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The new owner of a B35 had his boat shipped crosscountry. When the boat arrived on the West Coast he found that an aluminum gas tank, built and installed less than a year ago, had failed catastrophically, and, having been filled by the yard before shipment, there was aprox. 250 gal of gasoline in the bilge.

I hesitate in posting this here because of my concerns about liability (maybe I am being overly paranoid), however on the other hand I know many of you have installed or are considering the installation of new gas tanks. This certainly points toward being sure your tank fabricator is qualified and proven, and your tank is installed properly.

I welcome your comments after you read the post on the B33 forum site...

http://www.bertram33.com/forum/topic.as ... 077&#12416

Scary!!!

Ditto Rawleigh!
I shipped my 27 Whaler from Venice LA to Virginia with full tanks and no problems. Seems like seas would be just as rough as the highway. Further, seems like improper welding, but much better to happen there than on the high seas with family and friends aboard.

My brother in law has run Marblehead Traders for the last 25 years. He said with the air cushioned trailers they use that the boats hardly get jostled around at all.

I think this owner was lucky it happened when it did.

Air cushioned or not the freight gets jostled around, but to a much lesser degree when on air, at least this is what my Rigger says. But whether it was air cushioned or not the tank should have never split at the seams. Either the fabricator or installer made some big mistakes, perhaps both.

My brother-in-law's point was that a boat gets more of a shaking while under way in normal condition than it does on the road.

Without details on the type of failure, its impossible to form any opinion on what or what not to do.

Just wait until you pull into the fuel dock with several drunk guys on board after a good day fishing and while you run to the marina head they decide to help you by fueling her up. As you walk back to the boat you notice the fuel nozel sticking out of a rod holder next to the gas filler and one of the idiots is holding it wide open watching the other two laughing and talking to some tourists and the fuel attendant.

You can not even imagiane the hell I went through dealing with 36 gallons of gas in the bilge and a very pissed off marina manager.

The reason no one was injured that day:

I heard the same question every time we came into a dock for fuel "Whats the first rule of fueling a boat Clay?" I would instantly answer "all systems OFF when fueling Captian" - thanks Dad.

Clay

Clay,
Why did you have to bring back such unpleasant memories? The only good thing was mine was diesel.

My dad had a an old custom built 25ft wooden speedboat that we redid for fishing. It had a big chrysler engine in it (can't remember exactly, maybe a 413 maxwedge?) When he started it in the back yard the neighbor called the fire department because she thought it blew up.Anyway, we had a brand new 40-50 gal alluminum tank and one day out on Long Island sound one of the bottom seams cracked (about 2 feet long) That was fun. The only saving grace was that we had 2 tanks and I don't think it was full, and of course gas was a lot cheaper back then.