2010: Year 3 - Work in Deltaville

Deltaville Boatyard: Part 1

Back in the USA.  Deltaville is beginning to feel like home!

 

Winterising in 2009 worked effectively but we spent a good few days cleaning mould off the timber work. We had used a light furniture oil to treat it before we left.  The hard surfaces we treated with a vinegar solution and that seemed to work very well except for the shower (because we left the door closed).  We needed to consider a ventilation system before leaving WJ3 in the boatyard at the end of the 2010 cruising season.



Full frosty moon in the boatyard

‘Essential’ Upgrades and Repairs.  I decided to spend time in the Deltaville boatyard before splashing to get all those “essential” upgrades and repairs attended to.  In all we became a regular part of the Deltaville community in our 6 weeks up on the hard and 4 weeks in the Marina.  We concluded that life was a lot easier in the water (and nearer to the pool, laundry and bathhouse!).  However, this delayed our departure for Maine & New England coasts until well into the season and we had to strike Nova Scotia off our list all together.  We both agreed though that the time spent doing maintenance and upgrades was well worth it and the First Mate even found a local quilting group to visit. This is what we did:

Toilets and Being Green.  The macerator pumps needed to be replaced as the original ones were corroded and not working, so we just swapped one for one, easy.  I had an impromptu test of one of them when my Crew mistakenly filled a holding tank with fresh water, rather than the nearby fresh water tank.  Oh well! 
  

Oh look.  An outside dunny!

We actually took this one step further and took out a complete head system (in the forward cabin) and replaced it with an eco composting toilet aka “turdis”.  Simple, easy to use (we hope) and so far the only problem we’ve heard is that peat moss – the necessary composting agent – is hard to find in some places.  However, peat moss comes in huge bags so that we now have a couple of tubs full in the storeroom – probably 10 years worth at our rate.  

This loo, a Natures Head, complies with strict US regulations regarding discharge but best of all (so the cranky crew says) it can be used whilst we are up on the hard.  The rear head, easiest to use whilst at sea, remains a pump out or holding tank choice depending on where we are. 

The compost toilet has turned out to be a most welcome item – next to no smells as there is a small (computer type) fan that constantly circulates the air inside the toilet to outside the cabin, via a tube system from the toilet to a deck fitting.  The fan can be wired into the boat’s electric system or you can use, as we do, a solar powered vent, which runs all day in sunlight and, at night, runs off a recharged rechargeable battery.