female guest friendly marine head

zeehag · Feb 9, 2011

please--what is a female guest friendly toilet for boats--i havent heard of those. i us a plastic bag for paper and other items not products of digestion.

seadaddler · Feb 9, 2011

Phii Lba

I replaced my like brand new wicox a few years ago and have not had any complaints from any female and even my wife likes it very much better and easier than the wicox,
I replaced my wilcox on my new Hunter 36 1 year after I took delivery of my new boat,it was horrible and so I replaced it with the PHII LBA from this site and I called and at the time they gave me a very good price.
You use your old wilcox bowl with the Raritan pump and other parts that come with it,easy to install.
Nick

Steve Dion · Feb 9, 2011

Manual or Electric?

If you are considering a manual toilet, the Raritan PH units are great.

If you want an electric (my preference), I would go with one of the recommendations from Practical Sailor and our own Peggie Hall. This would be the Raritan Sea Era or Raritan Elegance.

These electric heads help prevent against clogs too. If the macerator won't grind whatever someone puts in the toilet doesn't make it into the discharge hose. If someone uses too much paper the macerator will grind it up before passing it on.

Don S/V ILLusion · Feb 9, 2011

JeanMarc said:
Hi!

I'm looking for recommendations for a female guest friendly toilet to replace a Wilcox Crittenden manual toilet on my Westsail32.

Thanks!

her own bucket?

Menestheus · Feb 9, 2011

fyi....all poo is the same

CarlN · Feb 9, 2011

Another strong recommendation for springing for a Raritan Elagance with the fancy control panel. Guests of either sex will appreciate it.

Other heads have some of the following features but the Elegance was the only one I could find with all:

Porcelain bowl (not plastic). That's what they use in a house because it rinses clean. And no funny crevices and corners on the outside that look (and probably are) dirty.

Seat shape is like home not like a a camping toilet. I don't know about you but that part of my anatomy is not a perfect circle.

Very quiet compared to most electric heads when flushing. They can't hear you flush in the cockpit.

No valves to open and close ("do I turn it to the right or the left?")

No stupid flush timing rules. Just push the button. You don't have to count pumps strokes or "pump briskly" or say "one Mississippi, two Mississippi" (if not US, replace with appropriate four syllable word).

Will not clog. Or at least it hasn't. Even my previous "it-will-swallow-a-tee-shirt" Lavac would occasionally choke and require my brute force on the pump handle to clear the obstruction.

Is extremely small and designed to fit against inward sloping hull sides.

Finally - for you - the lowest water use with good flushing I've seen. Much less worry about finding a pump-out place and your fresh water might last.

Or, the salt water flush unit works just fine and doesn't use any fresh water.

The drawback is cost and confidence in your battery since you can't flush without electricity.

Carl

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Feb 9, 2011

So much advice with so little information to base it on!

All we know is that he has a Westail 32 and wants a more landlubber-friendly toilet. We need to know a lot more than that to know what to adviise him.

The only bit of advice I can offer at this point is, I don't think the VacuFlush or the Atlantes is the right choice for a 32' sailboat. That does indicate that you're leaning toward a toilet designed to use pressurized water, but with only 32 gallons of fresh water holding, you don't have enough to spare for toilet flushing. So we need to explore other toilet options AND ways to increase your fresh water storage...'cuz you really don't have enough even if you don't use any for toilet flushing.

So...where are you located...US? Canada? Elsewhere? Fresh water lake or coastal? And what about the lady we're trying to accommodate...what exactly do you mean by "female friendly"...what are your requirements (or hers)?

With a little more info, we should be able to get your sorted out in fine shape.

Joe · Feb 9, 2011

JeanMarc said:
Hi!

I'm looking for recommendations for a female guest friendly toilet.....

Uhm..... by that I hope you are not wanting a unit that will process sanitary napkins.... no can do.

Bill Roosa · Feb 10, 2011

This is a training issue

You flip a lever from dry to wet depending on what you want to accomplish. Then pull and push smoothly on the pump till you accomplish that.
Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't think this is "man territory". There has been only one woman I’ve ever met that had any difficulty understanding the process. She had other strengths though.
I suspect your problem is she has never had it explained to her in any detail and just does not understand.
The final solution is to set a rule that everybody has to clean the clog they create. This steepens up the learning curve nicely. Cheaper solution too.

Tim R. · Feb 10, 2011

My "female" never had a problem with any of our toilets over the years on our boats. We have had a WC Headmate, Raritan PHII, Lavac and a Jabsco electric.

Although my brother's "female" hates marine heads. I don't think she likes to look at the contents when flushing.

Our current toilets are a Lavac with sea-water going to an 80 gallon holding tank and a Jabsco electric with the delux control panel and fresh water flush also going to the same holding tank.

The Jabsco is very nice. It has controls for normal flush, short flush, fill and empty. It can also be preogrammed to leave the bowl empty or full. It is pure luxury compared to manual toilets. We live aboard so it gets used quite a bit during pump out season.

The Raritan Elegance sounds very similar but until this one fails me I will stay with it. We even have a spare controil panel, fresh water solenoid and macerator. So unless the bowl cracks we will be using this one for a while.

seadaddler · Feb 10, 2011

NO

First I don't scare them about them having to do anything and just explain what to do and make it sound nice and easy for them.
If we go out day sailing the bath rooms and pool are right next to my boat at the Marina and they usually use first before going out sailing but I also or my wife shows them the very nice and easy head in our boat.
Nick

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Feb 10, 2011

Tim R. said:
...my brother's "female" hates marine heads. I don't think she likes to look at the contents when flushing.

That's easy to fix: close the lid.

Bill Roosa · Feb 10, 2011

Scarry Bill

Hey seadaddler, I said unclogging was a final solution.
I don't recommend making an issue out of it right off the bat for the same reasons you don't.

seadaddler · Feb 10, 2011

OK

My PHII raritan has been really nice to use on my boat and is easy to pump for everyone so far.
Sorry did not mean to make you out to be scaring the female just trying to say that some times female they are nervous when they come on a boat and may want to not go below or use the head.
Nick

zeehag · Feb 10, 2011

place a pink baggie in the head. write a sweet note short and to the point. just say: please place paper in bag. make kisssy faces and smilees and flowers and lace and ribbon. goooey and schmaltzy.
it will work. dont ask me how i know--i am not that kinda gurlee..

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Feb 10, 2011

That information helps...

I think your best choice is likely to be the Raritan "Marine Elegance." Read all about it here: Raritan Elegance toilet I recommend that you include the optional "Smart Flush" panel that offers 4 flush options. Easy to explain to your guests which button to push when.

It's designed to use draw flush water from the onboard pressurized fresh water system..that you have an additional 35 gallons to serve the heads makes that ok.

Now we need to address the rest of the system...which, because almost all of MA and most of the rest of New Engliand waters are "no discharge," means you're limited to a holding tank.
I'll be glad to help you spec out a system that you can maintain easily if you'd like to give me a shout via email.

Head Master18695 · Feb 11, 2011

Raritan's Marine "Elegance"

See Raritan's home page - it includes a link to a reprint from the current issue of "Practical Sailor," covering their recent testing and their evaluation of electric marine toilets. PS recently tested several of the most popular electric marine toilets for sailboat use and reported on them. http://www.raritaneng.com

See what Practical Sailor thinks of Raritan's new Marine "Elegance" head. Practical Sailor is generally considered to be the "Consumer Reports" of the sailboat world. They evaluate and test all sorts of products used on sailboats, and report on them, pointing out their likes and their dislikes, best buy, worst buy, etc.

Bad Obsession · Feb 12, 2011

My experience.....If they fuss about the head in the boat then eventually the will fuss about the entire boat. Flush them and keep looking. 30, single, and dating....been there, done that, not looking back. There are plenty of women out there that will not complain about using a descent marine head (and not a bucket).