# Recommend for trailer sailer with a real head?



## FoggyBottom (Jun 16, 2010)

Anyone have a suggestion for a trailerable sailboat, 25' or less, that has a real head and not a portapotty?


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

My S2 7.9 currently has a portapotty, but if we end up planning to do some extensive cruising (week+) I'll probably get one of the composting heads (Airhead, etc.). I saw them at the Strictly Sail boat show last weekend, and I like the concept much better than the port-a-potty. Seems likely that you could add a marine toilet to any boat you wanted, just all depends on how much you want to spend. I like the self-contained nature of the composting head on a smaller boat, not having to have hoses and a box o' stinky stuff elsewhere on the boat seems like a plus. That said, I have seen at least one Catalina 25 advertised with a marine head..


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## denverd0n (Jun 20, 2008)

I don't think it exists. At least, I've never seen any trailer sailer that came with a marine head, rather than a porta-potty. Of course, you can install a head in almost any boat, if you really want to.

But I think that if a "real" marine head is on your absolutely must have list, then you should give up on the idea of a trailer sailer. And if a trailer sailer is an absolute must, then you should accept a porta-potty as part of the trade-off.


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

A swing keel Catalina 25, on a trailer, with a marine head:
1987 Catalina 25


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## MarkCK (Jan 4, 2009)

Check out the Rhodes 22. One of there big advertising points is real head. Although there isn't much privacy when you use it.


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## peoples1234 (Jul 17, 2010)

Beneteau First 235


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## Mobnets (Apr 24, 2011)

Rob Roy 23

Mobnets
1973 Paceship Chance 32/28 "Westwind"


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## bobmcgov (Jul 19, 2007)

Good call from Rhys. S2 makes a number of boats -- tho their numbering system prevents me from recalling which ones -- with something like a real enclosed head. A couple of their lifting keel models use the keel box as one wall of the head compartment. As a bonus, S2s tend to sail pretty well.

And of course, the Mac26 powersailors have a private head space. Set up for a portapot, but you might fit an electric or manual head in there. Remember, tho, that a head needs a holding tank, which is bulky and difficult to site on a small boat. Many higher-end portapotties have fittings to plumb them for venting and pumpout. That, IMO, is where you ought to be looking.

Dedicated heads take up more space than than trailersailers offer. Hell, I'm having fits trying to physically fit a head on a 30'er, and whatever we come up with, it will be semi-alfresco. There is no expectation of privacy on a small boat. Shy bladders need not apply.


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

Yep, my S2 has an enclosed head (uses a curtain for the door). Keel box on one side, bulkhead behind, and the hull of the boat on the other. Like I said, currently has a port-a-potty, but will likely go to a composting head before too long (likely before we ever use the port-a-potty...). Here's an S2 6.9 (smaller sister ship to the 7.9) that has the same layout. Again, likely comes with a port-a-potty, but the head is enclosed and could easily be converted to composting.
1983 S2 6.9 sailboat for sale in North Carolina


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## bobmcgov (Jul 19, 2007)

That 6.9 is a nice-looking boat. One thing to watch out for re: composters is their height. They are ~5-7" taller than typical heads or PPs, tho roughly similar in footprint. We also are leaning composter, but one reason we are having to move it aft is there isn't enuf headroom forward (on a 30'er!). I highly advise building a mockup before plonking $1k on an airhead. I nested two 5gal buckets & added a hinged lid the size of the Airhead's. That gives us the 19" height of the real thing & lets us sit on it in various places. Right by the companionway, where headroom is 6', the mockup barely fits.

Same for the OP: research marine toilets you might want, knock together a model (including room for the pump handle) & see if you could fit it on prospective trailer sailers. Then find a box the size of a 7 gallon holding tank, & try to site that. You'll quickly see the virtues of a plumbed portajohn. Thetford and SeaLand make some nice ones, even models with electric flush. Far cheaper than a full marine head system, too.


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## sailortjk1 (Dec 20, 2005)

One foot larger than the OP requested.
Seward 26
26RK


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## Sternik (Oct 8, 2010)

TES 24 from TES Yacht, but oldest one would only be about 8 yrs old. Centreboard, beach-able, with enclosed head compartment. They are sold in Canada with either full marine head w/holding tank or porta-potti version.

TES Yacht


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

bobmcgov - Thanks for the mocking it out suggestion, I will definitely do that prior to purchasing something different, as headroom could be an issue with the Airhead (one of the first things I thought of when I saw them, actually). I went back and looked at my boat after the show and decided that I THOUGHT it would work, but its better to be sure. As to the 6.9: Yeah, if it were closer to me and if I had seen it before I found my 7.9 (which kind of fell into my lap..) I may have considered it (or at least gone and looked at it). A 21ft boat would certainly be easier to trailer, but it wouldn't have been as big of an upgrade over the 17.5 foot boat we already had. I'm very happy with the 7.9 so far (...of course, I haven't actually SAILED it yet, so I'll reserve final judgement for this spring!)


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## Rhapsody-NS27 (Apr 8, 2012)

Pacific Seacraft Flicka. Some, not all, have an actual head.

Cape Dory 25s and Bayfield 25s, I think, have heads.

Good luck


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## Mobnets (Apr 24, 2011)

Nice shot of a Rhodes 22 head compartment with a "real" marine toilet setup here:

http://www.rhodes22.org/rhodes/pics/WHITE1.jpg

Actually, while a lot of trailer sailors have portable toilets, a number of them were designed to allow a real marine head and holding tank. These were offered as optional equipment that many (most?) owners did not order with their boats. My previous boat, a 1977 Paceship PY23, never had anything but a porta potti, however, the porta potti sat on a raised shelf with clearance underneath to allow a real marine head to be mounted and easy access to the area under the V-berth for run hoses to a holding tank.

Mobnets
1973 Paceship Chance 32/28 "Westwind"


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## Classic30 (Aug 29, 2007)

In my experience, you really don't want a real porcelain marine toilet on a TS.. With the holding tank, etc. it adds far too much weight for a little yacht resulting in crappy (excuse the pun) sailing - but it's the extra load on the trailer winch when hauling out with a full tank that's the real killer.

OTOH, if you happened to own something like a Magnum 8.5...


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## denverd0n (Jun 20, 2008)

Well, I have to confess that I'm surprised. I didn't realize there were so many trailerable sailboats that came standard with real heads in them. Though, I have to say that some of the boats suggested are only barely what I would call "trailerable."

One thing I would ask the OP is, why trailerable? If you intend to move it once or twice a season at most, then a large boat that just manages to be trailerable is fine. If you want to keep it at home, and trailer it back and forth to the water pretty much every time you use it then, I can tell you from experience, smaller is much, much better.

The bigger the boat, the more time and effort it is to hook it up, trailer it, rig it, launch it, retrieve it, de-rig it, trailer it back home, and put it away. It ends up not being worth it if you're only going to be sailing for a few hours. You find yourself using the boat less and less.

I made the mistake of moving from a small trailerable boat, to a somewhat larger one, to the largest one that I could manage. Found that I was using the big boat far less than I had used the smaller boats, and finally decided that I either needed to move back to a smaller trailerable boat, or bite the bullet and keep my larger boat at a dock where it was ready to go any time.

Bottom line: If you are going to have to rig and launch the boat every time you use it, smaller is better.

Good luck, whatever you end up doing.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

US 25 also had the option of a storage tank head... fully enclosed.
US Yacht 25 b photo - Jeff Gegner photos at pbase.com

Capri 26 does as well, but it's large for a trailerable.

denverd0n Is 100% correct, larger boats are a bear to rig/derig quickly. However, I find it's not really the length of the boat, as much as it is the depth of the keel! Once in the water, rigging a 25 footer, or a 20 footer is really very similar, and the same amount of work if you can find an easy way to raise the mast... I have raised the mast and lowered it myself with a proper A-Frame configuration... NO I would NOT want to do it for a day sail, but a long weekend? Sure! The real bear is getting the boat launched with a 4 foot keel. I am working on making that easier using a strap launch method, that seems to work well for others.

But hey, if an enclosed head gets you where you want, go for it.


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

SHNOOL said:


> The real bear is getting the boat launched with a 4 foot keel.


Very close to the #1 reason I chose to go for an S2 7.9: 5 feet of draft with the keel down, 18 inches of draft with the keel up!


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## c_witch (Sep 25, 2011)

Hmm not sure what you consider being a 'real' head. Here are several photo's of the head on my 22 footer. I consider it to be 'real' although headroom is lacking. Not much to be done about that on any of the smaller boats.

First pic the head in to port just aft of the v-berth behind the door. With the door open it provides privacy from the cockpit. In pic 2 you'll see that it is an MSD that is plumbed for both dockside pumpout and seaside pumpout.

c_witch

PS this is the smaller msd and the holding tank is only 2.6 gallons good for 3 days. I could however install a 10gallon holding tank under the cockpit behind my housebank if required.


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## bljones (Oct 13, 2008)

Nimble.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

Rhys05 said:


> Very close to the #1 reason I chose to go for an S2 7.9: 5 feet of draft with the keel down, 18 inches of draft with the keel up!


I spend much of my time beating down the S2 7.9 fleet and trying to catch the last 1 or 2 that always out sail me... Typically I can't recommend a keel/centerboard, but on the S2 7.9 it works, and that's very right, launching it is WAY easier, plus more room down below.

I bought what I did, because it was very difficult to find a 7.9 for even double what I paid for the Capri 25. Plus the C25 is pretty unknown around our parts, and I wanted something that would allow me to play tag with the 7.9s.

My point was, and is... launching a 4 foot draft can be done, and is... it just takes more planning.


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## Rhys05 (Aug 22, 2012)

I liked the Capri too, but none I could find for sale around me with a trailer. The 7.9 was the best compromise I could find, I didn't want a MacGregor or some other water ballasted boat. 
To the OP: I think that you've got some good choices out there for either a "real marine head" or a composter. Now go get a boat!


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## Alex W (Nov 1, 2012)

A friend's Catalina 22 has a marine head, and a good number (maybe close to 50%?) of Catalina 25s have them.


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## sesmith (Jan 24, 2013)

Our Seaward 25 has an enclosed marine head with 10 gal storage tank. Most of the seaward 25 boats were set up this way, though some were ordered with porta potties or MSD. All have the head enclosed separately next to the steps. I believe the hunter 260 has an enclosed head as well, though it might be a porta pottie.


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## FoggyBottom (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks for all the great responses. To answer an earlier post, we won't be moving the boat much or launching frequently. We'd still be at a slip through the season and then park it in the back yard off-season or for major DIY work.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

I love the seawards... High quality boats... again good luck finding one in that price range. I like the looks of the new ones the 26 and 32. Pretty lines. 
Hake Yachts

if I ever go full-cruiser mode, they'll be my first stop.


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## SailingJackson (Jan 1, 2011)

FoggyBottom said:


> Anyone have a suggestion for a trailerable sailboat, 25' or less, that has a real head and not a portapotty?


The later Catalina 25 was very nice. I had a 1989 wing keel model with a genuine marine head.

Another alternative is the Sealand Sanipotti which can be removed to empty but can also be plumbed to deck for pump out.

One thing that speaks well for using a marine head on a small boat is that, when done right, the pumpout procedure is actually a clean operation and offers less risk of a truly memorable mess, as is possible with a portable unit.

G.J.


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## FoggyBottom (Jun 16, 2010)

Sadly we know that mess all too well. Our first year with our P26 (first year with a boat period), we neglected to realize the frequency required for pump-out (what goes in must come out) and "it" filled the pumpout pipe and a couple pints ended up dripping down the wall and into the bilge. It wouldn't have been so bad if the sound of running water made us first think we had a leak at a throughhull that scared the daylights out of us and then find out its poop....


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