So, we tried the hot water and tide to clean out our waste water holding tank. After an entire large bottle of tide and 6 or 7 complete flushes of the tank, there was absolutely NO change in volume. We are at around 16 gallons instead of the 25 that should be available.
Looking at various sailing forums, it appears that we are out of the ‘sludge’ territory and into the ‘cement’ territory of holding tank problems. One of the most knowledgeable experts pretty much says there is no hope once you get to hardened cement (accumulated toilet paper, body fats (from waste) and various chemicals from head odor treatments). However, we have something else to try. On Monday we are going to put in K57 which is used for septic tanks. It does not contain harsh chemicals, only fast bacteria to break down the accumulation. What is a holding tank except a mini septic tank, sort of. At least that that is the logic we are using. After putting it in the tank, we are going to let it do its magic for 4 to 5 days then go back to the pump out station and see if it works.
In the last post, we mentioned that our air popcorn popper from home drew too much power to use on the boat. We were not happy campers about that. Good News!!! West Bend makes a mini popcorn air popper that only draws 900 Watts, much less that the full size one. Yea!! We can have air popcorn on the boat. It is the little things that will make this boat truly feel like home.
