Tanks Full

[Laura]

Other than leaving the plugs out for weeks on end (assuming no rain), what can I do to dry out my bench tanks? The screws that were supposed to be holding my thwarts to the benches were apparently not stainless. All of the moisture in my tanks must have rotted them. The bottoms of the screws were completely misshaped! How can I these dry?

[Roger]

I used a small fan to get air moving through the bilge to dry mine out. The face was about the same size as the hole. This worked well for the bilge by leaving the other hole open but I did cover the whole boat with a tarp leaving the fan on overnight. Not sure if this will work with the bench tanks as there is only one hole. Perhaps a vacuum cleaner on 'blow' will move a lot of air through in a short period of time. I think most hardware stores may carry a product to absorb moisture in basements. It might be some type of sodium cloride. Placed in a cotton bag inside the bench tank may absorb residual moisture, before you seal it up again. Just some thoughts...

[Laura]

Thanks, Roger. I think the hole is too small to get any kind of air in there....but I'm going to look into the sodium chloride. Appreciate your help!

[rnlivingston]

On one of my old Daysailers, I installed some 6 inch ports on the seats. I would leave these open when not using the boat and the seats dried out fairly fast. It also allowed me to replace some of the foam.

Hope this helps.

Another Roger

[Laura]

Hi Roger (L),
Pardon my ignorance....what do you mean by ports? How did you go about installing them?
-Laura

[captainseasick]

Hi Laura,
If you need to cut access holes in your boat to gain entry to places where you normally can't get your hands or fit tools, boating stores sell plastic port holes or hatches that allow you to cut a hole, remove a 4" or larger section, and replace it with a plastic assembly that has a nice finished appearance to the place where you cut the fiberglass. You can use a hole cutter, or drill a small hole and use a keyhole saw to make the cut, after marking out the inside diameter of the port flange. this part fits into the hole, and covers the rough cut, and accepts a screw in hatch cover
They are sturdy, water tight, and inexpensive (about $7.00)
I hope this answers your question

[calden]

Laura:

Go to the "Photos" section of this forum, then to the "Users Personal Galleries" then to Phill's gallery. At the bottom of page one in the center is a nice shot of an installed inspection port at the fore end of the bench seat.

I''m rather new to this sailing stuff and pestered people here with lots of questions for several months, because these terms are really interesting. Inspection port? Barber hauler? Halyards? Jibs? I feel your confusion.

Carlos

[boone]

Just as a reminder, you can include images from the galleries in your posts (whether they are your pictures or someone else's):

[thumb=88]

See this post for details.

[calden]

Thanks. I couldn't recall how to do that - makes the point much better, doesn't it?

Carlos

[Roger]

I have used a dremmel tool or a jig saw to cut the holes. Use the screw in lid as the template for cutting out the hole. This particular hole was made to attache a traveller to the seat tops.

http://groups.msn.com/RogerConrad/shoeb ... hotoID=123

There are four pages of pictures on this site.

[jpclowes]

If there is a lot of moisture in the tanks, the foam inside may not dry. I actually replaced all the old foam in my tanks with those pool noodles. Each of the seat tanks took somewhere around 10-15. The foam in there was waterlogged, and never would have dried. Each block was probably about the same size as a 2X4, and a six inch long block probably weighed as much as a brick. Also, the foam itself was dry to the touch, but was soaked through. If you look around, you can get pool noodles for as little as about $1.25 or so, a relatively inexpensive fix. The pool noodles are closed cell foam, and shouldn't waterlog. I have also heard of people using 2 liter soda bottles for flotation, but haven't tried it myself.

[Laura]

Thanks, guys!
This is such a great forum. I'll have to print out all the notes. I had no idea one could modify the fiberglass and not worry about it structurally. I also never would have thought to use noodles in the tanks--I usually see them at Christmas Tree Shops this time of year--will check for them.
I hope I can get to all of my projects and still get the boat in on time!
My original goal was to refinish the coaming and paint the cockpit, then get it in and start sailing.....but I guess the tanks should be fixed and a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint......I really just want to get on the water and sail!
-Laura

[Daniel Westfall]

I saw an article some time ago about using peanuts that are used for protection when sending packages via FED EX or UPS. I bought two big bags (14 cubic feet each). Someone suggested that I use panty hose (cheap ones) and cut the legs out and fill them with the peanuts and stuff them in the positive floation compartments. Since the hose can be compressed you can pretty much fill the entire compartment (seats and bow) and they will be easy to pull out for drying or inspection. The peanuts do not seem to absorb water as I put them under water over night and the did not soak up water. The hose keep the floation from flowing out if you breach the hull. I will be doing this in the next two weeks and will let you know how well it does.
Just a thought

[EberbachD]

Just be sure that they are not the environmentally correct Corn Starch - "dissolve in water" type of packing peanut. That would be quite a mess. Good use for the old styrofoam type, though.

[Peter McMinn]

Daniel, I just removed all the foam peanuts from my tanks (previous owner installed). These had been in the tanks for probably a decade and had gone lethal with mildew. It seems the peanuts multiply the area that the spores attach themselves. Also, I don't place much value on the floation peanuts provide.

I'm going to invest in a buoyancy bag (APS) for my aft tank, and probably the inflateable tubes (WM) for the gunwhale tanks. Until then, I'm going to try hard not to capsize, which is what I do anyway.

Peter