Mud bug time - South Shore Harbour Marina

APRIL 2013 • SOUTH SHORE HARBOUR MARINA NEWSLETTER
Mud bug
time
by Keith Emmons
Our annual crawfish boil is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, from
Noon ‘till they’re gone! It will be in
the South Shore Harbor marina parking lot in front of the office, across
from pier 14. Tickets are available
that day, and are $15 each; $5 each for
ages 12 and under. That includes all
the crawfish you can eat, hot dogs,
and beer and non-alcoholic beverages.
Guests are welcome, and no reservations are required. There will be
entertainment as well. This is our first
big gathering of the year, and always
a lot of fun. Come see your marina
friends you haven’t seen for awhile,
and meet some new ones. This is a
rain or shine event, which means it’ll
happen no matter what. Bring your
appetite, and I’ll see you there!
Good pet neighbors
I received a call from a friend a
while back (who will remain anonymous). It seems he was walking
through the marina and stepped in a
little present left by one of our four
footed friends. Needless to say, he
was a bit upset.
We’d all like to love your pets as
much as you do, so please pick up
after them, and don’t let them mess up
the piers, people’s property, etc. Years
ago, I was taking down my isinglass
after the winter. I had it all washed up
and dried, sitting on the pier. Along
came a dock neighbor’s dog (not on a
leash) that proceeded to relieve himself all over my nice clean plastic. It
was not a nice experience, either for
me, the dog, or the dog’s owner when
I had a discussion with him.
As far as my friend, I believe he
said something about “rubbing someone’s nose in it.” Let’s try to keep that
from happening!
Also, remember that all pets must
be on leashes at all times in the marina. Children may be scared by a
strange dog running up to them, and I
have heard a few rumors of bites or
near misses. Remember that you
could be sued by someone if your dog
bites them. If your dog is found off
leash on marina property, you may be
asked to leave the marina.
Flare guns and safety
Need a good reason to check your
flare gun and the expiration date on
your flares? How about this?
Imagine needing help and this happening on top of whatever emergency
you already had going on.
Recreational boats 16-feet and over
used on coastal waters or the Great
Lakes are
required to
carry a minimum of either 1)
three day and
three night pyrotechnic devices; 2) one
day non-pyrotechnic
device (flag) and one night nonpyrotechnic device (auto SOS
More Good neighbors, page 2
Good neighbors
Pat asked, “Could you do it for
me?” Mike screamed, “You should
get married Pat, settle down and have
some kids!” Pat asked, “Do you know
where I can find a pregnant woman?”
continued from page 1
light); or 3) a combination of 1) and
2). Recreational boats less than 16feet on coastal waters or the Great
Lakes need only carry night visual
distress signals when operating from
sunset to sunrise. Also never try to
fire a regular shotgun shell from these
plastic guns; they will blow up in
your hand.
Want to do a vessel safety check
on your own? Check out this website
and they have the same forms the
U.S.C.G. Auxiliary or the U.S. Power
Squadron use. You can then get a
member to come out, check your
boat, and give you a sticker.
http://tiny.cc/lhy5tw.
Sea humor
Pat and Mike went fishing. Pat
asked Mike if he would carry his
fishing gear. Mike said, “Yes if you
really want me to.”
When they got to the fishing hole
Pat asked Mike if he would bait his
line. The answer was: “yes if you
really want me to.”
“Would you mind casting for me,”
asked Pat. “If you really want me to,”
was the answer.
A little while later Pat’s bobber
began to hop. Mike said, “You’ve
got a fish Pat, reel him in.”
The teacher asked the young students, “Was George Washington a
soldier or a sailor?”
One student stood up and said with
authority, “He could not have been a
sailor. A sailor would have known
better than to stand up in a boat!”
A preacher was boating towards an
island for a special wedding. On the
way he was stopped by the marine
patrol. After a quick check of the life
preservers on board one patrol officer
noticed a box with a few bottles in it.
“What’s in the bottles, Reverend?”
“It's holy water,” came the response.
The officer opened one of the bottles.
Sniffing it he said, “It smells like
wine.”
“Hallelujah!” the preacher shouted,
“He’s done it again!”
Two fishermen were out on the
lake when one of them dropped his
wallet.
As they watched the wallet float
down to the depths of the lake, a carp
came along and snatched up the wallet.
Soon came another carp who stole
it away and then a third joined in.
Remarked one of the fisherman,
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen
carp-to-carp walleting.”
2!6%
Juniors R Womens R Mens R Shoes R Purses R Jewelry R Furniture R Home Decor
SSH
5
ONE COUPON PER PERSON.
ANY PURCHASE OF
00
$
OR MORE
25
NOT VALID WITH ANY SALES OR REWARD CARDS (MUST PRESENT COUPON).
409 E. NASA Rd. 1 (by Mamacitas Restaurant) Webster R 281.724.1552
Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. R Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Page 2
2551 South Shore Blvd. Suite B
League City, TX 77573
(281) 334-0515 • Fax (281) 334-0288
MARINA
MARINA STAFF
Donna Rogers
Marina Manager
Donna.Rogers@sshmarina.com
Taylor Ihlefeld
Harbormaster
Taylor.Ihlefeld@sshmarina.com
Keith Emmons
Newsletter Editor
keith@anastasia3.com
Virginia Zelenka
Accounting Coordinator
Virginia.Zelenka@sshmarina.com
Tyler Hatthorn
Richard Bustamante
Fuel Pier Attendants
Chase Cobble
Maintenance Manager
Chase.Cobble@sshmarina.com
Amber Moore
Leasing Agent
Amber.Moore@sshmarina.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Sat. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Sun. Noon-4:30 p.m.
FUEL PIER HOURS:
Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Sat. & Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
3!6%
$ 00 OFF
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South Shore Harbour Marina Newsletter
April 2013
Odor free sewage system is possible
From the internet
It really is possible to have a completely odor-free system — honest!
You have read or heard, over and over again, the key to
odor control is the hose, that hose permeates with sewage
and causes the system to stink. That’s folklore. The key to
odor control is in the installation of the entire system.
What very few people in the marine industry have learned
is the very nature of sewage itself and how it breaks down,
what creates odor and what prevents odor from forming.
Once we understood proven sewage management principles and how to apply them to onboard systems, we were
able to install systems that are completely odor-free and
correct the ones that weren’t. Once you understand it —
and it’s so simple — you can do the same thing.
There are two ways to deal with holding tank odor: Try
to reduce it, mask it and contain it after it’s formed, by
using chemicals and filters — which has never proven very
successful, or prevent odor from forming in the first place
by applying the same principles that are used to balance
and maintain sewage treatment ponds. Sewage treatment
ponds only stink when they’ve been unbalanced biologically by an overload of chemicals. Here’s how it works.
Sewage contains both aerobic (need oxygen to survive
and thrive) and anaerobic bacteria (thrive in an airless
environment); neither can function in the other’s environment. Why is that important? Because only the anaerobic
bacteria in sewage produce foul-smelling gasses. Aerobic
bacteria break sewage down, as does anaerobic bacteria —
but aerobic bacteria do not generate odor. So as long as
there is a sufficient supply of air to the tank, and an aerobic bacteria treatment is added to aid what naturally occurs
in sewage, the aerobic bacteria thrive and overpower the
anaerobic bacteria, and the system remains odor free.
A bio-active (live aerobic bacteria) holding tank treatment such as Raritan’s “K.O.” works with the aerobic bacteria in sewage, eliminating odor, completely emulsifying
solids and paper, and preventing sludge from forming.
Enzymes do little if anything — a brief respite from odor
immediately after adding them, then odor begins to build
again. Chemical products only mask odor with another
odor, and they kill not only odor-causing anaerobic bacteria, but beneficial aerobic bacteria as well. Not good,
because the aerobic bacteria are needed in the system to
break down and emulsify solids and paper. Chemicals only
break them up and dissolve them into little tiny particles
More Odor free, page 4
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April 2013
South Shore Harbour Marina Newsletter
Page 3
Odor free
continued from page 3
that settle to the bottom of the tank,
along with chemical residue, to
become sludge that turns to concrete.
Plus, chemicals, unlike bio-active
products, are also unwelcome in landside sewage treatment facilities, and
are especially unappreciated by those
living and working near them.
The bacteria in sewage produce a
variety of sulfur monoxides and dioxides (which are the malodorous
gasses), methane — which has no
odor but is flammable — and carbon
dioxide, which also has no odor but
creates the environment in which the
aerobic bacteria cannot live, but the
anaerobic bacteria thrive. Carbon
dioxide does not rise or fall; it is
ambient, like the atmosphere. Without
a sufficient flow of fresh air through
the tank to allow it to dissipate, it simply lies like a blanket on top of any
pool of sewage (whether inside hose
or a holding tank) and builds, suffocating the aerobic bacteria and creating the perfect environment for the
anaerobic bacteria to take over. The
system literally turns septic and the
result . . a stinking boat, or at least
foul gasses out the vent line every
time the head is flushed.
To prevent this, let’s start with the
head: The discharge hose, no matter
whether it goes overboard, to a Type I
or II MSD, or to a holding tank,
should be installed, if at all possible,
with no sags or low places where
sewage can stand. When a marine
head is not flushed sufficiently to
clear the hose of sewage and rinse
the hose behind the sewage, that
sewage sits in low spots in the
hose or bits of it cling to the walls
of the hose — getting no air,
allowing the anaerobic bacteria to
thrive and produce their stinking
gasses. If sewage stands in a
low spot which gets
no air in hose
which is susceptible to a high rate
of water absorption, it will permeate the hose. This is
what has given rise
to the myth that the
wrong hose causes
odor. Therefore, as I’ve already said,
flush your head thoroughly enough to
clear the entire hose of sewage and
rinse behind it. And when you leave
your boat to go home, flush the head
thoroughly one last time, this time
with fresh water. Until holding tanks
came along, the hose was the source
of most odors, but incomplete flushing was the real cause.
In the holding tank, the key to
odor control is the vent line, it must
allow a free exchange of fresh air for
the carbon dioxide generated by the
sewage. Therefore, those bladder
tanks which have no vent are all but
guaranteed to stink. There’s no source
of air into them at all. Boat builders,
boat owners and boat yard personnel
who install holding tanks have always
viewed the vent line only as a source
of enough air to allow the tank to be
pumped out without collapsing and as
an exhaust for methane (Many even
believe methane, which in fact is
odorless, to be the source of odor.)
Now Offering
Fuel Tanks Cleaned & Replaced
Some take the attitude that tanks are
going to stink so
the thing to do is
run vent line as far
from people areas
—cockpits, sun
decks, etc. — as
possible, or make
the line as small as
possible, or install
a filter in it. All of
the above actually create
the very problem you want
to solve.
Think of the holding tank as a
stuffy room which needs to be
aired. You know that even if there
isn’t a hint of a breeze outside, just
opening a window will allow the fresh
air outside to exchange with stuffy air
in the room. Open another window for
cross-ventilation, and the air
exchanges even faster.
Just opening a skylight accomplishes nothing unless there’s also a
mechanical means (an attic fan) of
pulling the air up and out, and that
won’t work unless another window is
open to create airflow. But the only
window into a holding tank is at the
end of a hallway — the vent line. If
that hallway is too narrow and goes
around corners, takes a long, curved
path, or rises more than 45˚ above
horizontal, no ambient air can find its
way to the tank to dissipate and
exchange itself with the gasses in it.
Vent the tank with as short, as
straight, and as horizontal a line as is
possible, with no sags, no arches, and
no bends. The minimum I.D of the
More Odor free, page 5
Gary Brumenschenkel
Yacht Service
Serving the Clear Lake Area since 1985.
Certified in AC Systems, engines, outdrives,
transmission, generator and electrical.
(281) 559-3300
Page 4
Chuck Ruhl
25 years experience
For All Your Canvas Needs
281-538-4717
703A Clear Lake Rd., Clear Lake Shores, TX 77565
South Shore Harbour Marina Newsletter
April 2013
Odor free
continued from page 4
hose (which is the standard size in use
today, but for no reason other than
being standard in fresh water and fuel
tanks) is 5/8"; we recommend that it
be at least 1”. Ideally, it should be no
more than 3’ long. If, for instance on a
sailboat, the line must go up to the
deck, install a second vent line in
order to create cross ventilation, or
install some mechanical means of
forcing air through the tank. We prefer
to put holding tanks in the bow of
sailboats, under the v-berth, because
the hull just behind the point of the
bow is the only place on the hull
except the transom that will never be
under water even when the boat is at
maximum heel. It’s the perfect place
to install vent-line through-hulls,
because the though-hull is always into
the wind, forcing air into the vent line,
when the boat is underway or on an
anchor or mooring. The vent through-
hull should not be the same type as a
fuel vent through-hull (a cap with a
slit in it), but should be a straight open
type through-hull.
On sailboats especially it’s advisable to vent off the top of the tank and
not the side, because heeling can
cause the contents of a half-full or
more tank to run into the vent line.
Because a filter blocks the flow of air
into the tank, install a vent line filter
only as a last resort; the filter does
trap the gasses which try to escape
through the vent line, but a filter will
not stop gasses from forming, and
therefore from going back up the inlet
hose into the boat or up the outlet
hose . . . and eventually permeating
even the best hose.
Check the vent line regularly for
blockages, little insects love to build
nests in them. And remember — the
vent line is not an overflow! So try
never to overfill the tank, bits of
sewage can clog the vent line. Enough
air can pass through it to allow the
tank to be pumped and gasses to
escape, but that doesn’t mean the line
is completely clear of any blockage.
Finally, the system, including the
tank, should be at least nominally
rinsed, through the head or back down
the deck fill — with fresh or salt
water — after each pump-out, and
occasionally with fresh water. If your
marina doesn’t have a dock water
hose for this purpose, please ask them
to install one. It should be separate
from the potable water hose, and the
two hoses should never be interchanged.
We promise, if you install and
maintain your system according to
what I’ve said here, you will have no
odor! In fact, you can be standing next
to the vent line through-hull when the
head is flushed and you won’t even
notice it!
By the way, if you have a “standard” holding tank vent, the best treatment chemical to use is OdorLos, as
it’s the only one that generates its own
oxygen. This will keep the aerobic
bacteria happy and working, but it
will need to be replenished more
often.
Telltales is a Yachting Texas Style
magazine, and has been since its
inception over 31 years ago. Telltales is
about Texas people, by Texas people,
and for people interested in yachting
along the Gulf Coast.
Call today to start your subscription
334-2202
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April 2013
South Shore Harbour Marina Newsletter
Page 5
F
South Shore Harbour Marina
2551 SOUTH SHORE BLVD. SUITE B
LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS 77573
MARINA
I feel like a fugitive
from the law of
averages.
—William H. Mauldin
my
m
o
T ton’s
Tip
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OUR
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