Well after a hiatus of over a year I'm back. SeaLark, our 1984 Lancer 45 MS had major surgery over 2007. We had to replace the main fuel tank, not a job for the faint of heart. Movies of sailing, massive photos of the teardown and rebuild for those really bored are on the website. Currently waiting to get the port restriction lifted from the insurance company, and finish the varnishing of the interior.
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afloat now
Itis back at home port as of February. Sail back on last week so we could sail it now. Just lots of finishing details to get it back to looking good.
Itis back at home port as of February. Sail back on last week so we could sail it now. Just lots of finishing details to get it back to looking good.
Wow...
What a job to tackle. I had a recent experience of a much more minor nature myself. I am actually going over the wall, so to speak, as I have sold my L25 and am buying an S2 9.2A (30 footer). During the survey, one of the things the surveyor found was a leaky fuel tank. The leaks were on the underside of the aluminum tank. The leaks could be attributed to two causes. The ones the surveyor found he attributed to water congregating at the low end of the tank. Since the boat was slip kept, the tank was not well mixed and he said that this a lack of fuel turnover led to the pin-holing. The owner tried to patch the pinholes for me as a temporary repair (by the way, the surveyor whole-heartedly recommended plastic over aluminum for tank material), but to do so ended up pulling the tank. He then found further pin-holes under the tank where the metal straps would have covered them, perhaps harboring condensation. I am certainly viewing the epoxy repairs only a stop gap. Luckily for me, range isn't an issue for a 30 footer, where as it certainly is for your 45 footer. I am wondering if you ever considered a two tank system? For me the biggest shark to jump in the new boat is going from gas to diesel. Everything I have read says that a healthy paranoia about fuel filtering and quality is a must. Given that I day sail most of the time and typically used only 5-10 gallons of fuel with an 8 hp outboard, it seems that a smaller tank would promote more fuel turnover, but be a hassle if I ever do any cruising. I could put in two small tanks, but needless to say that would complicate the plumbing a bit. I could put in a larger tank, but not fill it all the way, but the increased head space might not be healthy (it would promote mixing, but if the algae that grow in diesel are aerobic, it would promote growth). In my case, the plastic tank would preclude any worries about pinholes, but if water were a big concern I could add a purge valve at the low point of the tank to allow me to drain any settled water out of it easily. Did you take any actions to prevent pinholes in the future? Your tank lasted a good long time, so chances are you won't ever have to worry, but I am just interested. Did you glass over the top of the tank? Thanks and congratulations on completing such a huge repair. When you found the deck compression issue, you must have been nigh suicidal. However, as I learned through two survey failures (one on a Newport 30 with wet decks and one on the S2, which required the owner to do some significant repairs), when you buy a 20-30 year old sailboat, it is not a matter of whether or not something is wrong, but whether or not what is wrong is expected and repairable. We doubled the amount of money we spent on a 30 footer from 10K to 20K and the new boat still has some minor moisture issues, needed some bulkhead repairs (leaking chain plates), had (has?) pinholes in the fuel tank, needs repairs to the engine bed tabbing, etc...etc... However, I am firmly convinces she is a good old boat that will take me where we want to go with a little more TLC on my part. And what the heck...a new one is only $100K+ right? Bob
What a job to tackle. I had a recent experience of a much more minor nature myself. I am actually going over the wall, so to speak, as I have sold my L25 and am buying an S2 9.2A (30 footer). During the survey, one of the things the surveyor found was a leaky fuel tank. The leaks were on the underside of the aluminum tank. The leaks could be attributed to two causes. The ones the surveyor found he attributed to water congregating at the low end of the tank. Since the boat was slip kept, the tank was not well mixed and he said that this a lack of fuel turnover led to the pin-holing. The owner tried to patch the pinholes for me as a temporary repair (by the way, the surveyor whole-heartedly recommended plastic over aluminum for tank material), but to do so ended up pulling the tank. He then found further pin-holes under the tank where the metal straps would have covered them, perhaps harboring condensation. I am certainly viewing the epoxy repairs only a stop gap. Luckily for me, range isn't an issue for a 30 footer, where as it certainly is for your 45 footer. I am wondering if you ever considered a two tank system? For me the biggest shark to jump in the new boat is going from gas to diesel. Everything I have read says that a healthy paranoia about fuel filtering and quality is a must. Given that I day sail most of the time and typically used only 5-10 gallons of fuel with an 8 hp outboard, it seems that a smaller tank would promote more fuel turnover, but be a hassle if I ever do any cruising. I could put in two small tanks, but needless to say that would complicate the plumbing a bit. I could put in a larger tank, but not fill it all the way, but the increased head space might not be healthy (it would promote mixing, but if the algae that grow in diesel are aerobic, it would promote growth). In my case, the plastic tank would preclude any worries about pinholes, but if water were a big concern I could add a purge valve at the low point of the tank to allow me to drain any settled water out of it easily. Did you take any actions to prevent pinholes in the future? Your tank lasted a good long time, so chances are you won't ever have to worry, but I am just interested. Did you glass over the top of the tank? Thanks and congratulations on completing such a huge repair. When you found the deck compression issue, you must have been nigh suicidal. However, as I learned through two survey failures (one on a Newport 30 with wet decks and one on the S2, which required the owner to do some significant repairs), when you buy a 20-30 year old sailboat, it is not a matter of whether or not something is wrong, but whether or not what is wrong is expected and repairable. We doubled the amount of money we spent on a 30 footer from 10K to 20K and the new boat still has some minor moisture issues, needed some bulkhead repairs (leaking chain plates), had (has?) pinholes in the fuel tank, needs repairs to the engine bed tabbing, etc...etc... However, I am firmly convinces she is a good old boat that will take me where we want to go with a little more TLC on my part. And what the heck...a new one is only $100K+ right? Bob
Steam Train
By the way, the steam train track is huge and must be enormous fun for you and all your members. My friend George has a neighbor up in Greenfield NH who has a set up in his back yard. I have driven by it, but haven't seen it up close. I know that George has helped him occasionally over the years building some of the set up, which is in a wooded area and includes several trestles. Bob
By the way, the steam train track is huge and must be enormous fun for you and all your members. My friend George has a neighbor up in Greenfield NH who has a set up in his back yard. I have driven by it, but haven't seen it up close. I know that George has helped him occasionally over the years building some of the set up, which is in a wooded area and includes several trestles. Bob
it's only money
We knew we were in trouble when the surveyor said it would be one of the most difficult jobs he had seen to remove our tank. He gueesed a 20k job, he was wrong! Would you belive 45K? Not sure we would have done it had we known but fortunatly all such worries dissapear with the first over night and sunset. Our 45 does have two tanks, the main held 225 gal and was fiberglass which was fine with a 4ft by 8ft aluminum lid which was what was leaking. Lancer did not provide an air gap between the lid and the cabin sole, the tank lid supported the sole, so any water that found it's way to the tank top sat and corroeded it, took 20 plus years. New tank I'm guessing will hold about 150 gal and has a two inch gap between the sole and the top of the tank. air gap on all sides and bottom too. The auxilary tank holds 100 gal and is a regular retangular aluminum tank. If it has to be replaced it will be easy to get out without having to rip the boat apart. Since there has been some talk in congress about requirereing alchol added to diesel like the E10 gasoline which has caused major problems for fiberglass tanks, I'm just as glad the insurance company reguired a complete new tank.
We knew we were in trouble when the surveyor said it would be one of the most difficult jobs he had seen to remove our tank. He gueesed a 20k job, he was wrong! Would you belive 45K? Not sure we would have done it had we known but fortunatly all such worries dissapear with the first over night and sunset. Our 45 does have two tanks, the main held 225 gal and was fiberglass which was fine with a 4ft by 8ft aluminum lid which was what was leaking. Lancer did not provide an air gap between the lid and the cabin sole, the tank lid supported the sole, so any water that found it's way to the tank top sat and corroeded it, took 20 plus years. New tank I'm guessing will hold about 150 gal and has a two inch gap between the sole and the top of the tank. air gap on all sides and bottom too. The auxilary tank holds 100 gal and is a regular retangular aluminum tank. If it has to be replaced it will be easy to get out without having to rip the boat apart. Since there has been some talk in congress about requirereing alchol added to diesel like the E10 gasoline which has caused major problems for fiberglass tanks, I'm just as glad the insurance company reguired a complete new tank.
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