My sincere apologies for the long time to get back to you.
The tankage was all steel including the black water, and as you mentioned easy access beneath the cabin sole which was teak and holly. We redid the teak deck, replaced the plywood sections which were rotted and never looked back! The center cockpit was roomy and safe. We cruised her to Mexico several times from San Diego Got the sh*t scared out of us north of Cedros Island when I waited too long to reef the main. We had a Mk1 which was a non-cored glass hull and very strong. I put in one through hull and the hull was over 2” thick at the turn of the bilge. I believe the difference between the Mk1 and later models was the aft window configuration but other than that much the same vessel. I would certainly recommend her for a family or couple to cruise aboard. We lived aboard her in San Diego then moved aboard a DeFever 54 after our last trip to Mexico. Hope this belated note helps you in your decision making.
Phil

Hi Phil,
I'm looking for our next bluewater cruising boat and a Transpac49 is on my short list.
I'm looking for input from someone who's "been through" one.

Can you give me any info on construction details, differences between MK1 and MK2 models, what to look out for (aside from the obvious teak deck concerns).
Are decks cored? If so, with what?
Is hull cored? If so, where and with what?
It seems tankage is all under the salon sole. What material was used, and are they removable/replaceable without deconstructing the whole interior?

I've been searching far and with for any original documentation, brochures, construction drawings, layup schedule, etc, but have found very little info - mostly just a lot of brokerage ad history of sold boats.

Kind regards,
Pete Schmidt
Bellingham, WA