Meanwhile I should explain what happened during yesterday’s pump-out operation. Kelly-Louise has a toilet storage tank under the bed or the starboard side. As it fills the boat gradually develops a list. There is an indicator light on the toilet controls. Green means its not full and red means it won’t take any further flushes. I wanted to know how many days the tank would last between pump-outs. Well it appears to be exactly 21 days!
Kelly-Louise needed to be turned (winded) to get to the marina. Peter had previously informed me where the nearest winding hole was and I’d checked it on one of my walks. Jan and I took KL to the hole where I nervously attempted to wind (turn) the boat. There was quite a breeze which didn’t make the job and easier! Of course; beginners luck, another boat appeared as I started the movement. However they were very patient and waited for this novice to gradually get the bow around.
When we reached the marina I had to again wind the boat. This time I did a slightly better job of it using the wind to my advantage.
The pump-out process doesn’t actually pump anything out of the boat. It’s more a suck out! The equipment is connected to the tank outlet and then sucks the contents from the tank. My assumption is there must be an inlet “breather” pipe somewhere on the tank otherwise I would think it might implode under suction. The lady showing me how it was done then used a water hose to add some water to the tank and we rocked the boat whilst the final suction was completed. My assumption is this is an attempt to avoid solids building up on the base of the tank. I was also hoping it’s not the same water pipe they use to fill the potable water tank.
The pump-out system worked from a pre-paid card (£15.85) which Jan had purchased from the marina office. The card gave 8 minutes of suction and we needed all of it to empty the tank.
3 comments :
If you were to continue down the road through Burland, and then turn right on the narrow lane towards Beeston and the A49, there are, for some reason, many examples of this type of twisted chimney on the older houses. When I visit Swanley for a pump out, I must appear to be incompetent, as they have always done the job for me. The black water tank breather outlet is high level, just forward of the bedroom / bathroom bulkhead.
The standard BW cost for pumpouts is £10. We try not to pay any more than that - when I worked on a hotel boat, we'd pump out about once or twice a week and manage three tanks on a single card!
Richard, That's well worth remembering. it doesn't appear to be a particularly complex or dirty process so I'd be prepared to do a self pump-out.
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