I do agree with most of what you said below.
However, I am not yet convinced that the "folks with guns and badges" will be
reliably satisfied by dumping the urine jug, untreated human waste, overboard
if it is illegal to do so.
Two Coast Guard boardings are a mighty small sample. And it is not just the
Feds that are on the prowl. A few years ago I was boarded by a Harbormaster in
Provencetown MA. He and his bodyguard appeared in my bedroom at 8 am demanding
that I flush dye tablets down my toilet to prove I had my holding tank on line
(I did) while the rest of his gang hovered about my anchored vessel watching
for any "pink in the sink".
Many places are looking for an excuse to harass full-time boaters and drive
them away if they anchor out, using state, county and local hired gunmen who do
so using rules against discharging untreated human waste. Never mind that
non-point source runoff from shore, mainly agricultural chemicals, oil
drippings, and silt, the effluent of civilization itself, is actually the real
pollution problem. And never mind that widespread use of the Air Head, even as
it is now, would reduce boat effluent to near zero in the big picture.
Boats in marinas are rarely attacked. In the fifteen years I spent in marinas
before slipping the docklines for good, I never knew of any boat that was
boarded and inspected by authorities for marine sanitation law compliance. If
you pay for dockage, protection money (called "taxes"), is included in the dock
fee.
The "Potti Problem" is a large point of leverage used to attack the anchored
boat community. This is why we seek toilet facilities that are completely
legal. If it were possible for the Air Head to discharge urine overboard
legally somehow and earn the Type I MSD designation (as the Lectra-San has) it
would be a huge step in that direction.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Julington Creek FL
30 07.72N 081 38.4W
----- Original Message -----
From: Eos Design (Air Head)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 2/18/2008 10:48:18 PM
Subject: Re: The Air Head
You said:
At this point in time it is not a matter of what is right, (I personally feel
the Air Head may be the best solution available today, legal issues aside), but
a matter of what will satisfy the folks with the guns and badges.
Norm, in 8 years of its existence there has never been any reports of "folks
with guns and badges" having any problem with the Air Head. In fact I know of
at least two boardings by the Coast Guard. In both cases the officers were
very pleased to see the unit, and in one case the liveaboard in San Francisco
Bay actually told the officers that he dumps the urine over the side!
As for comparing the unit with a LetraSan well I can tell you that I have
replaced a fair share of them, also the price of the Lecrtra San does not
include fittings, hose, head, and installation time.
In comparing my unit to a porta pot, you need to factor in the weight of the
flush water. Air Head doesn't use any.
Geoffrey Trott General Manager Eos Design LLC PO Box 5 Mt. Vernon, OH 43050
740-392-3642
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