Lipari 41: Water tank built in

[coriobay]

Just purchased Lipari and noticed it has only one tank, 560 ltr i believe, Looks like made out of fiberglass and built into the starboard side, cannot see any way to service it , do these have any known issues?

[R2boat]

There actually are two water tanks of equal volumes, but only the one fill. The other tank is located inboard of the port side book case in the fwd cabin. I was able to drop the bookcase to route the watermaker supply line into that tank and it works fine.
Another thing that works for us is the rain catchment system that FP did not tell us about....if you look at the 'eyebrow' that overhangs the salon window, you will notice there is a gutter that routes water to the back of the mast. We took an old milk carton, added a hose bib, duck taped it into place behind the mast and routed the hose to the deck fill over the stb tank. You may find you cannot rely on the 'gauge, it gets hung up so turn it off and on and it should be reliable.
We had to ask the same questions when we bought our Lipari 3 years ago....still learning...

Bob
S/V Barefootin'

[coriobay]

Thanks for the info, the current owner did not know that, are they fiberglass or plastic behind the fiberglass

[BenBowSirocco]

Composite tanks are wonderfully efficient on space. But they can have the same kind of problems that a fiberglass hull can. It really depends on the quality of the materials, the skill of the people who built it and how its been used/treated in its life.

It seems prudent that there should be some sort of way (albeit often inadequate from factory) to inspect/clean the tank and if not there needs be one added by someone who is a skilled and experienced technician.
If the factory is still around, I would give them a call and inquire how they expected the tank serviced. Hopefully they have some sort of plan for you to work with.

The things I have seen growing/living in tanks, regardless of material, behooves me to encourage you to make this happen as soon as possible. At the very least treat the tanks with a powerful bleach mixture (USCG has guidelines) or have it steam cleaned. Some fuel polishing companies can do the steaming for you.

[Dod42]

made from quite thick polypropylene

[Dod42]

2 taps, one on each tank. 1 behind the starboard side seat where the water pump and pressure vessel is, and the port side is best accessed via a small panel with 2 screws near the floor under the nav station. Hope that helps.