The head problem turned out to be more challenging than what we thought or hoped. Over time, calcium builds up in the hoses and if it is not dealt with, starts to restrict the flow and causes all kinds of problems. Well I don't think the previous owner had done any maintenance to this system. I started at the toilet and worked my way out from there. There is a switch that allows the waste to either go over board or into a hold tank and that was seized up with all this crud. I had read about this job on many blogs, and now was my chance to experience it firsthand. The process is to remove the hose and then smack it around on the dock to remove the crud build up. This worked well where I could completely remove the hose, and I got all kinds of the crud out. I would then put it back together, but it was still plugged. I got the valve working again and could now pump the waste into the holding tank. The problem was somewhere in the overboard hose from the valve to where it goes out. This hose is about 20 feet long and runs underneath the floor making next to impossible to remove. But after two days of working away at it, we finally persevered and got the hose cleared. You would not believe the crud that came out of that hose and my god did it stink!!! Karen said the smell reminded her of when we had a horse in a stall for a long time. We have 2 heads on the boat so this process will have to be repeated. YEAY!!!! I am hoping the other head should be much easier as the location should make the hoses more accessible, but we shall see.
Our new neighbors on Cambia (40' Dean catamaran) have been very helpful on trouble shooting our problems. They have been cruising for 12 years, so have a ton of experience. (When they started, they were only going to go for 2 years).
It is cold here today and the wind is blowing. We had to get the down sleeping bag out to stay warm. There are frost warnings for the interior and today the high today is supposed to be in the 60's and tonight in the 30's. I think today we will make a trip to West Marine to get a GPS and hand held VHF radio and see about getting some new headliner to finish the aft cabin, once we get the tank back in.