The reference below explains miranda56's fascinating reference. Where is the Royal Navy today? The only little problem is that for some reason I have the impression that Michael Palin's box, upon which one can sit facing either way, is bolted to the side of the ship. The "head" was upon the bow - apparently even in olden days they didn't make you hang your buns in the air, but depended on the chop to wash any residue down the scuppers ("I'll be scuppered.").

Anyway - the term for a ship's toilet is still "the head" though it is no longer located at the head of the ship. Please note that you're not supposed to use a ship's toilet while anchored in harbor. And what's a pirate's favorite consonant? Rrrrrrr.

http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/trivia03-2.htm

Head (ship's toilet)

The use of the term "head" to refer to a ship's toilet dates to at least as early as 1708, when Woodes Rogers (English privateer and Governor of the Bahamas) used the word in his book, A Cruising Voyage Around the World. Another early usage is in Tobias Smollett's novel of travel and adventure, Roderick Random, published in 1748. "Head" in a nautical sense referring to the bow or fore part of a ship dates to 1485. The ship's toilet was typically placed at the head of the ship near the base of the bowsprit, where splashing water served to naturally clean the toilet area.