Fuel Bulkhead

[Michael halliday]

The fumes in the cabin from the fuel have made both my wife and a friend (who was pregnant at the time) sick to their stomach when hiding from rain down below. I am planning to create a new bulkhead to seal off the fuel area (and those vents) from the rest of that storage area. (I am thinking about cutting a "slot" throught the woooden rack on the bottom of this area, and them tacking some fiberglass cloth all around the edges using epoxy , then when that has it held in place, wetting the rest of the cloth with resin a few times until it is solid. Thoughts? I think I will drill a small hole at the very bottom to allow any water that mnight enter throught he vents to slowly run out. Anybody else done this. This is the only real thing that I hate about my 1979 C 22 . (Oh, and the fact that I still have a through hull fitting where the old marine head used to pump out. I removed the head and use a porta instead.)

 

[mg]

hole?

i may not understand the hole part but you need to vent the storage area(which is completely sealed from the interior) outboard. or you will just continue to have gas fumes in the boat. go look at a newer 22 and see how catalina resolved the problem . it may give you ideas on how to seal this compartment off. by the way dont vent to the cocpit like the newer boat , you wont have the aft scuppers most likely. and your scuppers drain under the water line. so no help there.

 

[Michael halliday]

thanks

I already have 2 vents on the top of the coaming that vent that area, and they will beon on the fuel side of the bulkhead.

 

[Aldo]

Are the Hoses on Correctly?

Michael: Are you sure that the hoses are on correctly? The one on the inlet vent on mine goes to a long hose that goes to the bottom of the sail compartment. The shorter one goes to a shorter hose that is near the fuel tank. I was thinking about your problem this weekend while sailing, and I have rarely had this problem unless the water was really rough. Then, if I was sailing, I would close the vent. If motoring, the vent must, of course, stay open. Is there fuel splashing out of the vent in the fuel tank? Maybe that's the problem. Is either of your hoses blocked, possibly by a nest from some creature?Do you have the cushion covering the access hole to the compartment snapped in place? I really have had very little problems smelling fumes, and I hate to see you spending so much effort on this problem, plus you are going to make the compartment much harder to get things out of. We use ours for sails, life jackets, and our dinghy, and with the modification that you have proposed, it would take away much of it's functionality. If you still want to do it, you might want to test your idea with thick plastic and duct tape, before you do it in fiberglass. Aldo

 

[Michael halliday]

Now that I think about it...

Thanks Aldo, you really got me thinking...OK, I pretty much have left the vent on the tank open at all times, and I have had some spills that still cause an odor.But the problem really does occur most when motoring with people down below, and then the odor takes a while to clear.(BTW, I have covered the opening to the cabin with a piece of plywood eith weather stripping on the back. Hinged so I can open it easily. But the odors can still get in thought the area where the keel crank cable and the battery are. )OK, New plans...What if, I start closing the vent when not motor !! Duh!!!and maybe either:1) Put a big tough plastic bag in the area and place the tak in it, and I can close it up around one of the vent hoses, and bungee it to hold it. That would pretty mucha ssure the fumes went out when motoring...or 2) add a kind og a rubber gasket to the bottom of one of the vent hoses, and that would allow me to "attach" it over the vent on the fule tank, also making sure the fumes went out during motoring.Thoughts?(OH, and clean up the mess in that storage compartment, so I am not paying for the sins of the past (and past owners)Mike

 

[Aldo]

Always Start with the Basics

Michael: If you have can smell fuel in the compartment without your fuel tank even it it, that's your problem. Stop thinking about complicated solutions. If you clean out the compartment, I'm sure your problem will go away. You should always be very careful with gas, especially on a boat. If I spilled one drop, I would clean it up. (I'm not exaggerating). I transfer gas from my fuel tank to my dinghy motor, and I always have paper towels handy, to catch any drop that spills. Spend a little time installing a paper towel dispenser on the bulkhead right above the galley, on the starboard side. Aldo