Extra water on the TomCat

D

Dreamer

New member
With the promise of some nicer weather, I pulled the boat over to my house today and started one of my Winter projects. We like to anchor out for 3-4 days at a time but still like a nice hot shower in the AM. The Honda 2000i generator takes care of the "hot" part but the water gets pretty scarce after a couple of days.

I originally thought of cutting out the floor of the compartment under the first mates feet, where we store pots and pans.
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After emptying that compartment, I looked into the next area aft of that where the refrigerator lives. The refrigerator sits on a raised panel. Could there be an access under that panel?
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I removed the refrigerator and lifted the panel. No access hole, but there could be! And it would be larger than the original area.So, undaunted by power tools, I drilled and sawed away.
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After checking out the clearance, the hole got bigger.
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The area under the floor is huge. Illegal aliens could be hidden there! :wink: The tank that will fit down the hole, however, is about 20 gallons. Janet made me a cardboard mock up of the tank and we tried a test fit. More cutting is involved with a sawzall tomorrow.

As an aside, I noticed the fuel tank had shifted and is hard against the outer hull wall. It is also 3" aft of the mounting cushions. Reason? No hold downs whatsoever on the tank. It just sits in there! :crook Of course it is now held in place by 450# of fuel. So if i ever get the fuel low enough, I'll get in there and reinstall the rubber mounts and try to figure out a way to secure the tank.

When I'm sure of the tank size, I will post the part # and dimensions.
 
The amount of space in the sponsons is quite remarkable. In the forward area I can crawl in and close the cover no problem (I'm 6' tall). That's where I stow dive gear (not tanks) for longer cruises.

Sorry to hear about your loose tank.

What are your plans to support the fridge floor?
 
Good going, Roger. I kind of tuned out though at the "undaunted by power tools" part...I actually have a couple of power tool projects in mind but I am still daunted!
 
Day 2 of this project. I measured the angles of the hull and cut a test piece. 25 degrees outboard, 20 degrees inboard. :?
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I then cut a permanent shelf from Decraguard and set it in place.
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With it in place I again made sure the mock up tank would fit.
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Success! :teeth Vacuumed the area, pressure washed and left a heater going to dry it out. I'll seal the exposed plywood with epoxy before bonding the shelf to the hull.

I ordered the 20 gallon tank # B231 from Plasticmart.com
It measures 28.25" long, 14.5" wide and 11.5" high. $256 delivered. The Jabsco 2.9 GPM pump is coming from Northern Marine and all the hardware is from Fisheries supply. I'm on to other tasks as I wait for parts.

Roger
 
So Roger, why the second pump? Are the two systems seperate, closed off w/ a ball valve or similiar? What's your plan for "repairing" the bottom of the cabinet; a hatch of some type, I assume? Water is the one limit on these boats and an extra 20 gallons would be nice. I've resorted to a 5 gallon plastic jerry-can but it's just one more thing in the boat/cockpit. :roll: Since I'm cutting into the space under the berth that'd be a nice place for a tank. :idea:
 
Mark,

Each tank will have a pump and a one way valve downstream. Whichever pump is activated will be the system in use. It lets me drain the Starboard tank first to level the boat and also provides some redundancy in case one pump fails.

I have a drop in bottom prepared for the cabinet with a 29" X 23 7/8" floor and a 15" X 23 7/8" block for the fridge. 3 batts under the floor panel will give back the strength that was cut out. All raw edges are now curing after an epoxy coating.

Now I'll be excited every time the UPS guy drives up the street until it all gets here! :shock:

Roger
 
Great project. I had ordered two water tanks on my Tom Cat--they just forgot to put the second tank in place, so it arrived separtly. I still have it out of the boat. But remember that some of the boats have the water tank on the port side and some on the Stb side. The areas available are equal. A Fein, or Demel saw can make a close cut to the sides if a larger access is necessary.

I'll have to check my port tank, but last I checked (there is an access board over it) it was still in place.
 
Hi Bob,

I enlarged the hole this AM with a Sawzall. I don't think a Dremmel would do the job. I ruined 5 Bosch blades with the original hole and one Sawzall blade today! :smileo The two Gelcoat layers and Balsa core are pretty tough.

Nice to hear from you!

Roger
 
The tool I am speaking of is not the small rotary Dremel tool, but the recpricoting saw blade as used on the Fein tool--which does well on glass. You can cut almost right up to the hull side with the Fein blade. I have done a lot of fiberglass cutting--including removing the entire transom of my Cal 46--almost an inch thick solid glass. I found that bimetal blades or carbide blades worked the best in heavy glass. There is no question that it is not easy to cut.

I am looking forward to seeing the completion of your project--and it may get me going on mine! The mock up is a great idea.
 
While we're on the topic of saws - what do you think about the spiral cut saws such as the RotoZip or similar? I bought a RotoZip this week thinking that it would be easier to use for small freehand cut than a saber saw but it was not. Admittedly, I've only got about 10mins with a RotoZip in my hands but so far, I'm not impressed (not surprisingly, it's not near as easy as what I saw on TV).
 
Roger,

I haven't used the Roto-Zip but know that any handheld tool with a rotating cutter is going to be hard to control. I have a small Ryobi router type formica trimmer and it's not for freehand work :smilep

My Bosch reciprocating saw (Sabre Saw) with a small jig saw blade is another story. Very easy to handle and follow patterns.
 
Roger - the problem I have with reciprocating saws on thick materials is that the bottom of the blade tends to wander a bit. E.g. it can be very hard to get cuts that are perpendicular to the surface when cutting thick materials. With the rotozip (or my router) I can get great cuts that are perpendicular from top to bottom, but in order to get straight cuts, I have to clamp down a straight edge to follow. I was hoping the rotozip would allow me to do the free hand work with the ease of a saber saw but with the benefit of the perpendicular cut afforded by a stiffer spiral saw.
 
On thick materials the thin "Rotozip" blade can bend and snap. Be careful. I've used one only on drywall and it worked fine, but there's a big difference between 1/2" sheetrock and fiberglass laminated wood. I think I'd stick w/ a jigsaw or sawzall. JMHO.
 
Today was the day to lay the shelf for the new tank in place permanently. With that done, the dehumidifier / heater was left in the area to help with curing.
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There were two access ports already in place that I used to route the water hose and 12v wiring.
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I finished up the floor for the refrigerator compartment and dropped it in for a test fit.
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Hardware arrived today from Fisheries, still waiting for pump and tank.

 
I have been using the roto zip for a number of years--but it is definately difficult to control. You have to go very slowly--and with a template it is much easier. For straight lines, I still use the jigsaw, or a Fein tool. For some circules bigger than my largest hole saw, then the rotozip.
 
Today, with all the necessary parts in hand and a friends help, I finished up the water tank project. We dropped the tank in for a test fit. Perfect!
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While the chocks were setting up, we cut the holes for the vent and fill pipe.
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The pump, wiring and hose connections came next.
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Moving to the Starboard side, the one way valve and Tee were added to the existing "basket of snakes" :disgust
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If any TC-255 owners want to do this, I have put together a parts list with sku numbers from Fisheries Supply. Not surprisingly, it cost more than I estimated! :shock: $511
Roger
 
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