Yesterday we overcame the toilet problem. We had some breakfast and motored over to the pumpout and fuel dock to empty the holding tank.
The anchor was heavy when I hauled it up from all the kelp I caught
I aligned the valves and primed the pumpout hose with seawater, but nothing came out! I had Natalie open and close the Y valve coming from the holding tank, but still nothing came out. I had on my blue gloves for protection and carefully removed the pumpout hose from the Y valve and saw that it was clear. I poked my finger down in to the valve and didn’t feel any obstruction to the valve. I reconnected the pumpout hose and then gingerly disconnected the hose going in to the Y valve from the holding tank. This was the most dangerous part of the operation because if the hose dropped below the level of the sewage in the holding tank I would fill the bilge up with poo water and it would completely ruin our vacation.
I removed the hose clamps and had just removed the hose when someone came over and said, “What a beautiful boat.” Gosh, if they knew about the trials and tribulations we’d been going through for the past six months then they’d have seen that this good looking boat has serious problems!
Well, after the hose was off I looked inside it and saw some crusty sludgey stuff that must have been shaken up from the bottom of the tank while sailing in the ocean. When I ran the macerator a few days ago it clogged the hose up and I thought we pumped the tank dry, but really pumped up a clog. I had Natalie grab me some paper towels and a plastic ziploc bag and I dug the clog out with my finger. Then I drained some more chunks and sludgey water into the ziploc and reconnected everything.
I went to the pumpout and finally the turdwater was flowing out of the boat. I’ve never felt so happy and relieved to pump out the holding tank as I was that day.
Sully remained calm, cute and well composed through the whole ordeal.
We anchored in little fisherman’s bay with a bow and stern anchor and had hotdogs for lunch with Jan and Chuck and then went ashore with Eric and Jaime for some more Buffalo Milk. The Two Harbors version was way better than the one we had in Avalon, it was creamy, rich and deliciously banana and nutmeg flavored.
Our view of Coconutz in Little Fisherman's Bay