Removing water tanks

[Marty McOmber]

Hi Passporters,

As I have stated before, I'm considering replacing the starboard water tank with something a bit smaller to make room for my water maker. Can those of you who have removed a tank please walk me through how you went about it? Did you dissemble the area behind the settee backs? That's the route I'm thinking about. I know I'd have to located all of the hidden screws, but I've done that in other projects on this boat.  Is there another approach that people have taken?

By the way, I don't mind cutting out the tank in place and removing it. The challenge is how to put in the new tank.  Thanks much for your insights and experience.  

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Marty McOmber 

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[John Baudendistel]

You could check with Eva Tanner of Belliva whom installed a Spectra system behind the seats. Port side aft.  Less work more tankage stays.  Spectra is quite compact and in components. 12v D.C. Also. 

Thanks 

John Baudendistel

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[Bill Schmidt]

Marty, We just did a big job on Wind Witch.....removed the "trim ballast" under the starboard water tank and the nav. station. Opted to remove the setee backing. It worked extremely well. When we removed the water tank (very easy) we found a lot of rot under the tank. Had to remove that anyway to get to the rotten ballast. All in all, the exposure was excellent for the task. We had the tank rewelded (found a few pin holes). It pressure tested well, so we put it back. Having the settee back out, if you are installing an R/O system, gives you a whole lot of options and makes running the wiring and feed lines a snap.

Billy Manana

[Merrie Bergmann]

I installed a modular-component Spectra on my PP 43 using space under the galley sink and the companionway. It worked very well – no need to compromise the tankage!

 

Merrie

s/v Allora

[John Baudendistel]

Bill,

 Wind witch  will have to be penalized 5 points on her phrf rating due to streamlined weight reductions over stock!

John

<bill.vcf>

[Ian Macrae]

How does one remove the setee backing? Where are the hidden screws, on the visible face of the setee or inside the lockers? Right now the plan is to cut the setee backing out tomorrow morning, but unscrewing is less destructive. Whose idea was it to put those terrible iron punchings in there?

Ian
P40 #49 Freyja

[John Baudendistel]

Ian,
Do you need to remove the water tank for a reason aside from removing the punchings? If not then it can be done via the floor going up under the tank. Use an air chisel with a short bit. Several owners have done so. I personally helped Craig work on his.

Thanks
John Baudendistel

[Ian Macrae]

John, the starboard water tank has lifted maybe two inches. I'd really like to get all the iron out. Taking the settee back off and lifting the tank out seems pretty straightforward, especially if the back is just screwed in and not glued, too. Also with the tank out i can more easily run 00 cable to my anchor windlass, instead of going down the center line trough.

What route have others used to run windless cable in P40s? I'm planning on running it through the starboard cabinets and closets, through the water tank space and then moving over from the rear of the water tank space to the center line for the rest of the trip back.

[John Warren]

Why are so many Passport 40 owners over the years talking about iron
lifting. Some have talked about tanks lifting and some have talked about
floors lifting. What is going on? I have seen nothing like that on my
boat, but want to understand what is happening so I can be aware. My boat
was manufactured in King Dragon. Would that make a difference considering
that they are all Passports? Warren Peace. 1985 vintage.

Take care.

-----Original Message-----
From: <passpor...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ian Macrae
<versin...@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 9:11 PM
To: Passport Owners <Passpor...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Passport] Removing water tanks

[Versingetrix]

John, isn't yours a P47?  Mine is a 40. The iron punchings the build yard threw onto the floor under the starboard water tank (and covered with an eighth of an inch of glass) swell with rust when they get wet, which lifts the tank and eventually breaks the cabinet work and floor apart if left unresolved. Seems like it is a pretty common problem in many of the boats. Maybe you've kept yours dry, or the 47s are different.

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[John Baudendistel]

Hi John, the 40's were made with steel punchings under the port tank to balance the boat. Also under the nav station. It causes the seats to lift
Thanks
John Baudendistel

> On Nov 18, 2017, at 8:16 PM, John Warren <jo...@warren-peace.us> wrote:
>
> Why are so many Passport 40 owners over the years talking about iron
> lifting. Some have talked about tanks lifting and some have talked about
> floors lifting. What is going on? I have seen nothing like that on m

[John Warren]

OK, the reason I ask is because after all these years, I¹m starting to see
some slight separation under the bracket that holds the steering cables in
the engine room. Not sure why this is happening. Didn¹t see this last
year, but may have something to do with a very bumpy ride from San Carlos,
Sonora, Mexico to San Diego, California when I had the boat delivered to
Driscoll Boat Works for hurricane repairs. We just arrived LaPaz (down
from San Diego) about a week ago and will be here for five months running
up and down the Sea of Cortez island chain. Over the next several months,
I¹ll have it checked out and possibly fill with resin or ???. Wonder if
any other P47s having that issue. Only seem to hear from P40s regarding
this.

Hurricane Newton damage all repaired and we¹re back in Mexico doing our
thing. Love it down here.

Hugs to all the San Francisco gang! Miss you!

[Larry Rovin]

Not all of them. Whisper (#134) is ballast-free, but we need to watch the water tank levels to maintain balance.

Sent from my iPhone

[John Baudendistel]

Ian,

Ask Bill Schmidt of wind witch. He had the yard do it. Removed seatee, tank and punchings. I believe he had photos. Repaired and pressure tested tanks. Etc.

Thanks
John Baudendistel
Jo...@ets247.com
650.678.1459

> On Nov 18, 2017, at 8:11 PM, Ian Macrae <versin...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> John, the starboard water tank has lifted maybe two inches. I'd really like to get all the iron out. Taking the settee back off and lifting the tank out seems pretty straightforward, especially if the back is just screwed in and not glued, too. Also with the tank out i can more easily run 00 cable to my anchor windlass, instead of going down the center line trough.
>
> What route have others used to run windless cable in P40s? I'm planning on running it through the starboard cabinets and closets, through the water tank space and then moving over from the rear of the water tank space to the center line for the rest of the trip back.
>

[John Baudendistel]

Larry interesting. Never knew. Your lucky!

Thanks
John

[Ian Macrae]

Attached is a picture of a handful of the more pristine iron punchings I found under the starboard water tank. You can see the resin is still in place in this handful. I'm really glad to have pulled the water tank to get to the punchings as they extended quite a ways outboard from the centerline. It seems to me it would be difficult to get to them all out by taking up the floor boards and coming in from the side and working with the tank in place. The boat was fabricated with a layer of fiberglass both under and over the punchings, which appear to be the center pieces punched out in the process of making washers. Where they had rusted and swollen up into a towering heap the fiberglass (which was a non-structural containing top and bottom layer) had come lose from its attachment points. There were two wooden stringers fiber glassed in place (oriented from center line to outboard) to support the water tank. The aft one had rotted away and the remnants were not providing any support for the water tank. Taking the tank out allowed us to get all of the punchings out. it would have been hard to do by coming in under a still in place water tank, and I couldn't have fixed the water tank support stringers. The punchings ran almost to the forward end of the water tank. Water had impacted the rearward punchings the most, the forward ones not so much. There are a couple of pictures of the rusted ones above in this thread. The ones still encased in resin are as hard as a rock.....

There are some rusted punchings visible through the approximately 10" square hatch in the floor where my feet go when sitting at my aft facing nav station. Hope I don't have to take the floor apart to get them all out..

I'll follow up with information on putting the water tank back in and putting back rest part of the settee back together. The water tank seems to still be intact, FWIW.

Ian
P40  #49 S/V Freyja
Bainbridge Island

[Steve Jones]

We just replaced both stainless steel water tanks.  Step one was to remove flooring from port side of Settee and aft as far as engine bulkhead.  We removed the steps and floor back toward the Sea Berths.   With all of the Port tank exposed and half of the starboard tank exposed we took handheld grinder and cut both tanks into size that would go through companion way.  Word of caution, bits of ground stainless steel went everywhere. 

When tanks were fully removed, we built two fiberglass tanks which incorporated the hull on both the port and starboard sides just above the bilge line.  Each tank has two dividers and the normal ports to fill and pump out water.  Gelcoat was our sealer and after a couple of washouts with water and vinegar we had almost 200 gallons of water tankage, and stronger hull above the keel.

It was alot of trouble but now we are glad that we FINALLY bit the bullet.

CasaMar

P51