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Buying an old yacht can come with issues. A few of those issues could be positively frightening. But truly understanding that getting a yacht that does have problems that may be repaired reasonably is welcomed. Several weeks back our three hundred gallon stainless fresh water tank commenced leaking; the trickle was initially discovered at 3:00 a.m. because the aft bilge pump continued to run. Although the real leak has yet to be located, it's obvious it's on the top surface. Our vessel is 27 years old; what exactly do you expect! Equipment just needs replacing. Mike did a great deal of research with both customized aluminum tanks and determined we certainly would invest in a 130 gallon polyethylene tank. Polyethylene tanks are shaped all in one piece; and plastic will never corrode. He sent a plan to the retailer, Plastic-Mart indicating the place all fittings were required to be placed. The merchant asked the manufacturer to contact us directly to make sure that our fitting locations were accurate. The tank showed up on a tractor trailer a couple of days soon after and all of the fittings we purchased fit perfectly into the factory openings. The day of installation was finally upon us. Our great buddy and marine surveyor, Mike Hagan of CYA Maritime had offered to help us with this gigantic project. We began working at 9:00 a.m. Saturday a.m. Mike and Mike performed the hard labor; Nadine and I acted as assistants. They utilized a Sawzall to slice the stainless steel tank so it could be removed from our boat. As a consequence of its size, the tank was placed into our used vessel prior to the super structure construction. The guys made use of approximately fifteen metal cutting blades. Just cutting the old tank up took roughly 5 hours. It was a huge chore. Mike and Mike finished up cutting the old tank into several different parts. I insisted they wear safety gloves so they would not cut their hands on the sharp sides. They methodically raised each part out and put it onto the boat dock. Thankfully - that was done with negligible damage to our teak bulkheads. Next phase was constructing a new casing for the polyethylene tank to rest on and be strapped in. The new tank is about 3/4 the size of the old stainless steel water tank. Mike used 2 x 4's and made a sturdy frame for it to sit on. Following that it was time to haul the new water tank into its new residence. The new water tank is composed of plastic so it didn't turn out to be nearly as bulky as the old stainless steel tank. Every single one of our custom holes were drilled in the proper place - my Mike did an excellent job. The next thing to do was to hook the brand new hose to the tank……oooops…we bought the incorrect dimension hose. At this stage Nadine and Mike called it a day. They needed to go back home. It was 3:30 p.m. and we all ended up being exhausted. The next day Mike and I returned the old hose and went in search of the right hose. We traveled to Home Depot and Lowe's, neither of which possessed enough of the right size. We eventually wound up at Ace Hardware where they had an abundance of plastic hose. We went home and had to bore a hole in the bulkhead of our head to push the new hose all the way through. Making a hole in a trawler is a scary thing. We ran the hose from the brand new water tank all the way forward to the freshwater pump. We were required to prime the water plastic hose to take the air out, and then we started to add water to the water tank. I was a bit worried about doing this and Mike kept an eye fixed on all the fixtures to ensure that nothing leaked. And there was no leakage … thank heavens! The entire cost of this task was $1,002.00 and it took us an amount of eleven hours to finish it. Our friend declined any cash and I can promise you if you hired a yard to do it the cost of the labor alone would be probably almost $1,000. So we put in a new tank at half the sales price you pay at a boat yard. Our trawler ought to be okay for the rest of her life now with the new polyethylene water tank. After it was all completed this undertaking turned into something easier than we had expected. So if your motor yacht requires a new water tank, here is my advice. You'll definitely need 2 men to tackle the bulky water tank. Be certain you have a good quality Sawzall and about 20 saw blades for heavy metal. Make sure you have a number of cloths to wipe up the blood…you will probably cut yourself. Have some hand protection handy for moving the cut tank around. Have a number of big rags or towels to safeguard the wood that could be close to your work. The next task is replacing our diesel fuel tanks. Yikes! Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide. National and international sales. We ship Used Trawlers, Motor Yachts and Cruisers worldwide. Located in Florida, USA. 904/556-9431
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fresh water tank, polyethylene tank, stainless steel tank,
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