Projects

Elizabeth City Library
36 17.59 N 076 14.57 W

Here is a truism.  If you stay long enough on a boat you will be forced to repair or replace every single little part.   Joshua Slocum on his single-handed circumnavigation, I'm sure had to replace almost every stick on his wooden boat Spray.  Things are better today but the essential truth has not changed.

I don't blog about each and every repair project.  There are too many.  This week's big one (so far) had to do with a suspected leak in one of our fresh water tanks.

All summer long we have been pumping water from our bilge.  Water in the bilge causes angst.  Where is it coming from?  I went through all the possibilities.  The stuffing box.  The sea cocks.  The speed sensor.  The depth sounder.  The two Dynaplates.   Leaks from above decks.  I stayed awake nights trying to visualize where the water was coming from.   Finally, I narrowed it down to the fresh water tanks.  It was always wet under the tanks, even though all the other places, fore and aft were dry.  The leak continued whether the boat was still or in motion.

Removing the water tanks is something we never did before.  Monday at the NC Welcome center was the time to tackle that.   I removed the forward tank (the aft tank was not suspect.)

The removed tank on the dock.  Looking for leaks.

Libby takes the opportunity to clean where the light has never penetrated for 35 years.  Aft water tank visible.

The verdict?  The plastic water tank is tough and it has no leak.  Therefore, the only possible conclusion is that the plumbing to and from the tank leaked.  I put in new plumbing.  By the end of this week we should have conclusive proof.  The leak is either fixed or it isn't.

By the way, that tank appeared to hold 35 gallons of water.  The aft tank is a bit smaller.  It might hold 25, making the total 60.  For years, we erroneously believed that our under-floor tanks held only 40 gallons.  Based on that, I calculated that in the Bahamas we consumed 0.8 gallons per person per day.  Now I'll have to revise that to 1.2.

I believe that most Westsail 32s have 80 gallons of water tanks.  Why not us?    Most W32s have lead ballast and a deep bilge.  Tarwathie was built with the cost-saving option of steel ballast rather than lead.  That means the same weight of ballast takes more room, and that her bilge is more shallow and that the room for water tanks is diminished (37 cm from keel to cabin sole).  At least that's my theory.  No doubt other W32 blog readers will let me know if that's right.