Sealing the Head thru-hulls

[Alctel]

Hi there,

I have a 1980 Hunter 36', and am ripping out the entire sanitation system and replacing it with a Natures Head toilet.

I'd like to seal up the 2 thru-hulls the current system uses if possible, since 5 thru-hulls seems like a lot. Has anyone else done this or have any good resources?

 

[FredV]

Went to Natures Head website after reading your post - sounds like a great system! Have you, or anyone else here, any experience with them?

 

[Alctel]

Went to Natures Head website after reading your post - sounds like a great system! Have you, or anyone else here, any experience with them?

I haven't personally, but after reading up on them and peoples experiences, I decided to go for it. The state of the sanitation in the boat (I've just bought) probably means I'd have to replace a lot of the existing setup, and for almost the same cost the Natures Head is a ton simpler and less smelly. It has it's own set of disadvantages, but on balance I think it's the right choice for me (ask me again when I'm in the middle of removing the holding tank however...)

 

[2sticks]

I am, today, ordering a composting head from Sandy Graves @ C-Head. The advantages v disadvantages make this, to me, a no-brainer. I only need tear out the holding tank and related bits once. The C-Head was on a par with the Nature's Head, in my estimation, and uses non proprietary containers for liquids ( 1 gal. plastic milk jug) and costs approx. half of the Nature's Head. After seeing one installed in a vessel here in the marina, I was impressed with it's construction and simplicity. I am intending to simply turn the seacocks off and have a tapered plug at each location till the next haul out when I will make the proper repair to the hull.
Good luck, Darrell

 

[IStream]

Seems to me that the biggest risk with thru hulls is the possibility of a seacock freezing in the open position and/or getting snapped off inside the boat. I think it'd be a lot more cost-effective and nearly as safe to simply remove the seacock and screw a cap on the thru hull as close to the hull as possible to minimize the lever arm of anything that bears on it.