Brad,
Did it with no vodka, either
Shane,
Interesting about the fumes. I got the water about 2"-3" inches above the sandbed and siphoned out the larger pieces of detritus. Then got out my trusty plastic serving fork and mixed the entire sandbed up to off-gas some of the anaerobic gases so the guys taking the sandbed home had cleaner sand from the get go. Did it ever smell putrid and the water totally filthy
After a thorough mixing, I pushed the sand to the back so there was a gully at the front so the rest of the water could be siphoned out. Either it didn't smell that bad after the mixing and siphoning or I was suffering from the fumes
Felt a lot better after a couple of pieces of pizza, a huge cup of hot chocolate and laying on the couch for the rest of the evening. Feel even better after a good night's sleep, but am still kinda wasted....