Don't fill your diesel tank with water!

[jibes138]

Neighbor with a Catalina 320 asked if I wanted to go for a sail so I said sure. A few minutes later he cancelled the trip. The water fill and diesel fills are right next to each other on this boat. He put about ten gallons of water in his diesel tank. Probably too much water to rely on the water separator fuel filter? We towed it to a service marina so they could suck out the now toxic waste, clean, and refill.

 

[kloudie1]

Ouch.. Hope he realized before cranking up..

 

[Paul F]

Got a worse story, not that your friends problem isn't bad. My friend years ago changed the diesel fuel filler location on the boat. He left the old filler in place but not connected to a tank. While on a cruise, not at his usual marina, he had a dock hand refuel while he was doing other things. You know what happend... Before he got back to the refueling, there was over 30 gallons sloshing around the bottom of the boat. He had to tow the boat to another marina where the diesel was pumped out and the boat cleaned. Murphy's Law rules the waves as we all know well.

 

[Terry in Naples]

Well i know a guy who pumped 10 gallons of diesel in his waste holding tank. What a mess that was.

 

[Ron Roman]

Just after taking deliver of my 356, my wife and I went the the fuel dock to top off the tank prior to our sail across Lake Erie to her new home in Sandusky, Ohio. Not knowing anything about diesels and not paying attention, the attendant top off the tank with gasoline. We didn't find out till half way across the lake when I decided to motor for awhile. It ran for about 10 min. and stalled. We were able to sail to Put-In-Bay and get towed to a dock, talk about embarrassing. The next day the dealer towed the boat back to the dealership and drained the tank. The following week we started on our trip again with out any problems.

 

[Lee Coller]

Better than Diesel in the Water Tank!

Neighbor with a Catalina 320 asked if I wanted to go for a sail so I said sure. A few minutes later he cancelled the trip. The water fill and diesel fills are right next to each other on this boat. He put about ten gallons of water in his diesel tank. Probably too much water to rely on the water separator fuel filter? We towed it to a service marina so they could suck out the now toxic waste, clean, and refill.

At least he didn't put diesel in his water tank. From what I've heard, the only solution is to replace the tank.

 

[kloudie1]

Paul F.. similar experience.. a couple of sailing acquaintances (Real Bozos) did that with gasoline in a catamaran that they were delivering.. they were both smoking and only the good Lord knows why they weren't incinerated !!!

 

[CaptChuck]

The placement of the fuel filler is terrible. I have almost made the same mistake myself. In addition, being under the rail seat make filling difficult. I have always maintained that engineers/designers should be required to work on the equipment they design & perhaps we would get better designs.

 

[Ken Cross]

My friend had a guest on board fuel him up. It was the water tank full of diesel. New tank, new pump, new plumbing. Big mess and kept his boat tied up til his vacation was over.

 

[higgs]

I hate to admit I made the same mistake for the same reason.. Fortunately, I realized it pretty quick and did not run the engine. I pumped and cleaned the tank and found a guy who uses waste oil to heat his shop and did not mind the water. Diesel into a water tank would be far worse.

 

[Skipper]

color-coded replacement caps can be had for most Catalinas. Probably for most boats altogether. Even stainless caps with color-coded inlay, for you fancier sailors. Hmm...now I might order those.

Putting the fills exactly next to each other is an invitation to eventual disaster, especially when you entrust your most precious posession to some dock kid...or anyone for that matter. The color-coded caps might prevent these disasters.

My water fill for both tanks is on the bow, the waste pipe is on the stbd beam, and the diesel fill is in the cockpit.

 

[higgs]

No question that seperating fill location is the best way to prevent problems. Sometimes we all get distracted and mess up.

 

[jrowan]

Man that is painful, & a good reminder to us all to keep a watchful eye when filling up to do it in the right hole! I must admit that this summer I was refilling my water tank & forget that my P.O. removed the plumbing intake line for the forward water tank, which he never used. I have two water fill spouts right next to each other & starting pouring water from the hose in the wrong one. I found out pretty quickly when my wife started screaming at me that water was pouring out of the hanging locker doors, instead of into the tank! Luckily it was only a few gallons, but boy if no one had been down below I could've made a real swimming pool down there. Moral of the story: two pairs of eyes are better then one bleary pair first thing in the morning. Also never trust the plumbing that the P.O. has done or undone! Cheers.

 

[seadaddler]

diy

I always make sure I attend to the fueling and holding tank pumpout which are next to each other,all marina's always make the owner do the pump out and fueling and I always supervise if someone offers help.
Many years ago a friend had the house changed from oil heat to natural gas and one a fuel delivery man delivered fuel into his basement by mistake address from his office,What a mess some 100 gallon's of fuel oil all over the basement.
Nick