Black iron fuel tanks

[syjos]

The house side to deck joint is another potential leak source on the older trawlers with glassed over plywood sides and plywood deck.

Not enough glass lamination or lack of a corner filet create hairline cracks at the junction of house side and deck. Water creeps into the cracks, plywood expands and more cracks.

On boats with teak decks, there is usually a teak trim at the junction of house side and deck which tend to hide issues.

 

[kapnd]

Here it what happen to me. Purchased a 1988 jefferson 45 twauler/motor yatch. Not knowing how long fuel had been in tanks, had the fuel cleaned. Tank guy got alot of crap out and said I might want to have fuel tanks cleaned. Did that and got alot more crap out , (rust hard pieces etc, ) . Filled tanks up and headed to the keys. After about a month smelled diesel and find a tank leaking. After removing tanks and cutting them up, inspecting them found that cleaning tank removed rust on inside walls and exposed the rusted thru areas on the tank walls. Would be vary cautious of tank cleaning as it removes scrabs on walls and exposes the hole and leak. Be careful of tank cleaning.

If your tanks are so fragile that they can’t stand up to a vigorous cleaning, they are long overdue for replacement!
Tank cleaning is a good thing, even if it points up some (expensive) faults.

 

[venturadave]

If you or wife is sensitive to mold....buy an airplane, not a boat. ALL boats have mold on them. Dont let ANYONE tell you otherwise.

Yes! A liveaboard Cessna!

Don't want to hijack the thread, but wanted to make one more point. Unfortunately for someone like me researching this subject (like many other subjects), there are as many opinions as there are people. Here is one example: https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/315446-cabin-mold-mildew.html

My plan is to have a mold inspection done before a survey when we get serious about a boat. If we can't find one that passes a mold inspection, we'll commit to a remediation/cleaning as part of the boat cost. If the inspector tells us it's hopeless to get a boat to "healthy" standards, we may have to give up our dream and start shopping for an airplane!