Maidan voyage

[waynemonastra]

Hi everyone from NZ

well as you all know I have been on my boat for a week now and so far so good., I had a day off work today ( mon) and being the only day off in about 7 weeks I wasnt going to waste it.

I put my boat into the water early this morning and decided to go sailing.

apart from a few problems getting the motor started it went really well, and i even had the local coast guard watching me in there clubhouse windows so i felt xtra safe.
the weather wasnt the greatest for a first trip but i was really wanting to go sailing, the wind was about 15knots and we had only a main up and sailed to the entrance to our habour, Man what a great feeling it is to be on the water again, it has been a long time.

I thought that i didnt want to push my luck and have a jib up as well as the boat is still new ( to me ) and i wanted tio get used to it first, and I had the whole day so i took it easy.
I think that was a good move, as as i was gettnig closer to the entrance the waves were getting higher and coming over the bow alot more quickly.

so I turned to the boat around and had great fast downwind ride back to the marina.
I think I judged it right bout coming back cause as i was pulling into the marina the coast gaurd were towing another small boat sailer in who had capsized.

I took some great photos and will down load then as soon as i can for you all to see.

Now one problem you may be able to help me with. I filled up the onboard water tanks this morning so we could stop and make a coffee and have lunch, when i filled up the tank i went back into the cabin to find the dinette seat covers wet, for some reason the overflow/Breather ( which are under the seats) comes up from the tank and into the cabin it sits hiden behind the stereo, can someone please tell me why?? and is this normal (I hope not) and how do I fix it?? we want to get into more sailing over the next few months and dont want to have to cut back on the amount of water we carry just so it wont over flow all over the cabin.

So the day I thought went really well and It is truly a shame im back at work tommrow otherwise i would go out then as well.

any help will be great

cheers

Wayne

[GordMay]

No, this isn’t a normal nor recommended water tank vent (overflow breather) installation.
According to ABYC Section H-23.7.4.2.1 the tank ”shall be vented overboard”.

Notwithstanding, for an alternate opinion, see:
“Tank Vents: Keeping Fuel and Water Clean”
http://www.practical-sailor.com/news...5tankvents.pdf

[waynemonastra]

Hi Gordmay

Thanks for the website address, I will print the info off shortly and take it make down to the boat in the morning and see if i can try anfix the problem.

Wayne

[GordMay]

If venting overboard, as per recommended practice - form a gooseneck in the vent line above (higher than) the vent fitting, to prevent seawater from back flooding to the tank.

Non-compliant Interior Water Tank Venting:

A vent must open to the atmosphere, at a higher elevation than the (heeled) tank it serves . To drain the vent, directly to your bilge (preventing water damage to interior furnishings), you might consider:
1. Run the vent hose as high as possible (gooseneck higher than deck fill) then turn down towards bilge ...
2. Continue the hose down, to a point above the top of tank level ...
3. Slice off the upper half (at point 2) of the hose, and continue with ½ hose, down to bilge level.

The point at which you begin your “slice” will be the higher elevation opening, and the sliced “half-hose” will act as a gutter or trough, containing & directing any drainage to the bilge.

[DeepFrz]

Somewhere I saw a neat solution. They ran the vent hose up inside of a stanchion about 12" or so and then drilled some holes in a vertical line down near the bottom of the stanchion. The stanchion had a steel brace on the inside, higher than the top vent hole, so the holes didn't weaken the stanchion. Just make sure that everything is sealed properly at the deck, that the holes provide the necessary vent area and it should be an excellant solution to the problem. Actually, you could put the vent hose up as high as you want inside the stanchion.

Phil

[Alan Wheeler]

Great to hear things are going so well Wayne.
I would have to say that what you found is actually more normal than you would like to think I had exactly the same issue on my boat. Is it the right thing to o, Absolutely NOT. We lost several hundred dollars worth of food because some twit terminated the tank breather under the settee. It ran down the seating and down into our dry food storage area. It took me ages to work out how the fact a sealed box in the seating could fill with water. Oh well.
I took the breather up with the cables running up the mast. Deck stepped mast, so they run up the inside of a cabinet and through a deck termination box and then I branced it out and cut it through the deck connected a low profile tank breather that has like a mini dorade box built in. It stops salt water going back down and still allows air in and out.

[delmarrey]

Some vent tubes are used as over-flows. Some of the larger boats have a deck/hull fitting where a garden hose is attached. This allows the air to escape while the tanks are filling. And if one happens to over fill, the excess comes out the vent hole. This is where a thruhull fitting would be necessary, normally placed just under the rubrail close to the fill fitting........................_/)