I NEED ADVICE

[stokes]

Apologise,dont normaly shout but i need advice. Posted yesterday but rambled a bit and didnt make the point clear, I will try again. First boat, full survey, topped up with diesel and found the filler marked fuel.... was the fresh water filler and" water"was for fuel.This is going to be a costly business, is the Surveyer at fault or do I lay it at the door of the insurance company. Thanks, dejected and suicidal.

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[silverseal]

I have the same sized phosphor bronze filler system for both fuel and water, an so I think the previous owner may have swapped the filler caps by accident . I must say I would expect the surveyor to inspect both.. if the insurance company insisted on a full survey, at your expense, you could go to them with the facts and let them argue the toss with the surveyor. To make the system idiot proof, either change the filler caps for different sizes or paint them and the fitting around different colours.. dont feel too dejected I managed to put 60 litres of unleaded into my diesel car two months ago - no idea how it happened.. the good thing is that the resultant mixture seems to run fine in my Seagull 40 plus!

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[Sunnyseeker]

Personaly I wouldn't have said the surveyor was at fault as I have always assumed they are surveying the integrity of the vessel and its over all condition.
If on the other hand in nis survey he has stated with a diagram possibly that to stbd there is the water filler, then he should have checked that is what it was and as such would be liable.
But he may have included a disclaimer saying that his survey was only as a result of his observations and detailed inspection, where pipes wiring etc was hidden behind linings was not inspected. Check the small print, or if you're a member of the RYA they have a very helpfull legal team.
Not a nice way to start boat owning, but if your water tank has a large access hatch you may be able to clean that out and just replace the pipes, good luck
PS I'm not a lawyer but do my own conveyancing, and have worked as a consultant ensuring yacht repairs are carried out correctly by foriegn yards.


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[LORDNELSON]

I would think this is a claim against your insurance company because you will find it very difficult to prove WHEN the two caps were transposed.

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[simonfraser]

i agree with L nelson, prob a waste of your efforts trying to sue, spend your time sorting out the prob.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Suck it up, excuse pun.

Clean and replace

Do not do it again.

Learn from it.



<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>

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[Abigail]

Agreed that go to your insurance company - I can't believe the survey was that detailed and probably has disclaimers.

It could have been worse - suppose you had put water in the deisel!

<hr width=100% size=1>Sarah & Pip

www.greatlittleboats.com
UK & Ireland distributors of Swifgig

 

[TrueBlue]

No need to feel suicidal -

You didn't ask (apart from suing - never worthwhile in the end) how to rectify the situation.

Assuming you haven't yet resolved the problem, try a variation on the following:-

diesel fuel will sit above any water in your tank so, get yourself -

a cheap low voltage electric pump (I use s/h aircraft fuel pumps, but don't suppose they'll be available easily)
some appropriate plastic pipe
one two or more 205l ("35 gallon") drums
1. extract the fuel from the top of the tank - lowering the input pipe slowly down so that ony a few inches are actually in the liquid.
2. Check periodically that only fuel is being pumped into the tank - sample what is coming out of the pipe.
3. Pump the clean fuel into the fuel tank
4. Repeat 1,2,3 as necessary.

If you've been careful firstly you shouldn't have had any fuel spillage, secondly there won't be any water in your drums.

If there is some manky fluid left over, get some absorbant mat to soak up the diesel..

Cleaning your freshwater tank will be more of a problem, I guess you'll need to somehow, pressure wash the tank internally with detergent several times... DON't be tempted to use your onboard pump to remove the mess - use the pump you purchased.

Be careful and responsible when disposing of the residue.

The whole thing shouldn't cost too many arms and legs if you DIY, again don't do it that way if you are not confidant, or not in a position to avoid spillage into the environment.

You can purchase bolt on labels for some fillers which make more sense than caps which you can switch around.

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Stop what you're doing and wait my signal

 

[Stemar]

I suspect that getting the water out of the fuel tank and fuel out of the water tank will be a pain in the ...., but relatively straightforward. I agree with the suggestions made above. Some variation on a theme should work.

The near impossible bit may be to get the taint of diesel from the water tank. If you have suitable access, scrubbing out with Cif or similar may help, but I doubt you'll ever quite get rid of it. All is not lost though. An activated carbon filter fitted between tank and tap will take the taint out. If the water starts to taste of diesel change the filter cartidge. You may need to do it a few times in the first season, but the intervals will get longer, and it's cheaper than changing the tank!

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[Col]

Try reposting this on MOBO. I'm sure this was covered a while ago.

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[LadyInBed]

As the fuel floats on the water, when you have sucked out as much as possible, push a small diameter pipe deep into the water tank and pump in water. Let it slowly overflow for as long as you can to float off the fuel.

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[stokes]

I thank you all for the advice given, what a great forum.The wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me .Contacted the surveyer, who coincidentally surveyed the boat for the previous owner and i had a copy of that survey which recommended " Re-route water fill pipe in starboard wheelhouse locker to remove flattened section".This filler was directly above the fuel tank and was the fuel filler.The surveyer a very nice chap, is in contact with his insurers.

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