BajaNomad

Fish guts and poo

Grenadiers - 10-12-2019 at 11:15 AM

We’re preparing for our upcoming 4-6 month excursion to Baja. Our plans are to beach camp as much as possible in our overland self-contained vehicle. We have a Thetford cassette toilet, and am wondering what’s the best way to dispose of its contents? Some of the beaches we visited before had vault toilets. But the beaches that don’t present a problem. My guess is to bury it as far from the water as possible? Along with that, we plan fishing a lot. Recommendations on disposal of fish guts too. Thanks, Dave

bajabuddha - 10-12-2019 at 12:24 PM

Fish guts are a no-brainer; you'll have a lot of happy pelicanos y gaviotas fawning all over you, just don't let 'em grab the fillets.

Grenadiers - 10-13-2019 at 07:01 AM

Ok, so tossing the fish guts back into the surf? Or, outside of our camping area along the beach?

chuckie - 10-13-2019 at 07:10 AM

NOT on the beach....

mtgoat666 - 10-13-2019 at 07:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Grenadiers  
We’re preparing for our upcoming 4-6 month excursion to Baja. Our plans are to beach camp as much as possible in our overland self-contained vehicle. We have a Thetford cassette toilet, and am wondering what’s the best way to dispose of its contents? Some of the beaches we visited before had vault toilets. But the beaches that don’t present a problem. My guess is to bury it as far from the water as possible? Thanks, Dave


Do not dump your rv toilet in a hole in the desert. In the desert, buried waste never decays, it dries, then erosion exposes it and it gets washed to sea in the rare storm event.
Take your chit to a proper place to dump.

paranewbi - 10-13-2019 at 08:17 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Quote: Originally posted by Grenadiers  
We’re preparing for our upcoming 4-6 month excursion to Baja. Our plans are to beach camp as much as possible in our overland self-contained vehicle. We have a Thetford cassette toilet, and am wondering what’s the best way to dispose of its contents? Some of the beaches we visited before had vault toilets. But the beaches that don’t present a problem. My guess is to bury it as far from the water as possible? Thanks, Dave


Do not dump your rv toilet in a hole in the desert. In the desert, buried waste never decays, it dries, then erosion exposes it and it gets washed to sea in the rare storm event.
Take your chit to a proper place to dump.


I remember a beach on the cape that had elevated crappers with a hole staring down onto a small dune at each one (2 of these). didn't have doors either! Crap was mounded up 4 feet on top of the sand dune under the wooden structures. I'm sure there's a photo in my collection. Maybe that dune height kept the crap from washing to the ocean:lol:

Leave the Thetford for the ladies and bring a military folding shovel with a toilet roll slid over the handle. Hike up the nearest arroyo and enjoy the warmth and cactus surrounding. Then dig a hole somewhere deep enough to satisfy the goatman...not sure how he knows crap never decays in the desert. Better yet just build yourself a nice sand dune on the beach and bury it there.

[Edited on 10-13-2019 by paranewbi]

chippy - 10-13-2019 at 09:25 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Quote: Originally posted by Grenadiers  
We’re preparing for our upcoming 4-6 month excursion to Baja. Our plans are to beach camp as much as possible in our overland self-contained vehicle. We have a Thetford cassette toilet, and am wondering what’s the best way to dispose of its contents? Some of the beaches we visited before had vault toilets. But the beaches that don’t present a problem. My guess is to bury it as far from the water as possible? Thanks, Dave


Do not dump your rv toilet in a hole in the desert. In the desert, buried waste never decays, it dries, then erosion exposes it and it gets washed to sea in the rare storm event.
Take your chit to a proper place to dump.




Don´t goats eat their poo:light:.

bajarich - 10-13-2019 at 10:06 AM

I throw the fish carcass to the birds that are always hanging around. The seagulls and pelicans will get to it first, then, after waiting in line, the turkey vultures will pick at it for hours. All that will be left is the head and skeleton.

As far as vault toilets go, very few beaches actually have vault toilets. Most, if they have facilities, just have a crude pit toilet dug into the ground, some, not even that far from the water line. There isn't much infrastructure in Baja to empty them. The only "proper" place to dump would probably be at a commercial campground, although their dump may just go through a pipe out into the water. You will find poo and TP all over the place behind every bush near the popular beaches.

Just please don't leave it on the surface as many people do.

bajaric - 10-13-2019 at 10:42 AM

A poop bucket is a good option, just put the toilet paper in a cardboard box. At the end of your stay you can burn the tp and dump the contents in the nearest outhouse or dig a deep hole in well drained soil away from the beach and bury it, much more sanitary than squatting in the bushes leaving tp all over the place and less likely you will get stuck in the butt by a cactus..

Pit toilets are actually an environmentally friendly option, compared to flush toilets. People don't want to deal with their own waste products face to face, and would rather have it whisked away with five gallons of water every flush. This creates a lot of sewage, and many smaller beach front hotels do not have adequate disposal, resulting in the unfortunate situation that you can go to the bathroom, then a couple hours later take a swim in your own excrement that is trickling out of the end of a pipe on to the beach..

freediverbrian - 10-13-2019 at 10:58 AM

In our Campo we are asked to throw fish carcasses away in deep water. A fish carcass will attract coyotes to the camp.

chuckie - 10-13-2019 at 11:49 AM

Alternative suggestion: Put it all in a box and Send it to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC

apple - 10-13-2019 at 12:32 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  

Do not dump your rv toilet in a hole in the desert. In the desert, buried waste never decays, it dries, then erosion exposes it and it gets washed to sea in the rare storm event.
Take your chit to a proper place to dump.


If you poop in a hole in the desert, as we were instructed to do on my NOLS Baja trip, it all dries out and the bacteria dies. When it is eventually washed away by a storm it will be completely harmless.

DavidT - 10-13-2019 at 01:06 PM

On a trip last year around Punta Bufeo most everyone used the cleaning station next to the garage, threw everything into a five gallon bucket and dumped them back in the water. Although someone tossed the entrails into the dunes behind the camp, which put the camp downwind of the spoils. Oops!

One of the techniques for poo was from an ultra low impact camping guide. The instructor told of her first experience teaching a group.
You find a large flat rock, do your dooty on the rock them smear it into a film on said rock, allowing the sun and heat to sterilize and dry the deposit.
What she forgot to say was to pick an area away from camp. When she woke up the next morning all the flat rocks around the camp were covered.
:lol:

Grenadiers - 10-13-2019 at 01:29 PM

Thanks everyone!

mtgoat666 - 10-13-2019 at 02:28 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DavidT  

You find a large flat rock, do your dooty on the rock them smear it into a film on said rock, allowing the sun and heat to sterilize and dry the deposit.


Wtf?

Why don’t you smear your feces on the roof of your car and take your chit back back home where you can scrape it off the car, add water, then smear the rehydrated feces on the patio at your house :light:


The op was asking about dumping the tank from his rv. Hopefully he is not smearing 50 gal loads on the rocks, nor burying his 50 to 100 gal loads in a shallow hole at the beach camp spot.

There is a reason people come home from Mexico with intestinal parasites, because oceanfront hotels pipe their raw sewage directly into ocean, and there are RV snowbirds out there defecating in shallow holes 5 ft from the campsite, pumping their chit tanks into shallow holes in campgrounds, or smearing their feces on rocks.
Crikey, y’all are dirty birds!

Ron_Perry - 10-13-2019 at 06:40 PM

Here is what I have been doing for about the last ten years camping on the beach. I believe your Thetfort cassette toilet is a porti poti? This is what I use...with two holding tanks. Two tanks gives me a bit more time between trips to dispose of the waste.
First is a post hole digger. Second is find a sandy area away from water sources. I put both holding containers in a large Tupperware container, each in a garbage bag to prevent any messy leaks. Save the garbage bags after each dumping. Dig a deep hole with your post hold dogger and dump your business, cover back up and you are good to go.
I have my porti potties in a small storage/bathroom tent...along with a large pee bottle to extent the time between disposal. If it gets hot inside the tent I crack the porti potti dump lever the smallest amount to prevent explosions (bad!). I put a small amount of cheap shaving cream...about one inch thick...over the crack to prevent smelly fumes from escaping.
Very upsetting to see people crapping close to the campsite and making zero attempt to bury. Hope this helps. I like the idea of burning also. I will have a second burn pit further away from my cooking/beer drinking fire for plastic and other smelly trash.

BajaParrothead - 10-13-2019 at 10:41 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Quote: Originally posted by DavidT  

You find a large flat rock, do your dooty on the rock them smear it into a film on said rock, allowing the sun and heat to sterilize and dry the deposit.



The op was asking about dumping the tank from his rv. Hopefully he is not smearing 50 gal loads on the rocks, nor burying his 50 to 100 gal loads in a shallow hole at the beach camp spot.



You might want to reread the OP or educate yourself on the workings of a Thetford cassette toilet before assuming that it dumps 50-100 gallons of waste in the dessert.

Grenadiers - 10-14-2019 at 05:47 AM

The Thetford cassette capacity is five gallons.

mtgoat666 - 10-14-2019 at 06:06 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Grenadiers  
The Thetford cassette capacity is five gallons.


5 or 50, no difference. The Nomad sewage lobby is advising you to bury it in a hole at your campsite, next to the 5,000 previous sewage disposals. It’s wrong. Just because people do it does not make it right, nor sanitary.