I thought I’d add this section and use it from time to time to share some of the more embarrassing and not so glamorous aspects of the cruising lifestyle.
So, yeah, I pee in a bucket. Let’s just get that one right out of the way.
I suppose that requires some explanation, and to sum it up: power. Everything comes back to power. Our head plumbing uses freshwater (which is somewhat atypical, many boats use saltwater) and we get fresh water by running our water maker, which requires power. When we had a few socked in days in a row due to tropical storms on the outside of Baja and our solar production fell off dramatically, I made an evaluation of our water usage and concluded that my toilet flushing was using too high a percentage of our water. Being boys and all Tim, Alex, and Brenden just go off the back of the boat, and I must admit in more remote anchorages I have done that too, but usually it’s not feasible. So, I started just dipping into the water down the swim step, but then I was wet all the time, which was a pain, and it was a little too time consuming to change in and out of a swimsuit every time I had to go. So, I recalled another boat telling me that they all pee in a bucket because their tank was so small and that they would pour the bucket down the sink. Gross. That was a show stopper for me. But being a catamaran it was an option to just take the bucket out to the back swim step a few times a day to empty it. So, problem solved. I guess.
So, those of you who think we are living the dream, just remember that the dream does not come without sacrifices. Like peeing in a bucket.
Gresham Family Exodus 