Tonneau / Cratch covers

[mrsmelly]

48 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

If you don't have a front cratch, where do you keep your spare cassettes?  Inside the boat??? 

Yes. In a purpose built cupboard with shelving for 3 on my last boat. Remember unlike drop through pump out  tanks when the flap is closed in the cupboard there is no smell or leakage.

[Lily Rose]

2 hours ago, Dave_P said:

If you don't have a front cratch, where do you keep your spare cassettes?  Inside the boat??? 

I keep my EMPTY cassettes under the bed which seems to me to be preferable to keeping a big tank'o'shite there.

[Dave_P]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes. In a purpose built cupboard with shelving for 3 on my last boat. Remember unlike drop through pump out  tanks when the flap is closed in the cupboard there is no smell or leakage.

Still ugh!

10 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

I keep my EMPTY cassettes under the bed which seems to me to be preferable to keeping a big tank'o'shite there.

And your full ones, when you're not near an Elsan?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 

Tim, had you thought to put a bucket in your cratch, you could have used it as an outside privvy - you could've then scoffed at new fangled cassette users as well as the pump out brigade!

No No No! The bucket goes in the engine room.

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

No No No! The bucket goes in the engine room.

Id knock my head on the deck boards ?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Id knock my head on the deck boards ?

It is a mite inconvenient I will admit, but we have to keep with tradition.

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Jen-in-Wellies said:

It is a mite inconvenient I will admit, but we have to keep with tradition.

What pees me off keeping up with tradition is humping all this bloody hay about!!

[Tony Brooks]

Cratch covers can also be configured to give some shade to whoever is sitting in the well deck on a hot day and as I have a"washing line" running under the top board can also allow you to dry washing on an iffy day. Would not be without ours.

[Dunworkin]

Washing lines are another hot topic - I hadn't yet linked the 2...many thanks 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Dunworkin said:

Washing lines are another hot topic - I hadn't yet linked the 2...many thanks 

It depends if you save up long enough and buy a  whole narrowboat. We dont need cratches etc or crap on the roof we simply use the oodles of space under the long  cabin space and washing is hung in the seperate utility room next to the washing machine and tumble dryer.

[Lily Rose]

20 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

Still ugh!

And your full ones, when you're not near an Elsan?

I have three and alternate between two of them. The third is under the bed for emergency use but has so far not needed to be used.

 

I try not to have full ones by aiming to be near an Elsan point by the time the first one is full. I rarely pass a free Elsan point without taking the opportunity to empty the cassette if it's more than about a quarter full. Occasionally I have to move on to the second one and then the full one is out in the engine area when we're moored up and moved temporarily to the bathroom during the 3 hours or so per day, on average, that we are on the move.

 

Ugh to sleeping on top of a large tank'o'shite every night. Much better to sleep on top of a bed-sized storage space used for bedding, towels and beer. Or anything but peepoo. 

 

[Dave_P]

Just now, Lily Rose said:

I have three and alternate between two of them. The third is under the bed for emergency use but has so far not needed to be used.

 

I try not to have full ones by aiming to be near an Elsan point by the time the first one is full. I rarely pass a free Elsan point without taking the opportunity to empty the cassette if it's more than about a quarter full. Occasionally I have to move on to the second one and then the full one is out in the engine area when we're moored up and moved temporarily to the bathroom during the 3 hours or so per day, on average, that we are on the move.

 

Ugh to sleeping on top of a large tank'o'shite every night. Much better to sleep on top of a bed-sized storage space used for bedding, towels and beer. Or anything but peepoo. 

 

I think I agree with you on the pump-outs.  I'd want that tank to be very well sealed!!!

[Alan de Enfield]

34 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

What pees me off keeping up with tradition is humping all this bloody hay about!!

Even with 28 horses it just keeps accumulating -

 

O' to have a horse, my kingdom for a horse.

[rgreg]

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I think your last comment above is a wise idea.  See how you get on with your new boat as it is before considering changes you're unsure of. Often, you can be pleasantly surprised by things you wouldn't have chosen.  For info, mine came with a cratch frame and cover and I wouldn't be without it, particularly in winter.  Ready use solid fuel bags live in there in the colder months, damp gear dries in there, it's a nice place to sit when the weather is a bit iffy - sometimes it's the 1st Lieutenant's patio; sometimes it's my shed.  There should be no condensation issue if there's adequate vent.

I agree; I use my covered cratch for all of the above reasons and wouldn't be without it. Both sides have plastic windows which make it a very pleasant area.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Lily Rose said:

Ugh to sleeping on top of a large tank'o'shite every night. Much better to sleep on top of a bed-sized storage space used for bedding, towels and beer. Or anything but peepoo. 

 

1 hour ago, Dave_P said:

I think I agree with you on the pump-outs.  I'd want that tank to be very well sealed!!!

 

Now I don't really mind what lavatorial arrangements anyone prefers unless they use little black plastic bags and hang it in trees to take advantage of the poor overworked dog poo fairy.  However, I do I find this commonly cited negative issue against pump outs a very odd one: unwarranted, possibly a bit fatuous and certainly a little paranoid.  We're happy that we can store fresh water in a tank that doesn't leak, we're happy that we can store diesel in a tank that doesn't leak, but somehow we think the one with effluent in it is inevitably going to do something outrageous, particularly if it's anywhere near a bed.  I would have thought that personal contact with effluent is far more likely when changing the cassette every day or two, storing full spare cassettes, carting it around in a plastic suitcase , or when having to pour it down a drain in a 'sanitary' station of dubious hygiene status.  Still, eh?