Water tank storage locker

[timflan]

The water tank was almost empty, so I decided to empty it and run some water through it today. I wanted to get a better view of it, so I opened up the seat/locker that contains the tank.

There is a big piece of plywood installed over the water tank, and it closes off a chunk of potentially useful storage space. My questions:

Why is this plywood there at all? To protect it from puncture or abrasion that might occur if hard/sharp items were stored in that locker? To keep the tank in place in case the boat turns upside down, maybe? Those are the only explantions I can think of.

Can I remove it? Well, I already did. And I'm tempted to leave it out. The question is really: Do I need to put it back?

Has anyone modified this plywood? I'm thinking of cutting away the section nearest the hull, in order to gain access to this little cubby between the water tank and the hull. Then it would serve whatever its original purpose way, but I would gain a bit of storage.

Thanks, as usual!

[Alasgun]

As long as you don't put anything in there that would abrade the tank and possibly cause a leak later!
Mike

[thataway]

In our C Dory 22, the plywood was right on top of the water tank--so there was about 5" of storage under the seat, above the tank. Soft items could slip down the side (like a sun shower). Definately some more storage there.

[MOOSE]

I took out that piece of plywood and built a drawer to fit over the water tank. See pics in the MOOSE album. And yes, we find the extra storage space between the tank and the hull excellent for storing wine bottles and potatoes!
Al

[Not For Hire]

Tim,
Not my idea, copied from other Brats, but what I did was cut about five inches off the plywood cover piece closest to the hull. The cut off remnant I reattached to the plywood cover pointing down at a 90 deg. angle. This gives access to the storage space closest to the hull but still protects the tank.

Others have removed the 20 gallon tank and installed a flat six gallon tank. That gains several more inches of storage.

Regards,

Mark

[mikeporterinmd]

I mounted my battery charger and 120V panel in this area. It's a good spot for
these types of devices. There is some free area that I may use for something
special. Perhaps I'll make a small box for my softsided tool bag. Something soft
could definately fit between the hull and the tank. There is some advantage to
storing stuff in there and blocking off access to the area down the sides of the tank.
Small things can drop into this space and slide towards to the center. Hard to
retrieve. And now that I have all sorts of wiring on top of the tank, it is annoying
to remove the Decraguard over the tank.

Mike

[416rigby]

I'm the one that swapped the 20 gallon factory tank for a 6 gallon one...much more storage space and we just don't use all that much water. The room you gain is significant...we store all kinds of stuff in there now.

Rick

[Sea Wolf]

Ri9ck-

Good idea for the 20 to 6 gallon switcheroo! (At least if it works for you!)

One could put a full 20 or even 30 gallon tank under the v-berth (a-la Red Fox) and get the whole area under the seat for storage.

For anyone looking for more storage area, the space along the hull under the table and between the seats can be walled off with plywood or teak framing and hold quite a bit.

All of this reminds me that there's also that footlocker space under the table floor, too. Ought to check mine, don't even remember what's down there besides the flares, rockets and other signal stuff that is outdated several times over (inland lake lacadaisical lack of attention). The under table rug puts it out of sight, out of mind, and out of find! Probably ='s poor seamanship.



Joe.