Sunday 4 February 2007

The Dreaded Jaguar 22 Sea Toilet.

Sorry no piccies for this one at the moment, but may have some soon which I'll add. The original toilet fitted to the Jaguar 22 is robust and simple, but does have one major flaw. If any damage is sustained to the valve or through hull fitting the boat will sink. This is due to the design not having a sea cock fitted in the system. We decided to remove the toilet and fittings and glass the hole through the hull. To keep the toilet provision, we are adding a chemical toilet. This isn't everyone's choice but I'm one for thinking holes in the bottom of the boat should be kept to a minimum especially when sitting on a mud berth. Removal of the toilet without writing it off is almost impossible so don't bother being too gentle. At the base of the pedestal are a number of studs with nuts on. Undo these and this should loosen the toilet. One of the studs rotated so I just ground this of with the angle grinder. Then get angry the toilet pull and rock the pedestal, what ever you need to do to crack the through hull plastic pipe. Hopefully the toilet will snap off. You will now be left with a plastic pipe going through the hull and some studs protruding inside the boat. To remove the plastic pipe put a screwdriver down the side of it to crack it. It may take a little time to remove the last remnants. I left the remaining studs in, but ground them flush with the fibreglass reinforcing on the inside of the hull. The intention is to put a false floor in above this glassing to take the new porta toilet. Just bear in mind the height of the toilet, as you want to put the 'berth board' back over the toilet to make the 'v berth' at night. Too taller toilet and this won't fit. To fill the hole I would suggest a good quality epoxy resin along with some chopped strand matting. On the outside of the hull put a flat piece of plastic over the hole and wedge up with a support. If you can, add some release wax to the plastic so the resin comes off even better and makes a smoother finish. Mix the resin and put a thin layer down the hole first from the inside. Then gradually build up layers letting each layer 'go off' first prior to laying up the other. The reason is if the resin is too thick it will generate too much heat when curing and will either go up in flames of go soft. Either way not good news. We used 6 layers prior to capping off with a couple of sheets of chopped stand laminated over the hole on the inside of the boat. Once the first couple of layers have gone off you can remove the support and the plastic. This should leave the bottom of the hull smooth, but may require a little fairing to level off exactly with the hull. This part of the hull will now be stronger than most of the rest of the hull and one less hole in the boat! Next. Probably installation of the Log and Depth Sounder.

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