What are these pipes?

[PaulZeeders]

Thank you
We do get asked quite often if it is glass, but we are 5mm steel. Built in Hawaii.

[Kd9truck]

Originally Posted by PaulZeeders

Sorry , once again the photo has ended upside down

It’s not your fault mate, your in New Zealand, CF is based in the northern hemisphere.

Thank you, I be hear all the day
(Please try the veal)

[hpeer]

Paul,

The obvious thing to do is to take hoses off and see what you find.

I presume you have no access to the Previous Owner. What about the building yard? Dosen’t look home built, that is some serious metal rolling. Not what I expected.

My only other (not very good) thought is it is some sort of monitoring system to keep an eye on the integrity of those sections. Maybe a way to keep a positive pressure on the and/or monitor them for integrity.

Every idea I come up with requires there to be something additional on the boat that would help explain.

It is an exceptional hull finish. Which points to great care being taken.

Who was the builder?

[MicHughV]

Now that I see a photo of the boat.....I don't understand where the "skeg" comes into the equation as it is located quite a bit behind the keel. I had originally thought it might be a full keel boat...but in fact the underwater body looks remarkably similar to my old Roberts 38...ok..mine was a hard chine...but I stick to my theory in that it is a fuel supply and return line...

[MicHughV]

on page one you acknowledged that the fuel tank was in the keel...but now you say that it is elsewhere ??
Two tanks maybe ??

[MicHughV]

This thing has been gnawing on my mind.

Would be nice to know where these hoses go to ?? That would likely solve the puzzle. They must have another end, which can tell the tale.

[hpeer]

Mic,

I think he said that they were continuous from the keel to the skeg. Thars is what I understood anyway.

But I agree, there MUST be another clue.

Maybe?

[MicHughV]

h,

I hear ya....and reread the all the posts again. The OP does say there is a fuel in the keel, but elsewhere says there is another fuel tank somewhere.

That second pic shows that threaded pipe ( 1.5" dia, give or take) with that unusual fitting and plug on top).

The pic of the boat hauled shows quite a separation between keel and skeg...could they both be filled with fuel ???....possible I suppose, but how to extract it. I can't imagine that the skeg can hold much fuel. For that matter, how much fuel could be kept in the keel ? Not much either, I suspect.

If the keel and skeg are simply connected together with these hoses, I'm truly stumped. I do find it unusual that the black hose tee's of the red in both pics or both locations. That must have been done for some purpose.

I hate going to bed with a mystery in my head....sigh....

[hpeer]

He says be will be at the boat later this week.

My BEST GUESS is that Pail saw the connections on each and and assumed the red hose was continuous from keel to skeg. It must run under the aft cockpit and I will bet it is very hard to trace out.

Therefore, I bet 2 beers(or one glass of cheap wine) that if Paul were to carefully trace the red hose he will find some additional fitting between the two ends that is buried in the cockpit lockers or thereabouts.

BTW , my 33’er has a similar ling keel and skeg, I have 70 gallons of diesel. Our 44’er, full keel, has 150 gallons of diesel and 180 gallons of water in the keel.

[MicHughV]

My Roberts had the fin keel....it was quite long....around 9' as I remember, but little room for a diesel tank.

So here's a thing....I built my first diesel tank out of plywood....yep...plywood...slathered it in West Epoxy, both inside and out.
Ok, you can quit laughing now, but in the 10 years or so I had it, it never creaked, groaned nor leaked so much as a drop. It contained around 40 gallons.
After 10 years, I put a new engine in and built another tank....this time out of aluminum..

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

My Roberts had the fin keel....it was quite long....around 9' as I remember, but little room for a diesel tank.

So here's a thing....I built my first diesel tank out of plywood....yep...plywood...slathered it in West Epoxy, both inside and out.
Ok, you can quit laughing now, but in the 10 years or so I had it, it never creaked, groaned nor leaked so much as a drop. It contained around 40 gallons.
After 10 years, I put a new engine in and built another tank....this time out of aluminum..

How come you didn't just remake the same?
And, which one was less expensive?
Boatyarddog

[hpeer]

2020 I had an aluminum day tank made for the 44. The main tank has no inspection plates and no way to polish the fuel. And it has some crud. We were doing some other work so I drew up that rank to optimize the space and provide a shelf for other equipment. It ended up being 42gallons. Quite nice to have that much. I added some pick ups so the diesel heater has its own and there is still a spare.

So I have at least 190 gallons fuel capacity, probably a bit more.

[MicHughV]

I don't recall how much $$$ it took to build either the wood or the alum. tank...probably about the same. I was still building my boat at the time I built the wood diesel tank, so I had the tools and WEST epoxy to accomplish this. In later years, when I replaced it with the alum. tank, I did not have my array of tools anymore, nor the WEST epoxy.

I was also always a little concerned about the heat. The returned fuel from the engine was quite warm. I never had a problem with the wood tank, but when I put the new engine in, I also wanted a bigger tank. The wood tank gave me about 10 years of solid, no leak service. Can't complain.

Long story short, I had it fabricated, it was surprisingly inexpensive to do so. I drew up some plans, gave these to the machine shop and a few days later my tank was made.

As a point of interest, after removing the wood tank, I opened it, and was surprised to see about a 1/8" thick layer of black slime on the bottom and bottom sides of the tanks. I've heard various reasons for this, but I never had any problems with the tank or fuel delivery.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I don't recall how much $$$ it took to build either the wood or the alum. tank...probably about the same. I was still building my boat at the time I built the wood diesel tank, so I had the tools and WEST epoxy to accomplish this. In later years, when I replaced it with the alum. tank, I did not have my array of tools anymore, nor the WEST epoxy.

I was also always a little concerned about the heat. The returned fuel from the engine was quite warm. I never had a problem with the wood tank, but when I put the new engine in, I also wanted a bigger tank. The wood tank gave me about 10 years of solid, no leak service. Can't complain.

Long story short, I had it fabricated, it was surprisingly inexpensive to do so. I drew up some plans, gave these to the machine shop and a few days later my tank was made.

As a point of interest, after removing the wood tank, I opened it, and was surprised to see about a 1/8" thick layer of black slime on the bottom and bottom sides of the tanks. I've heard various reasons for this, but I never had any problems with the tank or fuel delivery.

Amazing, glad the crud didn't slough off.
Just finished a 20 gallon aluminum tank install in a Cal 2/29, 1974.
$500 made in fla.
Good price considering my local shop wouldn't do it under $700 so, I got it on line, had to wait 2 months to get it but it turned out really nice.
Cut out the engine bay side, slipped it out behind the engine and replaced the pieces.
A lot cleaner install than the pull the engine, when it was installed.
Old galvanized steel tank made in 74, got pinholed in the bottom due to lack of maintainance.
Slow leaked, always stunk of diesel.
Glad to be done with it, it's the wife's boat.
Maybe I can work on my list now, but yard works taking time now.
But lovin life.
I've heard tanks can be made with wood/epoxy, wasn't sure how well they lasted.
Sounds like pretty good length of time for the trouble.
Thanks for the share.
Boatyarddog

[MicHughV]

Yep...I made both diesel tank and water tank from plywood. Just regular plywood, 1/4" I seem to remember, reinforced with 1x2" along edges, etc. Both had inspection hatches.....plywood, screwed to the top....had some additional 1x2" under the plywood at the opening for the screws. Also some interior baffle walls to stop liquids from sloshing around
The outside had several coats of WEST....clear coat...but the inside I added some white coloring. All the inside edges had a thickened WEST cove.
On the bottom of both tanks were some 2x2's. I bolted these to the metal frames of the boat, so the tank(s) wouldn't move.
The tank fittings were all on top, as I was concerned this could be a possible leak point if I had them on the bottom, though on the diesel tank, I added a sight tube alongside, basically a clear plastic hose, so I could tell what the fuel level was. It never leaked.
Both tanks had a pickup tube inside the tank. The diesel tank was a copper tube. It stopped about 1.5" from the bottom. The water tank had a plastic hose.
Never had a single problem.
I didn't have much money, while building my boat, so I had to improvise where I could. Having custom metal tanks made was simply out of the question.
I knew another guy that made plywood water tanks, but he fitted a rubber bladder inside, but I did not do this.
I built my icebox/freezer in the same way...plywood and WEST, also with white coloring added.
My skills and lack of money had nothing to do with it. The WEST epoxy was the answer. It's marvelous stuff. Never had any problems with the tanks for as long as I owned the boat.