Here is an overall shot of the 4 tanks all nice and brilliant white inside. The blue at the edges is blue painters tape to keep the epoxy paint off the fiberglass where I want to attach the tops with polyester resin and fiberglass. The epoxy adheres really well to the cured polyester resin, but the polyester resin will not adhere to the cured epoxy.
They look a lot bigger in white. I calculate the forward center-line tank to hold about 115 gallons, it is almost 36" deep at the forward end. Each side tank is about 135 gallons, and the upper center-line tank should hold about 100 gallons. Total tankage is 485 gallons, enough for a few days....depends who's showering.
Port side tank looking forward. You can see all the baffles with the newly cut holes to relieve the pressure on the baffles from the water sloshing forward and aft. The idea of the baffles is to slow the water down so it does not build up momentum like a wave does. This is only a problem when the tanks are not completely full.
Forward center tank looking aft. The finish really came out very smooth with no little recesses or crevices to trap dirt.
I found this Sherwin-Williams Macro-Poxy 646PW which is specially formulated for potable water tank linings. It is a 1 to 1 ratio 2-part mixture which uses Zylene as a thinner. Definitely a full respirator and fans operation. Went on really well with a 6" x 1/4" nap slim roller and a brush for the corners. I put 2 coats on just to be sure. A small hand mirror worked well to see all the undersides of the baffle tops as well as down into the "pit" at the forward end of the lower center tank.
Upper center tank. This is the one that rises up through the cabin sole to just under the center-line bunk. There will be banks of drawers under the bunk on 3 sides. The rudder post and steering ram reside under the head of the bunk which is at the aft end of the cabin. You can see the "weep" holes at the bottom center and at each lower corner of the baffle. There is only 1 lift tube per tank located at the lowest point in the tank. The weep holes allow all the water to drain from the other compartments of the tank to the lift tube.
OK last shot of the tanks. This is the starboard tank looking forward. This really is a big mile stone for me. I was beginning to think I would never get out of sander hell. But all the work seems to have paid off in a really smooth finish. Hopefully one that will last a long time. It will not be easy to remove the tops to redo this paint work.
My plan is to fill the tanks with water before putting the tops on permanently just to make sure there are no leaks.....
Now on to the access openings in the tops.
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