The Blue View - Replacing the Fuel Tanks

BVFuelTanks Intro

When we bought Nine of Cups in 2000, we hired a marine surveyor to do a complete survey on our new home. He noted that our fuel tanks were constructed of black iron, and while there were no leaks at the time, this type of tank had a usual lifetime of about 20 years. Since Cups was then 14 years old, we probably had a few more years left in them before we started to see any leaks, but we knew it was something we should be expecting. Sure enough, in 2006 our starboard tank started leaking.

We were in Ecuador at the time, and the local boat repair expert assured us it could be successfully patched. We gave it a try, but the patch only lasted long enough to get us well offshore before the tank started leaking again.

A few months later when we returned to Ecuador, I decided to replace it with an epoxy tank. I cut access panels in the cabin sole, cut the top off the old tank and removed the baffles, then constructed a new epoxy tank. It fit well and has been doing its job with nary a leak ever since, but it was a lot of work and took about 4 times longer to build than I expected – not all that atypical of most of my projects actually.

Then in 2007, the port tanks started leaking. We put the project off until we were in Ecuador again, this time in Puerto Amistad near Manta. There was a steel fabricator not too far away who made tanks for the fishing fleet out of Manta and who came highly recommended. We decided to have them made by him rather than building it out of epoxy.

cutting the sole

I started by removing the saloon table and cutting out sections of the teak and holly sole. I borrowed a Fein tool, making it possible for even me to make reasonably straight, accurate cuts.

dressed

Next, I used a grinder with a cutting blade to cut the top off the old tank. This was a messy job, with sparks flying everywhere. I draped the entire area with old sheets and tarps, wore a respirator, eye protection, and enough clothing to avoid most of the burns. Once the top was cut off, I climbed inside the tank and cut the old baffles out – another messy, unpleasant job. Once I crawled back out of the tank and confirmed that I still had my nose and all ten fingers, I cleaned up the mess and hauled all the debris ashore.

The next task was to measure for the new tanks. It would have been nice to make one big tank that would fit into the old tank, but the size of the tank was limited by what would fit down through the hatch. Apparently, the original tanks were constructed and fitted before the decks were put in place.

In order to maximize fuel capacity, I decided to build three tanks, each of which would fit through the saloon hatch. The plan was to slide the new tanks into the old tank, bolt them in place, then plumb them all together. I spent several hours wiggling around inside the old tank making measurements. Then I sat at the Nav desk and sketched the three tanks.

Once the sketches were done and checked, I had a dilemma. Could I trust my measurements and sketches enough to hand them over to the fabricator or should I build models of the tanks to be sure they actually fit and to check for any mistakes? Given my propensity for mistakes and the possibility that the fabricator would misinterpret some aspect of the sketches, this was a no-brainer – I decided to build plywood mock-ups of the tanks.

making the mock ups

The local lumberyard (almacén de maderas) was happy to deliver a few sheets of 1/4” plywood, I had plenty of epoxy, glue-gun sticks and screws on hand, and Puerto Amistad, the yacht club we were renting a mooring from, was kind enough to let me use some space in a fenced area to work in. I found plastic plumbing fittings at the local hardware store (ferreteria). I transported all my supplies and tools ashore, and began building the mock-ups.

checking the fit

Under different circumstances, I'm sure this phase would have gone quicker, but given the equatorial heat, the ongoing discussions with the other sailors who wondered what the hell I was doing, and who were full of suggestions on how I might do it better, and the close proximity of the cool, air-conditioned bar, it took longer than I planned to build the mock-ups. In total, I spent three days building and checking the fit of the tanks, then another day tweaking them all to correct a few errors and miscalculations. In retrospect, however, making the mock-ups was worth doing since I would have had to send the tanks back for reworking had I not made the models.

As we've said so many times before “Nothing's ever easy on a boat.” I'll talk about testing and installing the new tanks in Part 2 of this blog. Stay tuned.

Go to Part 2 of Replacing Fuel Tanks

Making Sailing Plans for 2016/2017

Though we're on land, it doesn't prevent us from making plans for the rest of 2016 and the upcoming 2017 sailing season. In fact, we'll be leaving Las Vegas in the next couple of weeks to return to Nine of Cups in Chesapeake, Virginia. We have a limited time aboard before we need to return to Vegas, but some time aboard is better than no time aboard and we're looking forward to a month or so exploring the Chesapeake … after boat chores and repairs, of course, which we think will take about a week.

Our plan is to return to the Atlantic Yacht Basin and get Cups ready to weather November and December by herself. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, then fly to Boston to spend the Christmas holidays with Lin and family. We hope to depart Boston before the first of the year and be aboard Cups to sip champagne on New Year's Eve. We anticipate it'll be chilly, so we'll be quick to get off the dock and head south to the warm. Coastal Florida is our destination for the winter season of 2017. We have lots of ports to explore, lots of friends to visit, and our oldest son and daughter-in-law have just moved to St. Pete on the west coast. Charleston, SC will be one port of call, for sure. St. Augustine will be on the itinerary again, along with Bahia Honda, Key West and who knows where else? Maybe we'll head out to the Dry Tortugas for a few days. The national park there is awesome.

We'll need to be north of Cape Hatteras once again by June 1st, but by then we're hoping to be well on our way north towards coastal Maine and Canada's Atlantic maritime provinces for the summer. We've visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick before … over a decade ago … and we're keen to visit again and perhaps wander a bit further afield to Prince Edward Island or a ways down the St. Lawrence River. Despite the world record tides, deep water and lobster pots (only in Maine), the area is great for exploring.

After that … who knows?

As always, plans aboard Nine of Cups are written in sand … at low tide. All things are subject to change on a whim.

Nine Favorite Boat Expressions

You can miss the boat, rock the boat, be fresh off the boat and even be in the same boat. There are certain boat expressions that we use all the time. I'm sure many of them are applicable to other situations, but we decided to share them with you and see if you had any to add.

1. Nothing's ever easy on a boat.

   We use this expression all the time. Things that might be easy on land are never easy on a boat … mostly because there are few straight lines on a boat, lots of odd angles plus the boat is usually rocking and things are hard to get at. Whether it be working on the engine, trying to clean the oven, retrieving a part that's fallen into the bilge or trying to get a mattress to fit on an odd-shaped bunk … nothing's every easy on a boat.

   

2. The happiest two days in a boat owner's life is when he buys his boat and when he sells it.

   Another iteration of this is … the happiest days in a sailor's life is when he arrives in port and when he leaves. For us, the latter applies. We like arriving, but after a visit, it's always great to be back at sea.

3. Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places.

   Boat work never ends. Wherever we've been in the world, there's been boat work to do. The neighborhood and scenery might change, but the boat projects, repair and maintenance are always there.

   

4. If it's for a boat, it will cost twice as much and last half as long.

   Boat parts are always expensive because of the environment in which they're made to be used and because once the words “for marine use” appear on a label, the price doubles. Because the typical boat environment of salt water, sun and wave action are so hostile, parts tend to wear out sooner than they would on land. All that said, we've been snookered a few times by paying a higher price for a product that was just a land-item re-labeled.

5. For every 10' (3m) you add to the length of your boat, everything doubles in cost.

   It's just how it is … do the math.

6. A boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money.

   The truth of this is in your bank account.

   

7. Whatever floats your boat …

   That is … whatever makes you happy. In our case, a boat that floats, floats our boat.

8. If the boat's rockin', don't come knockin'.

   A hint that company is not welcome because of personal business aboard.

9. Come sail away with me …

   Pretty much the nicest invitation my captain ever made. Who could have thought (certainly not me) that those simple words would take me around the world with him.

Got a few to add?