An essay on the delights of cruising and living aboard in the Caribbean

By David H. Lyman

An idyllic setting--Prickly Bay, Grenada. Palm trees and villas line the shore of this large harbor full of sail boats from all corners of the world, all peacefully at anchor.  I was planning on spending an hour or two this morning writing, but my wife had other plans. The aft head is still  leaking. She wanted it fixed. I’d had it apart last week for a major repair. One of the kids pushed the lever to hard and broke the linkage inside. These are Wilcox-Critten bronze Skipper heads, built like the proverbial, you know what, but they need occasional attention . . . so, out came the head onto the aft deck, a pleasant place to work, if embarrassing . . . . as those who dinghy past provide comments like . . . an open air toilet, how cute . . . one way to solve the smell problem . . .  couldn’t you at least put a curtain around it?

Here’s the story. We’ve owned this boat for 14 years, so you’d figured we’d have figured out all the problems. Not so. We have three of these Skipper heads, yes 3 heads, well, only two actual work. The forward one is used for storage and hasn’t worked since 2003. Two heads appear sufficient for a family of 4, or so you’d think. But while in Martha’s Vineyard last fall, both heads become blocked with an over zealous use of toilet paper. It took a mechanic from the ship yard to come aboard, remove the two manifolds, and jet clean them ashore. The manifold is a bronze systems of pipes and valves that direct the effluent either over board, or into the holding tanks, for eventual pump-out. The values are old and of ancient design, This is not the first time I’ve had this problem. The cost for clear both manifolds and get the two systems working again: $285.

Last winter, while huddled in a house in Camden amid the storms of Maine, I removed both operational head and totally rebuilt each of them. Parts totaled to around $300. Time consumed: 40 hours.  I thought I’d have clear sailing for the year. Not so.

We get to the Caribbean and another blockage in the mid-ship head has me tearing what little hair I have left. I remove the manifold and throw it over the side. With a plastic Y value and a length of 1.5-inch sanitation hose I happen to have on board, I duct the head directly overboard. Blockage problem solved?

I no sooner do I get the midship head working than the aft head linkage breaks. Out comes the head onto the aft deck. To get a replacement  bronze casting will take weeks. But I have one already on board. It’s in the unused forward head, so out comes that head as well. But, it’s been frozen from years from not being used. Off to the machine shop at Palm Island Marine where Mike who has the skills and experience to deal with metals and things mechanical. His hydraulic press and sweat gets the head parts moving and out comes the linkage that will allow the aft head to work. Back on board, I assemble the aft head, and re-install it, only to find it is still leaking sea water. Inspection after inspection fails to locate the leak, so out comes the head, this time with all the hoses connected. I find a persistent drip under the intake hose coupling. I tighten the nut and wait. Nope, that’s not it. Next is the gasket that seals the bottom flange. I have a spare on board. I disconnect the houses and remove the head again, turn it upside down, remove the old gasket and install the spare on. Then back together again. Is it working?  While I wait to see if water is still seeping in, I put the forward head back together and re-installed, without the missing link, which will have wait until friends come down for a visit, and bring this and a list of other small part with them. But, I can now spent some time writing.