Seasonal use septic system

[islandhopper]

We have a septic system for a cottage on an island in the Thousand Islands. It is a very small system with a minimum sized leach field. The tank has not been pumped in about ten years. It gets very minimum usage (2-4 people for an intermittent total of about two months each year.) We want to get it pumped this fall. We have already closed the cottage so the water has been turned off and we are not going back this year. If we pump it in the fall, without adding new water to the tank, do we run the risk of the remaining effluent drying out and the bacteria dying as a result? Would it be smarter to get it pumped in the spring when we would be there to add new water to the tank and keep the bacteria alive? The complicating factor is that it is very expensive to get this done on an island, so we are going in with our neighbors to share the cost. If we can't convince them to defer until spring also, it would be very expensive for us.

[joed]

Better off waiting till spring. The empty tank could float up out of the ground. Once you start using it you be adding enough matter to start it up. It may not even need a pump with minimal use you describe. Take one of the lids off and see how solids yo in the bottom and how thick the top scum layer is.
How do you pump a tank on an island? Do they have foating pump out services?