Today was pretty crappy day in a literal and figurative way! It began like most of our normal mornings at sea but there was a odd smell in the air that gave me the feeling that today was going to be interesting. After my change of watch with Adam my dad had discovered that the toilet was not working and I had notice issues earlier in the morning but hoped that it would fixes itself. The toilet plumbing was plugged somewhere and crap was at the brim of over flowing the toilet. My dad took apart his cabin to gain access to the holding tank and macerator pump. We realized that the holding tank was not being discharged via the macerator pump and the plug had to be down stream of the pump. So as my dad took apart the plumbing I watch as a stream of tropical warm shit spread across his cabin and on him. I laughed and choked at the smell. I opened his deck hatch but Adam at the helm made a quick recover turn and caught a wave which broke over the deck into the hatch where I was soaked with sea water. My dad only looked at me and said you should not have opened the hatch, well know shit but it smells like shit in here. He then proceed to trouble shoot the problem with ideas of why the plug had occurred and where it may be. I suggest the anti siphon lock and my dad agreed. I went back to help Adam tune some sails and put the staysail up so we could gain a little more speed. After I returned my dad had taken apart most of the bathroom cabinet that contained the anti siphon locks and removed them from the holding tank hose to find no issues. He then took apart the macerator pump found a rubber o ring out of place and thought that it was the problem. Then he forgot how to put it back together. We some how got the pump, and hose reconnected, turn on the pump. It worked and discharged the holding tank contents. I had enough of the holding tank and told my dad I was going to re plumb the toilet so when you pumped the toilet it went right over board. But first I would flush the holding tank with sea water and finish it off one last time with some holding tank treatment fluid that made poo smell like mint.
After filling the tank with ocean water I turnned the macerator pump on and nothing happened, it didn’t work. So my dad thought that now the flapper valves on the pump were hung up but I disagreed. He took the hose off the pump and a rush of poo came out into the bottom of the boat. Now we where both mad and puzzled. We put the hose back on and turned the pump on and it worked. I said ok, I will put the mint treatment in and that’s the last time we will have to use the macerator pump. After assembling the toilet hoses and reinstalling the toilet hand pump I tried the new discharge arrangements I had made. It worked great but I notice that the pressure would build up in the hand pump fast, to the point that I could not move the handle and then it would move freely. I realized that when the boat heeled to 20 degrees starboard it would put a hydraulic head pressure in the hose and the pump was not strong enough to discharges the poo. I realized that when we ran the macerator pump the same problem occurred. But regardless I kept the new setup and thought that we could at least save power by not using the electric macerator pump anymore. As a last cleanup of our new system my dad told me he would like to empty the old unused plumbing pipes by pumping air through them. I agreed and he rigged up a foot pump to blow air through the old plumbing. Some how I ended up on the discharge end of the pipe holding a bucket to catch any poo water that was blown out. My dad asked if I was ready? I said yes! Just then the boat lift up and dropped down 20 degrees where I was standing. The pipe I had in my hand was not pointed at the bucket anymore and I fell to my butt. I yelled! Hold on one minute! But it was to late, a stream of minty fresh poo water blasted into my lap. I kept yelling for my dad to stop, but his hearing is not the best these days and I got blasted one last time. When they say that you can pump 20 gallons per minute through those pipes they are not bullshitting. I stood up and my dad asked what happen, I said you covered me in poo that’s what happened. Dad said, well you should have told me to stop. I just shook my head and turned back to may work and finished up everything.
That evening after I had a shower I cooked dinner and looked forward to my one ration of beer or wine we each got for dinner. I made nothing fancy for dinner as I was tired from working all day on the poo situation. We sat at the cockpit dinner table or I should say coffee table and Adam poured us a beer from the last can we had. As I sat and started to eat my hotdog with mac & cheese a big wave picked up Dragonsbane and dropped her on the side beam. The last of all the beer was now in my lap and I was so pissed off covered in beer. My dad said without thinking “you should have put it in the cup holders” well know SHIT! So I went rinsed off my only beer and I had to laugh finally at the days situations. But the good news is that my dad found two warm beers! Two of the cheapest beers I have ever bought or tasted PANAMA Beer INC. I drank my beer to the last drop and it was the best beer I have had in a long time.
Current location: 5deg 53.84min South, 113deg 55.34min West
Yup! I got the POO on me!
Jacques
dragonsbanevoyage 