O-34 Water Tanks

[Loren Beach]

Just in case anyone needs this answer to win a trivia contest...
I have now cut out the tabbing on the plywood piece that held in the aft (factory option) water tank that mounts under the port seat hatch.
Turns out that it is an exact duplicate to the inside water tank under the starb. settee. Both are Ronco #B-134. 22 gallons.

Same space-wasting wedge shaped tank. We really like the available water supply on this boat and will replace this tank, but with something rectangular in shape that uses the space a lot more efficiently and can give us more precious storage in that laz. area.

I will replace the 3/4" plywood structure around it with honeycomb. Also the 6' + long shelf above it. 3/4" ply, faced with formica, is way too heavy for this boat, which is already overweight and out of trim on the aft port side. That shelf alone weighs in at 15#. Sheesh.

Without a sailboat and its projects, what would we all do with our spare time anyway?!

Cheers,
Loren

 

[CTOlsen]

Very, very interesting. I have the same "optional" water tank, and even more importantly, the same concern for port list.

I've got 125# of lead shot ballast in the hide-away behind the stbd settee, and have been working on ways to remove it and replace it with usable weight- A/C and cold plate on the stbd side would just about do it.

But, I think I'll do as you are, and look to lighten the lumber load in the aft port quarter in addition to the A/C ( It's friggin HOT on the Chesapeake in the summer).

THanks Loren.
CTO

 

[Loren Beach]

Very, very interesting. I have the same "optional" water tank, and even more importantly, the same concern for port list.

I've got 125# of lead shot ballast in the hide-away behind the stbd settee, and have been working on ways to remove it and replace it with usable weight- A/C and cold plate on the stbd side would just about do it.

But, I think I'll do as you are, and look to lighten the lumber load in the aft port quarter in addition to the A/C ( It's friggin HOT on the Chesapeake in the summer).
THanks Loren.
CTO

CTO, If you replace the #1 water tank (22 gallon Ronco B-134) under the starboard settee with a 38 gallon ss custom tank like I did, I can guarantee that the boat will float upright when that tank is full. You will not need the lead, and the Admiral will love the additional water supply... And a happy Admiral makes for a happy ship...
Our boat, hull #8, never had any balancing lead from the factory that I know of.
I have also installed the Statpower 20 battery charger on an aft cabin bulkhead, just left of hanging locker entrance, and the fridge compressor is under the galley counter. (Little changes, but I figure that they add up, some.)

"And in Other news", With the nightly temps now hitting 17 to 20, I finally got the engine winterized today. Ambient temp late morning was in the low 20's and I glow-plugged for a full 20 seconds and she fired immediately. Sunny out, but damned cold - wind was about 25 kts, too. Yikes.

I shall try to get some pics of the changes in the laz. area as I go along.

Regards,
Loren

 

[brianb00]

port list

Glad to hear we all share this port list. Drives me nuts. I like the honeycomb replacement concept. My water heater is rusting out, probably shave a few lbs when this come out. I solve the listing on longer offshore excursions by stacking the sail inventory. But would prefer to have the boat balanced.

I have seen carbon toilet bowls.

Brian

 

[Loren Beach]

Like me, our boat has too much weight, in wrong places...

Glad to hear we all share this port list. Drives me nuts. I like the honeycomb replacement concept. My water heater is rusting out, probably shave a few lbs when this come out. I solve the listing on longer offshore excursions by stacking the sail inventory. But would prefer to have the boat balanced.

I have seen carbon toilet bowls.

Brian

I got a quick tour of Ocean Planet when it finished construction at a local yard. I saw the carbon-fiber toilet! It may not have made that ultralight monster go any faster... but it was a way-cool touch!

Note that when I moved the water heater location forward to beneath the nav seat, this not only removed weight aft, but also saw the removal of the 3/4" shelf it formerly was mounted on and the 3/4" support panel stuck to the outside of the aft (head) hanging locker. While I still have the tank weight, it is a lot nearer the center of the boat.
The other big "heavy item in the wrong place" I found on our boat was the ferro-resonant charger (aka the 'hummer') mounted on the backside of the aft/head hanging locker molding, right under the forward lip of the seat hatch. Besides its ability to cook batteries, it was really heavy. When I put in the previously-mentioned Statpower 20, I moved it to the bulkhead (rear side) to the right of the galley oven support bracket.
FWIW, I had seen several O-34's and knew of the port list when we made out purchase. We just chalked it up to it being a low production model and no one ever re-calculating the effect of so much more "furniture" being installed port side aft. The Ericson policy of using heavy plywood panels for a lot of tabbed-in trimout stuff further exacerbated the problem. Oh well, at least it's all structural and the panel material quality is first-rate.

Cheers,
Loren

 

[Loren Beach]

Progress and a new Question

Now that the holiday daze has calmed, and the hard freeze has ratcheted back to the usual miserable 38 degrees and showers.... work has moved forward on the aft tank replacement project.

All the old tabbing that held the heavy plywood surrounds is chiseled away from the bilge. I have a good mock-up done for a new 23 gallon tank shape that has a much smaller footprint than the former odd shaped rotomolded tank.
I have a bid back for a new tank in SS, but it looks like a non-starter due to weight -- the fab shop sez it will come in at about 65#. That's way way too much tare weight for this weight-sensitive part of the boat.

Ronco Plastics has my new drawing and is expected to get back to me soon with the bid for a custom rotomolded tank. Since the old 22 gallon Ronco tank actually weighs about 22#, my intuition is that this is the best technology for this application.
If their bid is too expensive, they do have a good fit for this in an 18 gallon rectangular tank (model B369). The custom tank is worth some extra $$, IMHO, because when out cruising no one ever needs less water!

Some may scoff, but when we put in that 38 gallon ss tank under the starboard settee to replace the old 22 gallon factory tank it made our two week vacations immeasurably better. One of the best $700. expenditures ever made for our speedy little "second home."

There is a sort of reluctant "plan c." Although the Admiral would prefer a ready-made solution, I could fab up one in cored glass and epoxy. Maybe.
Anyone here ever do this? If so what would be proper schedule for layup? Did you have "taste" issues with the water??

Edit: Photos of the laz. area with mock-up in position, showing how much space can be gained over the footprint of the former tank framing. Note that the long heavy shelf is temporarily gone leaving only the tabbed-in support. Replacement will be honeycomb panel. That 3" vent hose is gonna get rerouted, too.

Thanks,
Loren

 

[brianb00]

Water Tank

Hi Loren, thanks for the photos of what your up to. That shot is looking toward the stern ? And the grey tank is the grey water tank ? And finally the cut plywood in the upper right is where you cut away the shelf ?

Just trying to calibrate what your doing. Are you going to vacuum bag your own honeycomb panels ? I was aboard Rage, also built at the same shop as Ocean Planet. and the builder (name forgotten) showed me several of the floor boards and shelving, all honey comb and very light weight. Great idea.

Brian

 

[Loren Beach]

Hi Loren, thanks for the photos of what your up to. That shot is looking toward the stern ? And the grey tank is the grey water tank ? And finally the cut plywood in the upper right is where you cut away the shelf ?

Just trying to calibrate what your doing. Are you going to vacuum bag your own honeycomb panels ? I was aboard Rage, also built at the same shop as Ocean Planet. and the builder (name forgotten) showed me several of the floor boards and shelving, all honey comb and very light weight. Great idea
Brian

The first shot is looking down past the holding tank while standing on the seat. The second shot is holding the camera looking aft from just under the forward lip of the seat. And the plywood brace is the one under the long shelf. That was the heavy shelf that is getting replaced by honeycomb. I have made some small panels out of raw Hexell material, but most of my panels are scrap purchased from the former Boeing Surplus Store up near Kent WA. They used to sell pieces for $.50 to $1. a pound.
What with the boat being heavy on the port side, first thing we did was replace all the interior flat access pieces with this stuff in the 90's and get rid of a lot of solid plywood. Lose a pound here, two pounds there, it slowly adds (subtracts?) up. :nerd:

Here is another shot looking straight at the underside of the deck, and you can see where the shelf was sawn out. Nasty job, that. Also, you might notice that I cut away part of the support piece long time ago, because it was so hard to get down into that area to crawl back and work on stuff in the stern. (It's true you know: you can never be too thin - or too rich - to work on a boat.)


Best,
Loren