Sugar Shack is equipped with (2) built in water tanks that hold 400L of water each.  These are fiber glassed into the boat and are not easily accessed.  As you know, we have a water maker that provides all of the water to the boat.  It converts salt water into potable drinking water and is a true must have for our cruising life.

The port water tank feeds the port head (toilet, sink, shower), exterior shower on the port sugar scoop, and the galley sink.  The starboard head feeds the starboard head (toilet, sink, shower).  I use the galley sink (port tank) to fill our drinking containers.  Matt on the other hand fills a 20L water jug directly from the watermaker because he “can taste and smell” the water that comes from the water tank.  I can’t so I’ve been using it for years (which might explain my strange personality).

The Problem

The interior lining of the water tank has been peeling away for years.  Matt has drained the tank, scraped the excess paint off, and vacuumed up the mess several times.  But, it was beyond time for us to completely clean out the tanks and repaint them with special non-toxic potable paint.  Raw fiberglass was exposed in some areas of the tank.  This could explain the weird tick I have (kidding, I am fine, but really this is disgusting!)

The white or light specs are actually pieces of chipped paint.  Now don’t completely freak out because we do have several filters for each water tank.  So the water goes through each filter before coming to the taps.

The Access

You can see from the above photo that the two access points are very, very small.  In addition, they do not give you easy access to the center because there are two baffles (which prevent the water from swashing around while underway).

So, we make the decision to cut a rather large hole in the center of the tank to provide easier access.  I say “easier” but still not great access to the back corners.

The Removal

We are not sure what they used to line this tank but it does not seem to be the correct product.  The port water tank is far worse than the starboard one so we are focusing on this one.  Plus it supplies our galley and our drinking water so it becomes the priority.

The existing lining scrapes off with a knife but some areas require heavy sanding and grinding.  You can see that there are areas that bubble up, then they pop water is released. 

Step 1: Removal of old lining

Matt had really worked hard to remove a significant portion of the old lining.  However, it still took he and Josh (from Norsand Boatyard) a week to completely remove all of the lining.  It is a very difficult job because you are extremely uncomfortable, often upside down, inhaling fumes, and stretching to reach the corners.  They used puddy knives, stainless tubing, sanders, and grinders.

Step 2: Cleaning

First Josh vacuums as much dust and debris that he can.  Then he has the unfortunate job of wiping the tank down with acetone.  It is a very toxic smell.

Step 3: Gluing

We noticed a crack, on an insignificant area of the tank, that we decided to fix with epoxy.  The crack is on the top of the tank on an extra piece of fiberglass that makes the corner an angle vs a hard corner. We are not sure what its purpose is and it does not impact the quality of the actual tank.

Lance comes in to pre-mix the two part epoxy which Josh performs acrobatics to apply it on the crack.

Step 4: Painting 

We are using International Interline 850 paint which is a light colored, solvent free, heavy duty epoxy tank lining specifically designed for potable water.  It requires a very specific application where you apply a thin layer, wait 24 hours, then apply a 2nd coat, wait 24 hours and then repeat 2 more times for a total of 4 coats over 4 days.  Here are the data sheet on Interline 850.

Then we have to wait 8 days for the paint to “off-gas” before we start the final step of flushing.

The smell is so overwhelming that we can hardly stand being on the boat.  Ideally, we would open all of the hatches and let it vent out, but it is so darn cold (7-14C or 40-55F).  So, we run the dehumidifier to try to help remove moisture from the air and we have a heavy duty, very loud, industrial fan that sucks the air out of the hull and displaces it out the escape hatch.  So, we only have to have two hatches on the port side open.

Between the smell, cold, and loud noise it makes it unbearable to live on the boat.  We have 17 days of this.  This is Conor painting the inside of the tank and a photo of our dehumidifier and large, obnoxious fan.

Step 5: The Lip and Top to Seal the Tank

We had to cut a large hole in the center of the tank in order to access the inside.  In order to put it back, Josh had to build a fiberglass lip for the top to sit on.  Once the lip was built, he glued it onto the tank and it was painted.  Then the top was fitted, glued in, painted, and then fiberglass was placed on top of it.

Once the lid was set, we cleaned up any excess epoxy (glue), and painted the edges.  Now our 8 days start.

Step 6: Off-gassing

The paint or lining we are using is solvent free but it still requires an “off-gassing” period.  So, we wait for 8 days with the port hatches open and the dehumidifier and fan running causing a really crappy living environment.  If we weren’t in the middle of other boat projects we would just leave the boat — but alas, we are trying to complete several other projects while we are on the hard.

Step 7: Painting the Exterior

While the tank lining is “off-gassing” Norsand sends in Ian (aka “Stretch”) to clean up and paint the exterior tank.

Step 8:  Closing up the Tank

Matt had to install the two small access points before we began the flushing step.  The forward one is easy as it is just a gasket and a million screws and washers.  The rear one had to have all of the hoses and tank sender be connected in addition to the gasket, million screws and washers.  Everything went well until we filled the tank.  The tank sender, which tells us the level of water inside the tank) had a crack in it.

Unfortunately, it was a Saturday, everything is closed on Sunday, we splash Monday and leave Tuesday.  So, we place a rush order to be delivered to Marsden Cove Marina where we are checking out.  But in the mean time Matt creates a temporary solution with a piece of plexi.  

He loves the plexi because he can now see inside the tank.  I think he will install the new tank sender once we arrive in Vanuatu.  But he will also find another place to install the plexi because he likes to be able to see inside the tank.

Step 9: Flushing

After our 8 day off-gassing period, we are ready to flush the tanks.  This entails filling he tank full, letting it sit for 24 hours, then draining it.  We repeat this process for 4 days.  Our watermaker would not be able to keep up with this rigorous schedule so we have to be near a water source which forces us to stay on the hard for an additional 4 days. The watermaker can fill 40L per hour so it would take a solid 10-12 hours to fill the tank which is not time efficient.

We are finally ready to test the taste and smell of the water….

Update:  Needed more off gassing time

After we refilled the water tank we left NZ for Vanuatu.  Within a few days we could tell that the tank was not ready.  It had a very clear paint smell.  Since we had to empty the tank anyway, we took showers and ran the laundry.  As it turned out we had a lovely paint order on our clothes and in our hair.  Gesh.  Ok, Re-shower, re-wash.

We drained the tank, then used vacuumed out the remaining water and put two fans in the opening.  We left the tank like this for almost 3 weeks before we could no longer smell “paint” smell.  Finally success.

We are so very grateful to Norsand Boatyard, Josh, Conor, Lance and Aaron for all of the gymnastic poses and for helping us with this very difficult project.

Our blog posts run 8-9 weeks behind actual live events. The events from this blog post occurred in the Norsand Boatyard during May 2024.  During our last blog post we share all of the repairs we did in the boatyard on our 2nd haul out of the season.