dropped the Ronco tank inside.
My plan was to do the plumbing required for the bottom of tank before I install it on the boat since it won't be accessible once installed. So two of the pictures show the bottom side with the PVC plumbing and it's supports.
The other picture shows it in it's final resting place on the boat. I still need to finish up the top, which will become the new floor in the engine room. Then finalize the plumbing to connect the toilets, deck pump out, and vent line.
I am thoroughly impressed with your design, your "thinking outside the box" and your work. Really good stuff here.
I hope you are planning on keeping us posted on your upcoming trip. Many here cruise vicariously and are still on land. So we live through guys like you who are "doing it"!
I plan to keep posting during the Loop. Since some of our improvement projects will not be completed before we start the Loop, I'll be doing them in my spare time along the way. I'm bringing tools.
Looks really good! The previous owner of my boat installed a large PVC pipe in the same position as your tank. I calculate it has about 28 gal. of capacity. I think you have a better setup now and if I ever have to replace my set up, I'll copy your design.
Looks really good! The previous owner of my boat installed a large PVC pipe in the same position as your tank. I calculate it has about 28 gal. of capacity. I think you have a better setup now and if I ever have to replace my set up, I'll copy your design.
Kevin
Thanks Kevin. I'd be happy to give you all the details if you decide to switch.
That PVC pipe holding tank is interesting though. I'm trying to visualize it in a Prairie 36. Do you have pictures that you can share?
Well, I'll give a try at showing my PVC Pipe Holding tank. There are inlets from the heads on both ends. There is an outlet on the forward end for pump out and one on the aft end that is currently capped for pump out, I have thru hulls forward and aft for direct overboard pumping of the heads but I have removed the y-valves and capped the thru hulls for now so only way to empty the tank now is via pump out. We have not done extensive cruising in the boat yet but this has been adequate for week long trips with occasional pump outs at marinas every few days.
Kevin,
Thanks for posting the pictures. That tube is much bigger than I expected. I was expecting a smaller diameter tube. Possibly more than one somehow connected together giving you the 28 gallons.
I wonder if that was original out of the Prairie factory and if there are others with the big tube. I think the bilge location is good, keeping it low in the boat and out of the way.
I’m planning to have a single deck pump out for my tank located just aft of the port salon door. I’ve cut an access hole behind the cabinet just aft of the door allowing me to get to the underside of the deck. I’ll also put a 1” vent line through the hull using the same cabinet access.
Where is your pump out located?
Fog, no that was not a factory installation. The tank was fabricated and installed by the previous owner and his son. I think the boat was originally equipped with LectraSans and and pumped overboard. Those units are no longer on the boat.
After moving the dink to the new stern davits we have a nice open area on the deck of the aft cabin. So we decided it would be a good idea to put some chairs and maybe a small table up there. But before we do that we figured adding some hand railing around it would make it safer.
I drew up some plans, bought stainless steel tubing and stanchion bases, built a jig, had the tubing bent, and did a little metal fabrication.
My welder is busy until next so I have some time to get some feedback on this question. Should I have him weld the stanchions to the bases?
There is currently 2 set screws that secure the stanchion to each base. I thought it might be stronger if they were welded in place. However, I do like the idea that I could remove the railing without unscrewing the bases from the deck. In case it might need a repair or modification in the future.
Iirc, doesn’t the deck have some camber to it? I would think using the previous installed bases would be much easier to cut to height and ‘plug in’ the posts to the existing bases than trying to match the angle, bolt hole pattern to prevent more holes (leaks) in overhead.
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