Nature calls, especially when you are out at sea! Some ground rules come into play:
Never pee into the wind (don’t pee off the high side of the boat)
Hold on while you pee so you don’t fall over!
The first rule means that you need to pee off the low side of the boat and aim towards the downwind area. If you are going downwind, the shrouds are a good place to pee. If you are going upwind, the stern is a good place to pee.
The locations play into the second rule: holding on.
While you are peeing, you need to keep a secure hold on the boat. The best way to do this on a pitching deck is to lean into something secure, like the rigging.
I personally lean into the stay with my shoulder and chest and take a leak off the side. The shrouds are nice because there are a lot of them and I feel very safe nestled in there with them, the stern is a different story.
On our boat, we have split backstays so each stern corner has a stay to lean against. This means that either corner is a safe place to water the ocean’s surface. I just peed off a boat on my way to Ibiza with a single (central) backstay. The stern was completely barren of handholds or chest supports! I ended up grabbing onto a topping lift attached to the davits to hold safe.
If you are looking at a boat to go cruising on, consider one with split or twin backstays that way you can safely take a leak off the stern.
