I am under contract on a 1988 californian 45ft. the boat has some other issues-all of which i can accept. The survey revealed dried fuel under all three tanks. No fuel smell in the engine room. On the sea trial two of the tanks were empty and the third was almost empty. Apparently the Californian boats have had tank issues. Should i insist on another sea trial with fuel in all of the tanks, have them inspected or move on to another boat. The owner is not forth coming about anything and has deferred a lot of maintenance.
fuel tank leak
- Thread starter obenton
- Start date
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O C Diver
Guru
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2010
- Messages
- 12,868
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- USA
- Vessel Name
- Slow Hand
- Vessel Make
- Cherubini Independence 45
A sea trial is for testing all systems to their capacity to identify problems. All tanks (fuel, water, and waste [with water]) should be full. That's how you determine if there are leaks or issues.
Ted
Ted
gonesailing13
Senior Member
In the middle of having my leaky fuel tanks replaced. 10K - keep that in mind.
Capt.Bill11
Guru
Have the fuel tanks pressure tested. If the owner will not allow you to do that then tell him to knock $10,000 off the price.
If he does neither, move on to the next boat.
FOG
Guru
Great advice. I had a fuel tank fail a month after I had purchased my Prairie 36 earlier this year. It cost $7,000 to replace.
I agree. We are looking at replacing the tanks on Hobo. Tanks are outboard of the engine and $30k is in the ballpark. $10k will just cover the fabrication costs for us. Add the removal/installation costs if a yard is doing the work and the total can jump pretty quick. If you're serious about the boat, as Bayview suggests, I'd get a yard estimate.
