Peggy,
Have you ever heard of the following setup:

The waste tank is ABOVE the water line with a bottom drain to a seacock.
There is a second drain from the top of the tank to the deck pumpout.
The head pumps up to the top of the tank.
Close the seacock in protected water to keep the bad stuff aboard and then
open the seacock when you get out.When offshore, simply leave the seacock
open to drain as you go (so to speak).

Real simple if you have the freeboard.
I wouldn't worry about carrying the weight so high because the tank would
always be empty out to sea.

--
Dennis Gibbons
dkgibbons at optonline dot net
"Peggie Hall" wrote in message
...
Karin Conover-Lewis wrote:
Ditto the "Lavac" recommendation. I would have no other. Well, I'd go
for a
composting head if I didn't need to carry mountains of peat moss and it
fit
the same space as the Lavac, but such a creature doesn't exist.

Composting toilets also need power 24/7, Karin, to run the blower and
evaporator. Also a means of draining off liquids that exceed what can be
evaporated, which in coastal waters means some kind of container for
'em...'cuz they can't legally be drained overboard. Composter are an
alternative worth considering on a large powerboat on inland "no
discharge" waters, but IMO are totally impractical on any boat in
coastal waters.

--
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
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detai...=400&group=327