An
option that is no longer an option,
but
the words are full of poignant wit.
However, there are things other than physical comfort that are nice on
a small cruiser, and one of them is the sense of complete relaxation that
comes from being on a boat or vessel which has nothing that can explode
and requires no fire that cannot instantly be put out with a draw bucket.
The ear and nose should also be considered, and the cruiser which has no
other noises than the water alongside and the wind in the rigging will
give as much pleasure today as it did fifty years ago.
However, on a perfectly calm, quiet night the regular tick of a perfectly
poised clock like a Chelsea gives the cabin a very snug feeling while the
varying gallop of the inferior timepiece is most annoying. As for the smells—if
there is only a faint odor of oak, cedar and teak all will be well, for
their combination will but enhance the ditty bag's fragrance of marline,
beeswax and oakum while the fainter odors of sail cloth and manila add
their soothing effect.
This is where the cedar bucket toilet comes in, for this arrangement can be used where desired and generally out of the cabin It can be used in the cockpit at night or in the forepeak in the daytime. It has no everlasting odor, and for those who are affected by suggestion it may be kept hung under the after deck, when the whole ship can be as immaculate as a Greek temple. For those who have a rather tender posterior anatomy the bucket can have an attachment to increase the areas of contact, and the accompanying sketches show both this device in place and a dimensioned working drawing. The ones I have made were of unfinished teak and I suppose would function well for several generations with no other care than an occasional scrubbing or towing.
This device will also work on the usual galvanized iron bucket if you are careful to keep clear of the projecting ears where the bail is hung. One of the advantages of the device is that a fine adjustment of the aperture may be made which renders it convenient for different ages and sexes.
Some of my young readers have credited me with inventing the cedar bucket as a useful adjunct to yachting or boating, but you will find that the bucket in some form or other has been considered a necessity on shipboard since B.C., and it is likely that Noah had a whole battery of them on the Ark. If they had had the adjustable top shown they would have been quite useful for his varied menagerie.
Back Yard Yacht Builders
A non-commercial association of amateur boat-builder enthusiasts.
All our wooden boats are Stevenson designs.