Replacing Catalina 34 Diesel Fuel Tank. part 3

We have our new Tank

Roland from Carr Enterprises called on Monday advising that our tank should be ready on Wednesday Morning, so we booked a hotel in St. Pete FL for Wednesday night - it's a 4.5hour drive from our house.

Tuesday, he called again, confirming it's ready.

We headed out of the house at 8am, stopped to fill up gas and sandwiches then on the road. We arrived at his business address around 2:15. The new tank was waiting on a dolly and sure looked good!

The old tank is bare Aluminum, the new tank is painted with Black Epoxy. The welds on the new tank are really good. The tank was pressure tested to 4psi.

Note the Earthing strap on the aft top end of the new tank is much beefier than the old tank.

Also, the vent outlet on the new tank is a brass elbow fitting compared to the old tank with it's bent vent tube.

Everything about the new tank is an upgrade. Really pleased.

Today I'm going down to the boat and a final cleaning of the Inside of the hull, remove the old fuel hose ( to replace it as the old is probably infected with diesel bug).

I stopped at ACE Hardware and purchased the fittings to connect the new tank to the originals. Basically two 3/8" to 1/4" brass connectors. Took about 10 minutes to find them but all's good, they are ready to install.

I'll be able to install the tank on Monday. WM did not have the new fuel hose in stock, but it is available online. I'll order that 3/8" hose and the new propane connecting hose for the other project in progress right now.

All of the new fittings are installed using PTFE tape.

Right now the tank is ready to install. Not difficult, I anticipate going to the Boat on Monday morning to do the install.

I do want to put a strap to hold the aft end of the tank down to the supporting shelf, the front end has a mounting brace should be easy using a right angled electric screw driver.

About Carr Enterprises

From the outset - I'm not sponsored in any way by Roland or Carr Enterprises - I typically review the companies that I use in regard to projects on Eximius.

We had the option to ship the new tank from St. Petersburg Florida to our home in Margate Florida or drive over there, about a four and half hour drive. Shipping would be cheaper because I'm 76 and did not look forward to driving there and back in one day so the journey had to include an overnight and that was about $300 and we had used up a lot of our travel points during our trip to see our granddaughter's skating event, so this was an actual expense. But it also had the benefit of giving us a date night in St. Pete, worth it!

Ok, back to Carr Enterprises. The business was actually much bigger than I expected. Looking at Google Maps and digging into the location, I thought it was going to be a small Mom-n-Pop business. I got that wrong!  The facade does not give a clue about what is inside. 

They have several machines about this size that can do all sorts of metalwork, mostly on aluminum but also Stainless Steel, our tank was a small job for them. Their welding area can handle it all. 

While Roland gave me the tour, he showed several tanks that were being made for the Coast Guard, they did not have tops on the tanks. Apparently, the CG have to inspect the tanks prior to them being closed up. They pressure test all of the tanks to ensure no leaks - pretty important!

The employees all seemed to be busy and that is a good sign in today's environment.

Roland was really helpful when it came to the design of our tank. I provided the dimensions and he spotted a mistake which I checked and corrected. He also commented on some features such as the Diesel Return tube is best if it runs to the bottom of the tank ( our old tank had no tube in the Diesel Return fitting ) as this would reduce aeration of the fuel, that sounds good to me. Also the grounding wire connections would be more substantial ( our old tank had skinny grounding tabs), again this sounded good. Roland also asked me to confirm the sizes of the hose connections. I did, they were correct and he would ensure the new tank had the same size connections which would ensure we did not have to make any adjustments on the boat.  

Finally, Roland suggested I consider the Black Epoxy coating ( after an acid wash ) for the entire tank. I would like to think that the boat will last for another 38 years then I think the extra tank protection is worth it, even if I would hit the 100 trip around the sun before then. So I went with the Epoxy coating.

The tank is made from 1/8" ( 0.125" ) aluminum.

I'll hold off posting this till the tank is installed. 

The label is on the top of the tank, I'm hoping I never get to see that label again and took the photo just so that I do not have to remove the tank in order to see that label.

One thing that Roland did advise was that the Return hose connection is normally 3/8" ID but Eximius has a 1/4" ID hose connection, and that I would need to get an adaptor. I did, a quick visit to ACE Hardware provided me the exact item. Here it is installed.

The quality of the tank looks to be excellent. Roland did say that he used to make a lot of tanks for Catalina Yachts, but not anymore. We all know why! ( Catalina Yachts is effectively history at this point - but perhaps that will change )

I'm very impressed by the facility and the people that work there. Roland told me that he makes tanks for all types of businesses as well as for the Marine industry. My experience with him and Carr Enterprises has been outstanding.

The tank included a new Fuel Sending unit. I'm not sure if it will calibrate to our existing fuel gauge on the engine control panel, so I'll add the first few gallons of fuel to the new, empty tank, gradually so that we know how many gallons are left in the tank when the gauge stops indicating 'E' ( empty ) and we'll also note the volume of fuel added at each step on the fuel gauge.

One difference that I'm going to implement on the new tank is the provision of a Terminal block for the fuel sender wiring. At present, I have to cut the wiring in order to remove the tank. Again, I hope never to have to remove the tank again, but if I do, then I would rather not cut the wires. So a simple terminal block with ring terminals on each of the two wires will avoid that.

The wiring is simple.

Fuel sender has two wires: Black - Ground and White - Positive for the fuel gauge.

The terminal block is held to the side of the tank by 3M VHB Double sided tape. 

The new hose for the fuel tank to the fuel filter / water separator has not arrived yet. But I was able to complete the wiring for the fuel sender / gauge connection. The Terminal block is mounted to the top of the tank with some 3M VHB double sided tape. Worked great and there is sufficient room above the terminal block to be able to use a stubby screw driver to reach the terminal block connecting screws.

Cross that one off the list.

The new hose should arrive on the 17/18th. Finger crossed they (WM shipper ) don't lose this one too.

Finally got the hose and installed it, well, on the tank end! The hose clamps had not arrived yet. But they did arrive on Sunday, so we're good to go for the final part on Monday.

Attach the new hose with the new hose clamps then start to pour fuel into the tank from 5 gallon cans. I'll put a gallon in then turn on the engine system so that the fuel pump works, we should see fuel enter the bottom of the fuel filter/water separator. Then we'll monitor the fuel gauge as we add more fuel. 

First Fill

New hose clamps installed, check tightened all of the hose fittings.

Turn the engine control system on and heard the fuel pump running. 

Watching the fuel gauge, I poured the first 5 gallons into the tank, the gauge barely moved off of Empty. Added a 2nd 5 gallons, as I poured it in, the fuel gauge moved up to almost the 1/4 Full mark.

While doing this I kept a watch on the water separation cup on the bottom of the Fuel Filter/Water Separation unit = nuttin! Let it run for a few minutes - nuttin! Duh! Turned the fuel cock to on at the top of the new fuel tank. Fuel quickly filled the filter unit.

I let the fuel pump run for 20 minutes, that should be plenty of time to bleed any air out of the fuel system. Next it was time to start the engine. It started 1st time. I let it run for another 20 minutes and it did without any issues. Shut everything down - done for the day. Back tomorrow to work on the Propane system completion.

At this point I feel confident that the updated fuel system is good to go. We'll add more fuel this week and keep track of the fuel level gauge status as we fill it.

NEXT DAY.

While down at the boat today, I ran the engine again for another 30 mins. All's good. Still need to add more fuel but for now I can mark this in the Done Column.

See you on the water. 

Paul

Fixing our Propane Hose!

Replacing our Propane Tank Hose.

The broken hose is really just an indicator of the health of our Propane System, so we decided to fix it.

Step one is to remove the Propane Tank Containers. Ours consists of two large GFP tubes to house the tanks and a third PVC tube that houses the Regulator and the Solenoid.

There's several butt joints in the Solenoid wiring inside that third tube and readers will know I detest multiple electrical wiring butt joints.

The 3rd tube is held onto the two larger tubes with 2 large stainless Steel hose clamps, but as I could not remove the regulator and solenoid without cutting the solenoid wires, I elected to remove the entire assembly.

• Remove the 9lb Propane tanks ( one was empty curtesy of the broken hose fitting ) 
• Cut the wires to the Solenoid inside the 3rd tube.
• Unscrew the 4 nuts on the lower mountings where they attach to the lower rail of the sternrail .
• Unscrew the 4 nuts that secure the stainless steel U bolts to the top rail and lift way the entire assembly.

Took a total of about an hour, most of that time was trying to keep a balance while holding the wrench and the fittings not wanting to drop anything in the water.

There's a lot less hardware on the stern now. I'll refinish the tubes and put it all back, cleaning the sternrail first.

Maybe it's me, but it sure seems that it's getting more uncomfortable moving around on the boat.

Not sure if you can see it, but the Swim ladder needs new steps, lower down on the priority list but they will get some TLC in the spring.

Upcoming projects:-

• Remove the broken Radar Reflector ( on the mast ) 
• Replace the Standing Rigging.
• Refit the Propane system ( with new hoses )
• New Dodger/Bimini and Bridge piece

Ok, with the tanks at home, it's time to refinish the containers.

I sanded down the containers with 80 grit and cleaned them with soapy water and then Acetone.

They look awful! But not very different than when they came off of the boat.

I decided to use Petite EZ-Poxy Modern Polyurethane Topside Paint, Med White.

It takes about 16 hours till re-coat time.

They are looking good after just one coat but I'll apply a second coat Saturday afternoon.

Still contemplating whether to paint the 3rd tube that contains the Regulator and the Solenoid.

Gave up trying to clean the PVC small tube, 1st coat of the Polyurethane is done as well as the 2nd coat on the larger tubes.

They are looking good, may not need additional coats.

Ok, now for the bigger issue!

When I removed the Regulator, Solenoid, and Pressure gauge from the smaller tube, I was surprised by the connection route. The Hose from the Propane tank was connected to the pressure gauge then the Regulator and then the Solenoid. The output from the solenoid is the supply line for the propane cooker in the cabin.

I thought that was wrong, so researched it ( yep, googled it ) and their does not appear to be an across the board correct route. However, google AI does suggest the best location is in the high pressure section of the plumbing. ie. closest to the tank connection.

So, I'm replumbing my setup so that route is: Propane Tank - Solenoid - Regulator - Pressure Gauge - Output to System. This would allow me to turn the gas off before the regulator so the gas flow is prevented closest to the tank within the restrictions that exist without exposing unnecessary hoses to possible damage from contact with other rigging on the boat, Lines, Fenders, etc. 

The plan is looking good. West Marine has advised that the new hose ( tank to solenoid ) is awaiting pickup and I have figured out what adapters I need to get from the local hardware store ( ACE ). I have my work set for this morning.

Ok, the propane system refurbishment is done.

Here's a pic of the modified Propane system before fitting into the Propane Housings.

It took 5 trips to the local ACE Hardware before the job was finished. Note the shiny new fittings. The old fittings were not compatible with the new layout ( the old had the gas flow from the top to the bottom. That's a new Regulator and new Solenoid and all new fittings except the lower T.

All ready for install on the boat.

The smaller tube houses the Propane control components. The refinished mounting looks a whole lot better.

I bolted the smaller tube to the large ones and eliminated the huge Stainless steel hose clamps that previously secured them together.

The whole system is temporarily mounted on a couple of pieces of 1" tubbing just to make sure everything fits.

I had a short piece of stainless steel 1" tubing but only one, so I used a piece of PVC tubing for the lower rail.

This worked out really well, enabling transporting the entire setup down to the boat.

At the boat it was pretty easy to remove the tubes and remount the assembly onto the rails over the transom.

Only one hitch - because the outlet of the tank system is now at the top of that lower, 3rd, tube, the hose from the boat to the cannisters is too short. 

I checked the routing of the hose inside of the aft lazarette, but it was originally installed pretty tight, no slack at all. So I'm just going to add an extra hose extension on the outside between the top of the boat and the connection at the tank assembly. EZ solution.

The new hose should arrive on Monday, we'll be down at the boat finishing off the Fuel tank project. So looks like we'll go to the boat both Monday to finish the fuel tank project and Tuesday to finish off the Propane project.   Knocking them out !

Of course, the next project is sitting on my work tables in the garage - new Standing Rigging.

Gotta keep busy, doing my stuff and work that brings in some money to help pay for all of this.

I'll post this on Tuesday, hopefully to report that the Propane system project is complete.

Quick update

Took the new hose to the boat this morning, totally screwed that up, neither end fits but not worth the cost of the return. I'll give it to the club's flea market in January.

Looking at it carefully ( always a good idea ) I realized I only needed to use a 6" nipple to the hose fittings on the exterior connection.  A short drive to ACE hardware and the helpful folks found a solution. Back to the boat and five minutes of boat yoga later, all done. Only thing left to do is put the Propane tanks in their holders and leak check. I'll go back to the boat in a couple of days to install the propane cannisters and complete a leak test before signing off on this project.

Stay tuned - I'll report the completion on this post.

See you on the water.

 

Replacing the Standing Rigging on our Catalina 34 Sailboat

Replacing the Standing Rigging.

Our biggest job on Eximius in the ten plus years we have owned her.

Eximius is insured by Geico - BoatUS and the policy is due to be renewed in May of 2026, they sent us a letter advising that we needed to have a Survey done before the renewal.  Our plan is to have the boat out for it's semi annual bottom refinish during a haul out in January 2026, so it sounds like a good time to get the Survey done, if not during the haul out then at least shortly after.

The Standing Rigging was inspected two years ago but has not been changed out during our ownership, and most rigging companies seem to suggest that standing rigging should be replaced around the 10th year. Our rigging still looks good but more on that later.

Having made the decision to replace the rigging, my first quote was from a local rigging company, they are 'the' company in South Florida, we had them do the inspection two years ago and we have purchased several running rigging products in the last 10 years, including replacement blocks for our halyards and reefing lines just a few months ago. Their quote was over $15,000. That did include un-stepping the mast, replacing the standing rigging, re-stepping the mast and tuning the rigging. The only additional cost would be the storage of the mast at the marina while the work was being done.

My next option to consider was Synthetic rigging which I really like. I have replaced all of the lifelines on Eximius with Dyneema, that was in 2017 - Eight years ago and they are still holding up. That was a full DIY job and was definitely not an expensive option.  The Quote from the Synthetic rigging company was for a DIY job but they would supply all of the rigging materials. That was just over $6,000 and quite honestly, I was sorely tempted to go that route. Among other things, we could carry a complete set of the standing rigging as spares and barely hit the total weight of the Stainless rigging.

Then I looked up the cost of a DIY job using replacement rigging from Catalina Direct - Wow!

The entire project was going to cost less than $4,000 including tax and shipping.

So, I spoke with Kevin at Catalina Direct to confirm I had put all of the bits needed into my cart at https://www.catalinadirect.com Then completed the order. The initial shipping for the order was $12, but I knew that was not the final number, it turned out to be $175. That brought the cost to $3,986.87. 

I placed the order on 12/10/2025 and it arrived this morning, Friday Dec 19th. WooHoo!

Time to plan the work.

Step 1: Check the inventory.

The order came in two boxes. I was impressed by the UPS driver whom did not seem to break a sweat bringing them to my door. Awkward to carry and quite heavy.

The contents were very well packaged and padded with both scrunched paper and bio-degradable chips. 

Each set of shrouds was packed inside of Large Ziplock bags and the smaller components inside an additional smaller zip lock bag.

Some of the shrouds were held together with plastic tie wraps but some were not. I was concerned about taking them out of the bags and not being able to get them back in. So I opened the bags and put my own tie wraps on the wires to stop them springing out of control when I pulled them out of the bags.

I took photos of each bag before unwrapping them in order to check that each had the correct kit of pieces - Turnbuckles, T-Bolts, Compression Fittings, etc.

Everything was fine except the Forestay package. The kit should have included a  compression fitting for the top of the stay, but instead, there was a small T-bolt fitting. Thank goodness it was not a wrong shroud.

I called Kevin at Catalina Direct, he asked me to take pictures of the kit and send them. I already had the pics so I sent them while he was on the phone. 

The good news is that the Forestay is the last item on the plan for the Standing rigging job. So a few days waiting for the shipment of the correct fitting is no big deal at all.  It does prove that it's always worth checking the received items as soon as possible when an order arrives.

Ok, moving on.

The instructions for making the Compression fittings are pretty clear - Here's a link to the instructions.

Basically, I have to remove the shroud/stay, lay it on the dock alongside the new wire and fittings. Cut the new wire to fit and make up the compression fitting.

Generally, the plan is to replace one shroud/stay at a time. 

• Secure the mast with an extra line from the mast head to the deck 
• Ease the Turnbuckle at the foot of the shroud/stay 
• Climb the mast and release the shroud then lower it to the deck, descend back to the deck 
• Disconnect the lower end of the shroud to the chainplate.
• Lay the shroud/stay on the dock and mark the new one to the correct length
• Cut the new shroud/stay and make up the compression fitting
• Ascend the mast and hoist the new shroud/stay and replace it
• Back on deck tighten the shroud.

I have a Spinlock Rig Sense tensioner, so I'll take note the tension before removing the old and after installing the new.

To climb the mast I'll be using our 'Mast Mate' mast climbing ladder which should speed things a lot compared to having to use ascenders to climb the mast.

It might work out that the lower shrouds can be replaced in pairs but I don't think I'll risk changing out both mast head shrouds at the same time. So the job will involve as many  as 7 trips up the mast not including the forestay, so perhaps eight all together.

That's the plan. I hope Peggy will be on hand to man the safety winch line and to take pictures and videos.

We're planning on a trip to Lake Boca for the New Year's Eve cruise, so more important is to complete the Diesel Fuel Tank install.  Waiting on some hose clamps, should arrive today  ( 12/20/2025), but I have some I could use temporarily if the new ones are late. So I should be able to complete the fuel tank on Monday 12/22. Just need to get the Diesel cans full and finish the job.

Part two of this post should be the start of the re-rigging. Tuesday??

See you on the water.

UPDATE - December 22 2025

While down at the boat working on the other couple of projects, I pulled the mainsail off of the mast and left it tucked inside the Cradle Cover ( stack pack ) with the intent of raising the Mast Mate.

Snag! The Mast Mate was used and the original buyers must have selected a skinny sail slug set, much too narrow for our Catalina 34. Checking with the Mast Mate company online, I found the correct sails slugs for our mast, they should be here within a week.

Minor delay, and we do have Christmas to get past.

Stay tuned as always.

I welcome you comments.

Still planning to see  you on the water ( for the new year's eve cruise )

Paul

Replacing Catalina 34 Diesel Fuel Tank. part 2

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