Question about Access: Stern "fins" for fuel vent 26X

[OverEasy]

Ribit

[Login3]

That's great for you. Here in the blazing Alaskan summertime (ha!) I saw those tanks swelling, and leaking (new gaskets are here, not yet installed).
Opening of the vents of the VERY full tanks ... the previous owner kindly topped them up for me ... caused issuance of liquid gasoline. Removing excess fuel didn't help .. the tanks would swell and leak. It offended me in an open cockpit. The old and rusty quick release connectors also leaked, and of course dribbled or sprayed fuel when being connected/disconnected ... I have a personal peeve against those connectors from another boat where they did the same thing but did not have the old/rusty excuse.

PLUS I'm very sensitive to gasoline fumes. Already inhaled enough of that being an old VW driver .. for a lifetime. So! When I looked at that I said to meself "Shotgun approach". The only thing I'am not doing this season is the external fill and actual tank replacement. After OverEasy's treatise on the matter, I may well just get new tanks, or I might go the whole 9 yards and get custom tanks that aren't' so butt ugly, but keep them in the same places (the cubbies) so that all my lines and vent routing efforts this season are not in vain.

Should actually be getting to the access plates installation and the vent line plumbing in the next day or two. Will report, of course!

Kind of late to the party but we have two 12 gallon tanks the non-vented kind and I put Vented lids on them so they would not blow up like a bullfrog. We have a complete enclosure and we actually never have problems with fumes. We of course do most of our boating in Canada in the summer or northern New York or the Great Lakes. In the winter, we boat in Florida near our home. Our average time on our boat in the summers are 2 to 3 months. We have a 26X.

[Login3]

On that, saw our first toad of the season. We love our toads! Although they don't say ribit.

Nice bus ... the alacrity with which you work would be useful here. I'm sooooo slooooow.

Ribit

[OverEasy]

Hi Login3!

As has been said before “what works for you” is the modification mantra.

The fume issue varies from person to person and I can understand wanting to do what one can to avoid the issue. ( Personally I’m loath to hang around diesel fumes which is sorta funny as I’ve spent a good portion of my working career in one form or another with jet engines ).

The current version of EPA compliant tanks only come with “vacuum breaker” vents that don’t preclude pressure build up. (Sorta like automotive fuel tanks except autos have activated carbon vapor canisters to absorb the vapors. Have yet to see a marine version of a vapor canister for marine use…. ) Professionally I’d like to see the convoluted lobbying the boat manufacturers went through to get the exemption allowing them to not have the vapor canisters… that’s for another day….

As far as the alacrity of work it comes and goes… just ask my Admiral about the TBC (To-be-completed) list I have ….

Personally I think you’ve got a good plan to move vapors out from the cockpit area that you are able to enclose… we’re nicely envious as that’s a budgetary item we’re not up to at the present time… long sleeves/slacks/bug-nets are still our go-to options for now.

Found a traditional non Bug repellant that works wonders for us! A hand and body lotion called HEMPZ that works for about 4 hours in the sun and heat before needing a light reapplication. It’s found in places like Walgreens or on line. Weirdly it doesn’t seem to matter what “flavor” one uses… the bugs don’t bother you!

The secret to any project I’ve taken on is to try and make at least some incremental progress regularly… before you know it your done and on to the next one.

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Login3]

Totally! "What works for you" is a very lrge, incomprehensible, and vast argument. That target is moving, always. Fumes were a nonissue for me for ages. Diesel is less aggravating, although now, when I smell it, I get mad (the boiler on the fritz AGAIN?) but once it meant, in a certain way, that the Yanmar was working, and associations with that made happy feeling. Gasoline, on the other hand, while tolerable, was a great smell to detect early ... a leak in an air-cooled is best nipped in the bud. Later in life, though, sensitivities arise, and every cell lost to "evil vapours" is regrettable, and preventable, mostly.

Plus we now have a parrot, courtesy of my passed-on parents, and he is coming with us ... birds are not usually keen to have fumes in their living quarters. So .. the best I can do is make sure there are none. For all our sakes.

Interesting, regarding vapor canisters. I read that they were required. Maybe not required ... but "strongly suggested"? Impractical for here as yet (Alaska, currently) in fact we don't smog our cars, either.

I'm looking at this full enclosure with chagrin, thinking of the times we had with a pilothouse sailboat buttoned up tight in a place I now call "Bug Bight" where the noseeums were like Hitchcock's "Birds" or worse .. using toilet paper to caulk every tiny crack and seam ... I will look up your recommendation for HEMPZ ... !!!

I should make a video to share. That would be lots more fun. Then you can laugh at, or critique my situation.

[OverEasy]

Hi Login3!

I’ll laugh with ya!

A PARROT ! Cool!

Yer right about birds and fumes.
They’re picky like that!

Digressions: Long long long time ago my roommate in school
Wanted to spend a summer exploring old abandoned silver mines along the Sierra Nevadas and Rockies. Being an ambulance medic and an applied engineering major I had a fair idea that, even setting aside the structural deficiencies of old mines aspect for the moment, old deep holes in the ground collect very nasty gases that are colorless and odorless. Not really all that keen on becoming a statistic or a Darwin Award Recipient I proposed we bring a small flock of canaries with us. While other crisis’ & challenges changed our plans that summer the mere thought of our possibly traipsing around the boonies with a flock of canaries and a sack of bird seed still makes me smile

Take care of that parrot !

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Login3]

That bird is a goof. He is now "helping" in the shop (when I'm not doign dusty or fumey things). A little noise is OK, but not too much.

I got my vent access holes cut, and the styrofoam cut out in as big of chunks as I could (for replacement, with additional scrap styrofoam we have lying around from environmentally clueless shippers). I decided to scrap the copper tubing idea. It added difficulty, and two more connection points (potential leaks?). After I ascertain that I am not going to need the access again soon, checking the stern light (I hit the wires with my knife) and possibly running the solar panel wires through that same area, I'll refill the styrofoam, but not before taking a few pics.

The access to the true aft "fins" was a no-go. I gave that up.

This video probably exposes more of my sloppy way of doing things than most would like. It is also rambling, boring, and only barely edited. 15 minutes .. enjoy if you can. : )

Sharing the current situation with my 26X.

[Jimmyt]

Great video! Thanks for posting! You’ve got quite a few projects going there. The boat is looking good.

Looking forward to seeing some on-water adventures!

Oh, and I’ll see your messy shop, and raise you a plane crash in a junk yard (my wife’s description of my shop).

[OverEasy]

Hi Login3!

Great video! Love your co-worker parrot!
We have similar shop decorators!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Login3]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the video!

At this point, the vents are done, installed, and working. One tank is holding pressure nicely (I cleaned them with a springy grabby thing and paper towels but they still have fumes). Opening the vent makes "whoosh" out the stern. The other tank needs epoxy repair on the fitting ... the plastic threads are deformed beyond all hope. Both have new gauge/output gaskets.

The vent line on each side has a loop in it. Not sure if that's good or bad. Hard to get to.

The outer fins I wanted to put the vents on are too packed with styrofoam. Big blocks. So too were the ones I opened, but I got it all back in there (including some "trash" clueless people who pack goods in styrofoam sent me in a box .. I save all that crap and reuse it!)

Now I think I want to run copper tubing through there for the fuel lines. We will see. I'm trying to eliminate as much hose/lines clutter underfoot as possible.

Glad to know I'm not the worst slob ... in good company. I've cleaned the shop and destroyed it twice since that video. The bird approves. He helped. : )

[LordElsinore]

Loved the video. I work the same way. Lots of projects all at the same time. That was the first time I'd seen a video of the inside bowels of an in detail. Interesting how different the layout is from the . Thanks for sharing

[Login3]

In a rush, due to poor paying attention on my part, I got the X ready to sail, or, rather, NOT to sail, as to bother with the mast and rigging at dock when my launch was kindly done by a helpful neighbor, who had to go back to work, and I had systems to work out and test before counting on ... so as a motorboat I launched, with no secondary means of propulsion ... for a 23-mile each way trip, fully untested, I can at least report that I am well-pleased with the fuel lines routed as they are and the vents installed as they are. Both tanks now hold pressure (thank West System G-Flex epoxy for fixing that leak in the stbd tank's plastic fuel gauge as well as the soft pipe threads in both tanks outlets) as evidenced by swelling and a WHOOSH when vents opened. Only the faintest of fumes, and no fuel delivery issues. (Using a Mercury 4-stroke 60, got the X up to a bit over 17 kts, which was fun, but LOUD).

I have yet to invest in one of those hose clamp crimpers that makes the permanent type of clamp as opposed to these things I'm using that want to rend and tear flesh.

I recently also found the brass tee ... because I had to make do, I grafted my fuel lines together with thickened G-Flex epoxy. I'll use that until it shows signs of failure (the hoses will fail before the epoxy does!)

Note: For those of you already wary of me and my drilling accidents, yes, I will admit to accidentally poking into my stbd tank when drilling for copper tubing routing through the aft section to the cubby. Again, G-Flex to the rescue. Man, I love that stuff. Sticks to EVERYTHING.

[Login3]

Oh, and Clancy the Alaskan Grey did not approve of the fierce chop outside the river mouth shortly after launch. Nope nope nope. But he started to get used to boat life shortly after I learned that going faster makes the bumpy chop more comfortable.