Replacement Tank for our Catalina 34
I was suffering from sticker shock on the price of the new off the shelf tank and wondered if I could find a manufacturer that could make one that fit for less than the sticker shock of the OEM tank.
None of the other custom tank companies replied to my email request for a quote until I reached out to Carr Enterprises in St. Pete Florida. Roland replied the next morning ( before my coffee ) and the initial cost was $750 with an option to have a black epoxy covering on the outside of the tank to reduce the risk of corrosion.
Searching for negative reviews of the company I could not find one! But dozens of positive reviews and one of them was for a Catalina 36 ( which has a very similar tank design ), so I dug a bit deeper. Roland had noted a discrepancy in the dimensions I had supplied, that's a good sign, it shows he actually looked at the drawing in detail.
I ordered the tank on Thursday Nov 13th from Carr Enterprises in St Petersburg Florida. Roland was very helpful walking me through the details. He will install the Ground Tab closer to the aft end of the top of the tank and the fill tube will turn down towards the bottom of the tank to reduce aeration of the fuel, although not likely to be an issue as we always fill the tank using external diesel cans and a jiggly siphon, very low flow rate.
They have an optional coating on the exterior of the tank, a black epoxy, which should reduce the chance of corrosion.
The Fwd end of the tank is secured with a Tab at the bottom edge of the tank there is no securing device on the aft end of the tank, our existing tank is held in place by the fuel fill tube. So I'm going to add a strap from the shelf over the back of the tank and down the stbd side of the tank with an attachment back on the shelf. Belt and braces.
Roland said it should be ready in about 14 days, that would be Nov 27th. We plan to drive over to St. Pete to pickup the tank. It's a 5 hour trip there so we'll stay overnight most likely December 1st after the Thanksgiving weekend. Carr Enterprises do not open on Fridays.
Ok, back on hold but can get the clean up done and order the new hoses.
Update 12/2/2025.
Making progress: Roland from Carrs Enterprises called, the tank should be ready for pickup on Wednesday morning. We have booked a hotel for Wednesday night. The plan is to leave here 8ish Wednesday, head down to I75 via the Sawgrass Expressway, cross over alligator ally then head North to Pensacola. We should be there by 1pm, pickup the tank, take a break then go and visit Park Bay (??). A mid-day start home on Thursday, back here for our sailing club's board meeting ( Peggy is a Director ) at 7pm. I'll take a slew of pics of their facility just for interest.
More later.
Paul
