George, et al, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I had 3 new SS water tanks fabricated.  I used 316 stainless which was about twice the guage and weight of the old tanks.  They also represented a large investment.  I installed the new tanks about 2 weeks ago and am in the process of finalizing the hold-downs.

In retrospect, it is a shame the old tanks had not been properly cared for.  Were it not for the snapped baffles and holes at the baffle weld-points, the original tanks were still in fine shape externally.  Given their 36 year age, AND the fact that they were just lying in the comparments with no material to protect from water pooling or to provide air circulation, they looked great.

However, I give high marks for the production of Harmony because whatever was done worked for over 36 years.  Our new tanks certainly look wonderful and fit like the old ones.  Since the new tanks were so heavy, I did need to use the boatyard's crane to lift them into the boat. 

The project was certainly not for the uncommitted, though.  The "gut-job" of removing the entire galley/dinette furiture and the old sole decking took me almost 3 months single handed.  Well, some of that time was spent ferreting out the myriad of water leaks.  As I may have mentioned, our starboard salon berth, as well as both the galley and dinette was rotted out including the teak ceiling. 

Thankfully, I have finished repairing/remaking the salon furniture, and once the water tanks are finally "tied" down, secure, and plumbed, I will begin to remake the galley/dinette furniture.  However, before that I do need to replace 4 cracked gate stanchions, rebed the other stanchions,  install bronze cleats on the bulwarks for spring lines, and begin rewiring while the goat is "open".

Anyway, I did not need to replace the fuel tank, but if I had unlimited funds, I would have fitted 3 separate diesel tanks in the floor just aft of the water tanks.  The capacity would have been close to 200 gallons.  Aluminum would have worked fine for that application.  However, the 100 gallon poly tank installed athwartships will work for our cruising plans.

I have taken lots of pictures, and will try to pick out a few that convey a clear visual of the process.

On the issue of caprail chaulking, I used a System Three Epoxy product, SA2100, I think it was called.  The company was very supportive and the product worked great.  It was easy to apply, but doing the inboard chaulking required more gymnastics than our Olympic team.  Most of the old chaulking was gone by the time I got to it, so I did not have to scrape out much.  I doubt that that joint had been touched since the boat was made.   I used screw driver that I had bent the blade 90 degrees, as well as a small paint scraper.

I spent 2 full days:  1 to prep with scraping, vacuuming and tacking and 1 to do all the chaulking. Its tight now.  I can go into more detail in another post.

Doug

George, et al, I have been buried with some heavy business that has kept me off line for the last several weeks.  However, to answer your question about the "lip", I have looked at that area, and, yes, there is a lip.  I can't say if it is 1" or less, but I don't see any indication of a drain hole.

While I had the water tanks out, I tried to do a thorough cleaning of the bilge area.  Before I became owner of hull #91, the engine had been removed and it seems as though the vital fluids of that engine ended up in the bilge.  After several rounds of degreaser and medium pressure water, I did make progress.  However, lacking access to the area under the engine room pan prevented me from actually scrubbing the area.

The water coming out of the garboard drain did not show any oily residue, but I can still detect an aroma of antifreeze, etc.  While not overpowering, it still is there.

I am having a new engine installed in the next couple of months, and will request that the installers try to clean that area.  While I know I will never get that new boat smell, it would be nice to not worry about my bilge having an oily discharge.

I did speak with the boatyard staff that had done work on the boat over the years.  Originally, the boat had 3 steel tanks (the boatyard called them cast iron), which leak significantly.  The prior owner removed those leaky tanks and the boat yard installed an athwartships poly tank of 105 gallons.  This is where some of the bilge contents could have come from, but I really thing that when they took out the old engine a lot of fluids made their way to the bilge.

If I am lucky with timing, I will have all of the seacocks replaced in the next week or so, and may be able to begin remaking the dinette/galley furniture.