Rules is Rules - Macerating Capability Counts.

Maritime regulations vary from State to State and making sure that we are compliant as we cross into new jurisdictions has mostly impacted the use of the dinghy/tender and it's labeling. We got around all the variations of what constitutes a Tender and how far away it can be operated from the mother-ship etc by registering it as an independent vessel. Queensland however,  has some particular regulations with regards to toilet waste. A holding tanks is insufficient and even if the regulations are vague and difficult to locate, if we were to visit the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park the rules are quite clear. Macerate. Macerate. Macerate.

 

A finger in the ear is a proven aide to thinking

Several options were explored and in the end it came down to 3 possibilities, each with it's own cost and degree of difficulty. Did we want to spend a lot, a whole lot or lots and lots?

• Fit a macerator to the base of the holding tank
• Install a brand new electric toilet since they come with a macerator
• Fit a conversion kit to upgrade the toilet from manual operation to electric

Adding a macerator to the base of the holding tank would involve working with the existing sanitation hoses and filled the Bloke with horror. Installing a brand new toilet was very appealing since a whole new toilet was potentially cheaper than the macerator alone, however, the available space was an issue. The cost of purchasing a unit with the same footprint (a Jabsco model does exist) was twice that of the conversion kit. An electric power supply was not a problem since the location is adjacent to the shower sump pump.

Marine toilets are notorious for blockages and failures with attendant nasty surprises and the possibility of restoring the toilet to manual operation, either as a fall back in the event of disaster, or once away from highly controlled marine districts, appealed greatly. The idea of not completely destroying the 'heads' or bathroom compartment was also a draw card. Best of all was the installation diagram that indicated the installation of the conversion kit entailed only a few steps and could be completed in just 15 minutes. What was not to love?

The instructions looked easy enough

 So far so good. 

The Manual pump removed but that alone took 15 minutes.

Optimism on display.

A quick job like this can be done in your best shorts apparently.

I'm instructed to ignore The Bloke's attire plus the time taken.

We are now 'legal'.

It goes without saying that there's no truth in advertising. It took so much longer to install than the instructions indicated. We just hope it takes a proportionally long time before it 'fails' too!