Mike Ryan runs Rose Head Service, a barge operation that pumps holding tanks on boats at the Everett Marina. [Click photo to enlarge]

Kristi O'Harran Kristi's Notebook

Offended by the words potty/poop? Sorry. This is the real world, and folks on boats use the bathroom.

From my desk view of harbor action in Everett, I've often let my mind drift to realities of life aboard. How do folks remove effluent from boats? Mike Ryan, owner of Rose Head Service, used to serve on an old destroyer with the Australian Navy where everything was flushed overboard.

Times and regulations have changed. Ryan works to keep the bay clean for responsible boat owners who moor at the Everett Marina. Ryan, 43, empties their vessels' holding tanks and pumps waste into a dockside sewer.

"They are environmentally conscious," Ryan said. "Who would be more concerned about clean water than those who live aboard?"

I could have listened to Ryan talk all day as we cruised around the harbor. Wouldn't you know this week I would meet an Aussie whose accent sounded just like the locals I watch every evening on the Olympics?

He admits to feeling some homesickness for his beautiful country. His parents live in Melbourne, and Ryan has six brothers and sisters Down Under.

He married an American woman and moved here. Ryan, who lives east of Silver Lake, is a full-time firefighter in Shoreline and works his Rose Head Service during off hours from the station.

He will empty a head for only $12.50 per week.

"It's not a huge money-making venture," he said. "I do it for something on the side. I like to be out on the water."

Before my brother retired from firefighting, he often used days off to help friends build homes or remodel. Ryan said a lot of firefighters are naturally tradesman-type people.

I watched the work Ryan does on the barge. Wearing surgical gloves, he said he takes every precaution for personal safety. After tying to a dock, he deploys a long hose that's hooked to an opaque holding tank on the Royal Flush. The end of the hose is attached to the boat's holding tank pumpout fitting on deck, then waste is sucked into the Flush's tank with power from a generator on the floating platform.

Seeing dark fluid sloshing around the opaque barge tank was pretty unappetizing. Overall, however, Ryan's system is as slick as changing a baby's diaper on your mother-in-law's couch. He uses different couplings and never touches any gross stuff.

Yes, there was a rotten odor when he unscrewed holding tank pumpout fittings on the Katie-Leigh, Heart of Gold and Dancin' Bare.

"You get used to the smell," Ryan said. "For a boater or RVer, this is just a fact of life."

Ryan, who has owned the service three years, makes his rounds different days each week, depending on his firefighting schedule. Owners aren't always aboard. He pulls up, does his business and moves along. He keeps records of empty days or makes a note on a plastic card on a boat's railing.

The side job comes with teasing from friends and other firefighters. He hears comments that running the service is a s----- business.

That "S" word rhymes with witty.

A similar service in another port uses the slogan "We take crap from anybody."

He laughs right along with his clever acquaintances. Maybe they don't know that the barge job allows Ryan to make friends at the marina. Some invite him along on day sails. For fun, he gets back on the water in his 30-foot sailboat.

The barge has been pressed into rescue service. When Ryan sees a boat in distress, he has been known to toss a line and tow the vessel. On his route, he also stops to pick up floating plastic bags and has pumped water out of dinghies.

"Anything I can do to help," Ryan said. "It's simple courtesy things."

As I exited the barge, the gentleman offered me a clean spot on his forearm for support.

I felt like a queen leaving her throne.

Kristi's Notebook appears Tuesdays and Fridays. If you have an idea for her, call 425-339-3451 or send information to o'harran@heraldnet.com .