Based on what you've told me, I think a Raritan Atlantes would be your
best choice...it's a full household size, all china toilet that offers 4
flush options including dry, and can use as little as a quart of
water--which in "no discharge" waters is important. By adding the
optional internal vented loop, the bowl can even hold water "like the
one at home." I'd also opt for the touch pad to flush. Check it out on
the Raritan website at
http://www.raritaneng.com List is about $1100,
if you shop hard you should be able to find it for about $800-850.
The real problem is enough holding tank capacity for 4 people for at
least a week, and unfortunately on the Great Lakes a holding tank is the
only option. The average adult uses the head 5x/day, average output
about 8 oz. So even if the low water flush of only a quart is needed to
flush just urine, that's still 1.5-2 gal/day/person...6 gal/day. So the
smallest tank you could get by with without coming in for a week is
42-45 gallons (50 would safer), which is a LOT of holding tank for a 35'
boat. That it should be within about 6' of the toilet can severely limit
the locations it would fit into, too.
So IMO, you'd be better off with a 30-35 gallon tank and plan to come in
to pump out about every 4 days. It doesn't make a lot of sense to equip
a boat for what may be needed for only about 10% of its use.
Does the boat have a tank now? If so, what size? Is it plastic (I hope)?
--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html
35 foot power. 3-4 people typically on board. Most cruises are 3 days
although we'll be trying a few week long cruises this summer for the
first time. 70+ gallons of fresh water though we're considering an
upgrade since we prefer to anchor out rather than come in to the
docks on cruises (most of the time).
The prev ious owner's logs show that we'd burn through about 70% of
our fuel to get from one end (length) of Lake Michigan to the other
so we'd probably make only one fuel & provision (and pumpout if
necessary) stop on most cruises. We plan to island hop and anchor
rather than docking at towns most of the time. We are, of course, in
a no discharge area. We have a spot that's 21 x 15 for head location.
SO wants a head that's as similar to "home" as possible, especially
since the rotating roster of relatives who come aboard normally have
their feet firmly planted on the ground.
Just as general info, we're new to power boating and spent all of
last year attending classes and taking hands-on piloting lessons from
a very experienced commercial captain. Except for a single 60-mile
cruise last year and a lot of very short trips, this season will be
our first to really enjoy the boat.