It has now been a year since we installed a Natures Head Composting Toilet.  During this year we have lived aboard full time, cruised some 3500+ nm., from Glouchester to Newfoundland to Florida, living at anchor, on moorings and, at the dock.  Now, after a year with a composting toilet, we are happy to report that we are unequivocally happy with our choice.

Our old head was located in the forepeak, a design flaw I suspect Bob Perry was never really happy with but like all boat interior layouts was the only real choice considering the berthing arrangements.

Our forepeak head location had several problems including, odor, from use, as well as the holding tank vent, which wafted through the boat anytime the forward hatch was open.  Odors ranged from those present when just like at home someone used the head, from back flowing black water when the joker valve needed replacing, holding tank vent odors as the vent was located on the bow topsides and vented odors seemed to always drift aft over the boat at inconvenient times.

One of our biggest problems was ships motion when in a rough anchorage or at sea.  Everyone knows a vee-berth is untenable in all but a flat seaway, sitting on a head moving around like a bull just released from the chute trying to throw the rider on its back isn’t much fun either.  Many times, this bucking motion resulted in broken seat hinges or a bruised user.

In all fairness to Bob Perry, there was a second head in the quarter cabin but with that being someone’s berthing area the head cabinet was usually piled up with toys and clothing which once the kids were gone continued to be piled up with gear.  This head also didn’t have a holding tank, nor really any room to install a useable one so for the last nine years the head in its covering cabinet was just there, just another place to pile stuff.

Upon returning from the Caribbean in 2016 we knew we needed to do something about our anchor chain locker and the amount of chain we had and where it was located.  Wanting to have 300’ of chain instead of our current 200’ I knew the existing location wouldn’t do.  First off it was too small and chain pileups were a problem, secondly and just as important the current location was too high and too far forward where it detrimentally affected Malaya’s motion.

The obvious location for the chain was where the existing head was installed. By removing the platform the head sat on I could easily carry the 300’ of chain I wanted and eliminate chain pileups, the weight would be 4’ further aft and 3’ lower in the boat.  All positives.

The only problem, where to install a head with a holding tank to meet regulations.  After many hours of design debate, we settled on a composting toilet installed in the quarter cabin where the unused head sat.  Measuring the space, we had room, the new head wouldn’t be sitting on a high platform so the 19” high seat wouldn’t be a problem and we wouldn’t need a holding tank and its attendant hoses and pumps.

We chose the Natures Head over other brands of similar size and shape for two simple reasons. One, the seat was integral to the design so there weren’t any hinges to break when someone was tossed about in a seaway, though the new location aft greatly reduced motion, being tossed off the head was still possible in heavy weather.  Two, the urine bottle sits in its own container on the front of the head where its content level is readily visible allowing it to be changed before an overflow occurs and if we do overflow the bottle all urine is caught in the bottles holding container so it is easy to clean up.  Over flow doesn’t happen often, for us mostly in the first couple of months before we learned to check it daily and when we have a guest or two onboard and forget we need to check the level more frequently.

For us, another positive about the heads new location was the fact the space, while wide enough for the head, its attendant cranking handle and room to slide the seat off the hinges to allow servicing, the space was narrow enough so that when heeled over one has something solid on both left and right to comfortably lean against for support.  A vast improvement over the old location!

After removing the old unused head, I did have to build a level platform for the composting head to sit on as the cabin sole has a slight curve to it.  However, this platform only added an inch to the heads seat height so this wasn’t a problem.

My biggest concern with installing a composting head was where to install the required vent.  My concern was where are the odors going to go and how bad will they be.  I ended up installing the vent discharge, a 1 ½” thru-hull, just below the rail on the starboard topside right in way of the boarding gate.  While this location wasn’t ideal and I worried about odor problems in the cockpit just 4’ away as well as in your face odors when boarding from the dinghy I was very happy to learn they don’t really exist.  Yes, if you stick your nose close to the vent you can smell wet earth and, that is the extent of the odor.  To date, no one even knows we are venting a toilet there and we have had people rafted up to us with open ports by the vent and they never knew it was there.  Nor has anyone in the cockpit ever smelled or commented on any odor from the vent.

Below decks we have absolutely no head or holding tank odor beyond that normally associated with someone having just used the head and a quick squirt of deodorizer hides that well.  Any head odor below or in the cockpit now always seems to come from someone passing gas, though everyone usually denies it was them, so head odors are no different than those that shouldn’t be present in the dining room at home but occasionally are.

As for maintenance, we have to change and empty the urine bottle on average every two days.  This is a two-minute procedure, involves no odor, no touching urine, unless the bottle overflows and then clean-up wearing a pair of disposable gloves is easy.

Natures Head says the head compost is good for 80 uses or for two people four weeks.  When we first installed the head, we changed the compost every three weeks, based on what other cruisers said they had found best.   Experimenting we have found changing the compost at 4 weeks works wells.  When shore facilities are available or we have been off the boat we have gone 6 weeks without problems.  I think the difference in time between changes is naturally going to vary between users as different users will use different types and varying amounts of compost material.

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While I have the head out, I give the space it sits in a good cleaning, clean t-+he outside of the head itself, and then reinstall.  I find the cleaning process to be much simpler than with traditional heads as there are nowhere near as many nooks and crannies that catch dirt, there being no pump or hose assembly’s involved.

Our operating costs have been similar or less than a traditional head.  Coconut Coir for compost costs us about $80.00US a year, though we could use a cheaper variety.  Insecticide to prevent gnats adds another $40.00US.  All in all, less than we would spend on joker valves and pump seals in a good year with a traditional head.

So, are we happy? We are, and we consider it one of the best improvements we made during our two-year refit as well as a good investment.

To help those considering a composting toilet here are some helpful hints to help you reduce your learning curve and reduce the possibility of having a disastrous experience such as some early users experienced.

Compost: We prefer Coconut Coir as a composting medium as it is less likely to contain insect eggs or larva.  We use Beats Peat, which we order online, usually we have it in a couple of days after ordering.  We buy two 11lb blocks at a time that last six months.

-The 11lb packages of Coir have four blocks that are easy to break apart, each will fit in a two-gallon zip-loc bag for storage or preparation and contains about 1 ½ head changes.

-To prepare for use, add 1 ½-2 cups water, no more, close zip-loc, place in sun for a couple of days, periodically turning bag over.  Sitting in the sun will create condensation inside the bag, moisturizing the coir, if left for a couple of days the coir will be slightly moist and very easy to break up for use.  If you use too much water the coir will be too wet to absorb moisture from waste and you will get a messy and odorful tank of waste to change.

-We break up coir into a five-gallon bucket with screw on lid.  A five-gallon bucket will hold approximately two of the coir blocks in an 11lb package.  You can break the coir up in the 2-gallon Ziploc but I find doing so results in spilled coir.

-I try to keep at least one prepared change of coir in the bucket, that way I can change anytime I need or want to without having to wait for the coir to be moist enough to break up.  The coir stored in the five-gallon bucket usually dries out so when I am ready to use it is pretty dry, this allows maximum moisture absorption from the waste.

-Gnat control: We use a product approved for use by Organic Farmers to control gnats called Gnatrol.  It comes in packages as small as 4oz for about $20.00US which is good for about six months of use.  If shopping online you need to do a Goggle search to find the small packages.  Amazon only sells it in 5-gallon pails which will last you a lifetime and costs over $400.00US.

-We add one tablespoon of Gnatrol each time we change the compost, stirring it into the compost by turning the compost mixing handle on the head.  To date, even in the tropics, we haven’t had any Gnats.

-There are other insect control methods in use such as Dichotomous Earth, but it is not as effective and we have heard of people having Gnat problems with it.

-Disposing of waste:  To date, we haven’t had any problems disposing of either solid compost waste or dumping a urine bottle.  Marinas that require pump-outs on a schedule basis or require a pump-out at check-in have just noted we have a composting toilet and we haven’t been bothered further.  Law enforcement such as USCG boarding teams, Florida Sheriffs and Fish and Game have not been a problem either as composting toilets are Coast Guard approved Type 3 sanitary devices.

-Dumping a garbage bag of solid waste in a trash can or dumpster is no different than someone dumping adult or baby diapers or their little bags of dog waste so we haven’t had or heard of push back from anyone anywhere to date.

In conclusion, I believe our choice to install the Natures Head composting toilet was a sound one and we highly recommend this option.