Mounting the tank
The next problem is to keep the tank from moving around. I certainly don't want it to slam into anything when the boat falls off a wave--it might split wide open!
My solution was to hem the tank in with braces--fore and aft, and to put a clamp over the top. I mocked up these pieces out of foam board and trimmed them to fit. The sides of the tank are not straight, so the cuts have to be curved to fit.
The top piece holds the tank down, and holds it at the angle leaning outboard.
I then duplicated all of the pieces in pine two-by. I didn't even worry about using pressure-treated. If this area of the boat stays wet enough to rot the wood, I've got bigger problems than that.
I cut out a slot in the cleat that supports the V-berth plywood so that the top piece can slide down into place. The fore and aft boards are just screwed down to the fiberglass with self-tapping screws, but the top board is designed to be removeable.
At each end of the top board, I drilled a one-inch hole with a hole saw. I also took one of the plugs from drilling these holes, and cut it in half. The board is held in place by a #10 machine screw inserted from each end, through the half-round plug and held with a nut in the one-inch cutout.
The half-round cutout on top is because the board happened to land right below the finger hole of the V-berth plywood.
-- George Dinwiddie, Calypso, #543
Special thanks to Mike Lehman of Gilleleje, #505, and Jim Mennucci of Quest, #433, who blazed the trail with the Kracor tank.
|
Boatowners Mechanical And Electrical Manual
by Nigel Calder
An in-depth reference to almost every essential system
found on a sailboat. Calder has well-considered strategies for everything.
Granted, there are good alternatives to some of his approaches, but he
won't lead you astray. This is a book you can trust. Now expanded in
its second edition.
Other books by Nigel Calder
(Note: commissions earned from this link help defray the costs of this website)
|
| 
