Removed my tank
I have a 1981 h30. When I opened my boat up after winter storage, the end of April, I had fuel in the bilge. Last season, I replaced the fuel filter and all hoses,so, I thought it might be that, but inspection showed everyting was in good shape. The fuel fill hose and the vent were original, so I replaced those as well this spring. Again, no improvement. The smell was there, but no fuel in bildge, the entire month of May. Over Memorial Day weekend, we sailed hard and long. I was gone for two weeks and came back. On Friday night, I found a great deal of fuel in the bilge. The tank was sitting in a puddle of fuel. So, it was obvious that I had a leak. I had heard many horror stories about removing fuel tanks, so I was nervious. Actually, it was one of the easiest jobs I have ever done on the boat. It comes out of the starboard locker well. I pumped the remaining fuel (I had lost about 4 gallons in the bilge)into portable tanks and disconnected everything. I went in through the access panel on the port settee under the cockpit and used a screwdriver to lift the port side of the tank. It sits between two woodrails on both sides. Once the port side was free, I lifted the starboard side and just slid it out. The whole thing took less than an hour. It was a smelly job, but easy. The marina has ordered me a new one and hopefully it will go in as easy as it came out. I poured several buckets of soapy water across the area where the fuel tank and water heater are to flush the bilge. I used dishsoap and it seems to work well. It may take years to get the smell out, but hopefully no more leaks.