If it's not one thing it's another. During an otherwise uneventful Saturday cruise I began noticing sewage odor. I kind of thought it was the result of not using the blue formaldehyde deodorant at pump out (I had ordered the sewage dissolving kind from Amazon and didn't apply it until that same Saturday).
Once everyone was off the boat, though, I got the ugly reality -- the septic tank had filled and had discharged into the bilge (I'm not sure how just yet).
I came back early the next morning and brought the boat to the gas/pumpout dock and found out what I had kind of suspected -- my previous 2 pump outs didn't actually pump anything out. The pump out is drawing air, you can hear it hiss as it tries. I pulled the fitting normally for the macerator discharge and we managed to get the pumpout hose into the tank itself and drew out about half so it's not totally full.
So the hose between septic tank and pumpout needs to be replaced. The challenge here is access to the back of the pump out fitting on the hull. The hose snakes up behind a bulkhead over the port gas tank, so it's not reachable at all from the engine room.
My first idea was to pull the hull fitting and pull the hose out, but after talking with Bob at Bayside Marine that sounds like a non-starter. The cutout is likely no larger than the fitting barb (about 1.5", the ID of the hose), meaning neither the hose nor the hose clamps would clear the opening.
After looking at pictures, it appears the fitting is behind the wet bar. The hope right now is that there is an access panel behind some part of the cockpit wet bar setup, either behind the garbage cabinet or behind the fridge that will allow access to the hull and this fitting to disconnect the hose.
If I can get access through there, it should be doable. If not, off to the boat yard it goes for repairs, which include a variety of options including widening the cutout with some kind of access panel with the fitting over it or possibly relocating it with a new hull fitting.
Of course we're not out of the woods yet with a new hose alone. Even if that solves the pumpout issue, I'm worried the septic tank itself is compromised somehow via ovepressure, because I don't have a great explanation as to where all the sewage came from. Leaking from fittings alone doesn't explain it in my mind, so I think there will have to be some post-hose testing with food coloring to check for leaking.
Update: 7/12/2016
I went out Monday and indeed there is an access panel behind the cockpit fridge that allows access to the pumpout fitting and hose.
I reviewed the hose choices and went with Raritan SaniFlex, and I should have a 10' length arriving tomorrow. I also stopped by West Marine and bought new stainless hose clamps (4) for clamping the hose to the fittings. I was also cursed into buying the extremely overpriced Sealand vent filter from West Marine -- I've surely fouled the AirForce knockoff I bought from Amazon and Amazon was out of stock until August. But I plan to rehab the AirForce as a backup, and I wish I had kept the one I tossed when I rebuilt the vacuum pump.
The other good news is there was no new sign of leakage, almost no odor in the bilge (the slightest trace, which I assume is just because the whole thing wasn't fully washed) and a test flush of the head didn't produce any leaks and did produce proper pumping action.
I suspect the replacement task will be putzy, but not hard in any sense. As I see the biggest wildcard will be removing the old hose from fittings and the boat and getting the just right length of new hose. I'm not sure how exactly to cut it, I think I will need to use a hacksaw.
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