New Member Introduction

Hello all, Norm Marshall here, a long-time sailor forced to remain on land due to a serious heart attack 3.5 yrs ago which caused the cardiologist to tell my wife I shouldn't sail alone anymore. I was a solo sailor and Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada and the North Channel (a favourite part of The Loop) was my home and my fav. place on earth. Admittedly the finest freshwater boating in the world! If he'd have just told me I'd have ignored him, but I can't ignore the wife.
But as luck would have it, I started doing the odd delivery here for a broker friend which has turned into a full-time position selling boats. Retired ten years from law enforcement and now I'm selling pre-owned Yachts!
My reason for joining this Forum is selfish. Some of our boats are Trawlers. Some are older ones, well-loved, some not so well, almost all have some salt-exposure although they are currently fresh-water boats.
I will be asked questions from prospective buyers I may not have answers for so with your blessings I may turn to you all on occasion for those answers.
For instance, I understand Black Iron fuel tanks, which are really just welded steel tanks, have a life-span of approx. 30 years give or take. Has anyone here swapped them out of a 40' Marine Trader?
Did you go out the side of the hull to do it? Roughly what cost was involved and what did you replace it all with? My clients are not skilled to do this themselves so the epoxy-over-fiberglass tank route would not be the route for them.
Thanking you all in advance. Fair winds.

Hi Norm and welcome aboard TF.
I can't help w your tank question.
I'm headed to Georgian Bay this summer. I'll PM you my contact info and would welcome any must see recommendations.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome Norm..I think I would remove engine and then tank(s). Its certainly viable to go out the side.

Hi, Norm. I have had the honor of traversing your favorite cruising areas in 1992, and I must agree, the area is great.
IRT your tank question, I sold my 44-year old wooden hulled Grand Banks in 2016. As I had owned it since 1986, I am certain the black Iron tanks were original, and there was never a problem. One thing I did early on was to reach behind them (yes, GB42 had a foot or so of clearance between hull and tank) to scrape off surface rust and then spray it down with rust reformer followed by fogging oil, especially on top of all four tanks.
In later years, I participated in removing steel tanks and replacing with aluminum tanks in a Marine Trader-like boat. In that case, we lifted one engine at a time and placed it on timbers in the salon over the top of the other engine. Then the old tank was cut out and lifted in pieces out the door and onto the pier - boat never left the water. The new tanks were smaller and joined together via large diameter hoses after installation. This project 15 yeas ago, cost my friend less than 5,000 bucks.
Other methods have been used to replace tanks without the removal of the engines. One traveling team from the west coast specializing in Grand Banks cuts the old tanks out and uses a series of pancake tanks slid into place and then fastened together and linked with a vertical manifold.
For the person wanting to turn the boat and his fortune over to a boatyard which might cut out the side or bottom of the boat to replace tanks, I think the initial estimate would be in the 30,000 dollar-PLUS range. A conversation 10 minutes ago with a respected boatyard manager in my area was revealing in that he will not cut sides or bottoms of boats out for this purpose because of the challenge in working the area. The comment from the manager was, "Hey, think about it; you cut the hull, remove the tanks, and place the new tanks in the boat leaving you trying to figure out how to work the fiberglass and support structure un the INSIDE of the boat." He also said he never made any money of jobs like that. To remove the engines and work from inside the boat would be about 30,000 dollars today, and the boat had better be in really good shape, or costs rise.

HI

I'm a small boat sailor who has built a small sailing craft and taken part in some Raid-style races with family. I've chartered a few times, but only sailboats. Looking into trawlers because I gotta plan for retirement, and figure out something fun and adventuresome to do with my wife else just peck away on the laptop.

I attended the Stuart Trawlerfest and gained an appreciation for the lifestyle and the boats while there, and am interested in learning more about diesel engines and boat maintenance.

Thanks for tolerating a newbie, and a blow boater to boot.

Welcome Norm, we are just down the road. Live a few minutes walk from Lock 32 in Bobcaygeon and boat from Lake Simcoe. We will be coming up your way this summer. We had a Great Lakes 33 until last year and changed for some creature comforts for our old bones. Enjoy the forum. Are you working for Jack?

Greetings,
Welcome aboard to both Mr. pn and Mr. ps!

Whoops. Sorry Norm!

Didn't mean to jump on your thread, the title seemed ubiquitous.

My apologies, and hiya