Please use a "*" or "nm" in the subject line to denote topic only posts.
Any post or attempt to take things "off the board" will result in a ban. Do not use other poster's real names or personal info.
Don't be a jerk.
Please learn how to copy the URL of pictures and use the image embedding field to post pictures of celebrities.
Admins - Beave, Yosterizer.
Admin Email - ( thevictorsboard at gmail dot com). To Register - Email your desired handle and password to victardgoblue at gmail.com Moderators - Ed, Rich, bh, DetroitBry, BBA Ceremonial Moderator - wino Honorary Moderators - BigLake, Blue Man
Camping disaster Posted on July 31, 2026 at 12:06:47 PM by TangledUpInBlue
Arrived at campground in Baldwin and had a pretty bad 'learning experience'.
Upon arrival, I began the setup process and, after leveling, extending the slide out and connecting the electrical hookup, etc., I hooked up to their water supply which is just a garden hose that connects to what is called a 'Nautilus panel' which has 3 female hose connecters that one can connect the male end of the hose to. The labeling on them is slightly raised white lettering on a white panel and it is really hard to determine which one is for 'city water'. Unfortunately, I chose wrong one and connected to 'tank flush'.
What I 'learned', is that tank flush fills the black tank with fresh water to rinse it out. Since I didn't know I was filling up the black tank I went about the rest of the setup process while the water kept running, not realizing that the black tank was filling up. Then I saw water dripping out of the front corner of my unit. I immediately shut off the water source but it was too late, the water forced up all the sewage up from the tank, up through the toilet and spilled onto my floor...luckily, no solids made it over the lip of the toilet so I just had a lot of stinky water to deal with.
The bad stuff was up to the rim of the toilet so I figured I'll connect the 'stinky slinky' sewage dump hose and flush the toilet, open the black tank gate and run the nasty stuff into a bucket and then walk it over to dump into an on site drain - enough so I could move the trailer without the toilet spilling over and then empty the black tank at the on site 'dump site'. I was dreading all of that but was left with no options.
So...I put the bucket in place, pulled the handle that opens the gate to release the poop and when the bucket was full -very quickly, think fire hose- I panicked, and I pushed the steel rod to close the poop gate but in my haste, I pushed too hard and bent the steel rod enough that it caught up and I couldn't close the gate. 40 gallons of nasty black water was spilling all over the ground at a fire hose rate and there was no way to stop it - ugh, ugh, ugh, I was totally fucked.
I got ahold of the campground owner and we tried to fix the rod but it was a lost cause. He had to go through a process to treat the area where the spill was and I had to resolve to use the on site facilities overnight until I could get a mobile RV tech in the next morning to fix. In the meantime, I had a lot of nasty towels and a floor to sanitize. Luckily, my unit has marine composite subfloor so I didn't have to worry about wood related problems.
All is well that ends well I suppose, but that was a 3 hr disaster that ended up costing $250 for the RV tech. I sanitized the interior and laundered the many towels I used - all while wearing rubber gloves. Completely embarrassed, I apologized profusely to the site owner and he said - unfortunately, that wasn't the first time something like that had happened. I went to bed exhausted and humiliated but everything is back to normal.
I'll have a camping report later -- I'll be here for 4 wks. In fact, I'm thinking about getting a 'seasonal site' which is $1600 total for May to October and includes water/electricity. Also, considering buying a small lot that has services to just park it for the summer. If I do that, I'll probably sell the house and then buy another small lot in the SW for the winter months.