Urgent request: dealing with a fuel tank spillage on my '83/4 Islander

[Omineca]

Stoo-pidditty day today.

Pumping old fuel directly out of the fuel level sender hole I slipped and spilt at least a quart if not half a gallon around the sides of the tank. Not wanting to blow my boat up, not to mention myself, I would like to know what the simplest and quickest solution to this predicament is. Does the tank bilge communicate with the main bilge? Should I hose fresh water around the tank? Where and how can I drain/suck it safely?

Any ideas will be welcomed. Tomorrow we were hoping to launch her for the first time, but I don't see the need for a fireworks display!!

 

[alldodge]

Opinion:
Water will knock down the fumes but the water will not dissipate the fuel. I would get a fan (bigger the better) and blow down into the area. This will cause evaporation to accelerate. Let it run all night. Shut down in morning and give it a couple hours then give it the smell test.

 

[Omineca]

Anyone able to tell me if the fuel tank bay is interconnected with any more accessible space? I assume the engine bay is isolated (assume is a bad word), but what about the bilge? If I could dilute, with detergent maybe, and remove the mixture I'd be happy, but there is only a very small gap around the tank.

 

[alldodge]

Fuel tanks are self contained within their areas. If fuel leaks ot it will not drain into the bilge

 

[Omineca]

Fuel tanks are self contained within their areas. If fuel leaks ot it will not drain into the bilge

Thanks, that helps a lot. I shall try Mr. Kleen or similar to break up the petroleum. How to remove the resulting mess though? If your decking leaks and the tank bay fills with water, how do you empty it?

 

[alldodge]

Maybe my misunderstanding
Is there foam on the sides of the tank, or is their air?

 

[Omineca]

Maybe my misunderstanding
Is there foam on the sides of the tank, or is their air?

Probably my bad explaining.

There is no sign of foam, but the tank seems to fill the compartment except for a small space.

On the same subject, looking into the forward end of the engine bay, there are two holes, one below the other. The lower one seems to be below the tank level, but the higher one would seem to intersect with the tank compartment. They both look like factory holes. Here's a picture with the holes arrowed.




And this is a view from further away. Rough location of holes arrowed.



I had thought that engine bays were isolated.

 

[alldodge]

Don't know if the dark one is a hole
Being there is no foam and its air, stick a hose in there a flush big time. Gas will float out and any water left behind can be sucked out or will evaporate over time.

 

[Omineca]

Don't know if the dark one is a hole
Being there is no foam and its air, stick a hose in there a flush big time. Gas will float out and any water left behind can be sucked out or will evaporate over time.

Both are holes right through. The dark one feels as if it might have a hose crossing just the othr side of the partition. I shall follow your suggestion, thanks, so I'll be away for a while doing that.

 

[Omineca]

We-e-ell. It's all very interesting. Maybe my boat is unique. The tank compartment communicates with the engine compartment and with the forward bilge. I have Mr. Clean in all 3 now, although it is impossible for me to remove what is below the aluminum stringer level.

I used my tractor to lift and lower the hitch gently to get a washing machine surge going.




Then looked in the bilges and both the engine compartment and the companionway step drain were clearly filled with a gasoline and detergent mix. Smells more of the latter. Here's the companionway drain.

 

[Omineca]

So I guess that the problem is solved. I hope. Since all the bilges interconnect, I tilted the bow up




and flushed, as suggested by alldodge, with copious water through the companionway drain until the stern bung hole ran clear. No doubt there is still water between all the stringers, but I think it's unlikely that there will be any dangerous amount of gasoline anyway.

Kaboom.

Many thanks to alldodge for the advice and support.

 

[Lou C]

Just make sure to sniff very carefully for any sign of gas vapor. Any sign at all do not start the engine or turn on anything electrical. Problem with gas vapor in boats is it takes a while to dissipate. Nothing to take a chance with.

 

[Omineca]

Just make sure to sniff very carefully for any sign of gas vapor. Any sign at all do not start the engine or turn on anything electrical. Problem with gas vapor in boats is it takes a while to dissipate. Nothing to take a chance with.

Thanks Lou. I'll be sure to do so. I have left everything opened up. Since I smell so strongly of gasoline this evening, it's a little difficult to tell if anything else does or does not. There is no way to vent the tank compartment itself except by leaving the decking off. We do have a blower for the doghouse.

 

[racerone]

Work carefully.----You might want to pressure test your tank.----If there are leaks then replace the tank.----Or wear a parachute if you go boating with a leaking fuel tank.

 

[Omineca]

Work carefully.----You might want to pressure test your tank.----If there are leaks then replace the tank.----Or wear a parachute if you go boating with a leaking fuel tank.

No leaks. The 1983 aluminum tank is perfect. This was a spill, as in the thread heading.

 

[Omineca]

Update: the flushing of water plus Mr. Clean through the bilges from the companionway drain back through the stern bunghole, with the boat tipped well up at the bow, seems to have done the job of clearing my gasoline spill. No gasoline or even detergent odours and no sheen in the bilge water. Of course I also ran the blower fan for a couple of minutes before starting the engine.

I would still not recommend pouring a half gallon of gasoline into your bilge though!

 

[Watermann]

That's sure is some good news!