A good bit of progress in the last week or two with the boat. Spent some time with my mom getting details hammered out for the window curtains she’s going to make for me. Hanging curtains on a boat is a little tricky, but we think we’ve found the materials necessary to make it work.
This company called Sailrite sells C-tracks that screw or glue to the cabin roof. Then there are these little studs you sew into the curtains that slide on the C-track. It’s similar stuff to what was already on several of the windows, so I think it should work well.
I spent several hours reading through the Whitby-Brewer owners group forums and blogs like the Incredible Hull, Bombora, and Windtraveler. These are all great resources for Whitby/Brewer boat owners.
Reading through the forums has been extremely valuable. I feel like I know so much more about the things that have gone wrong on others’ boats and what to look for and expect on mine.
One of the biggest issues that I’m going to have to deal with sooner or later is the keel fuel tank. Basically it sounds like they took a giant aluminum fuel tank and foamed it into the very bottom of the boat before installing the engine & everything else on top of it.
Problem is, over time, water gets in the bilge around this tank, sometimes causing corrosion & ultimately fuel leaks. The water gets in there in such a way that the bilge pumps can’t reach it, so it just sits there.
I don’t know for sure yet if this has happened to my keel tank, but I have a really good feeling that it has. My boat has a smell. It’s not an extremely offensive smell…you don’t even notice it after a few minutes. But it’s a smell that I think has a very good chance of being caused by old musty bilge water.
So there’s that.
It sounds like several owners have just taken this fuel tank out of commission…they just don’t use it anymore. This seems like a great temporary solution since the boat has 2 other fuel tanks and can still carry 80 or so gallons of fuel even without the keel tank.
The ultimate answer though is to cut the tank out and build or install a new one. Exciting.
In my recent research I have also been able to make two super-cool connections. One is Bob Smith of American Diesel Corp. He was basically the architect for my engine and he still teaches a two-day seminar on how to care for Ford Lehman Diesels twice a year. The next one is in May, and I’m hoping to be there.
The second contact I made was to Mr. Ted Brewer himself. The guy who designed my boat. The guy who the boat is named after. He does this really cool thing where for less than $150 he’ll send you a complete set of design prints for your boat and also consult & give you advice for as long as you own it.
Cool stuff.