WHAT DID I DO????

[tonyiiiafl]

Just got HOLODECK back from the shop after hitting a rock and damaging a prop. Anyway, I am tired, been going for 36 hours now. Anyway, I placed her in the slip, hooked up the electric cords and before hooking up the water hose, I decided to top off the water tank. Walked over, took the cap off, stuffed the hose inside and turned on the water. Walked away for 3 minutes and started to smell GASOLINE! OH YES! I stuck the hose inside the port gas tank!!!!!! The tank was full, so who knows how much water went in. There was gas all on the water, which evaporated quickly. BUT NOW I HAVE ABOUT 10 gallons of water in the port tank. Anyone else ever do this dumb a$$ed thing? Will I need to drain the entire tank? Can I get a suction hose down the bottom and try and get only the water? Any additive that will mix with the water?

I am so sick to my stomach over this one. I am going to paint the gas caps red tomorrow and the water fill blue. But that doesn't fix this! Suggestions??

[tomschauer]

Oh no!!!
I hate to say it, but if you don't completely empty the tank, and have some spare fuel filters for the grief you are going to experience (you wont get all the water out), It will only be worse and more frustrating.
Keep in mind, if you would have tried to run the engine, it would have been much worse, a bit of silver lining...
Best of luck to you.

[tomschauer]

Maybe it will make you feel a bit better, everyone can make a simple mistake. About 20 years ago returning to the dock after an overnight tuna trip from OC MD, a friend of mine was distracted and put the diesel nozzle in a rod holder and locked it open. While we were unloading and fileting the fish, about 120 gallons went into the bilge before anyone noticed the bilge pumps spewing diesel. UUUUGHHHH!

[RGrew176]

Unfortunately we all being human have had one or more of those oh **** moments. Hope you get it worked out.

[Viper]

I've had a few people do this. While it's not good and is a real inconvenience, don't sweat it too much, it's manageable. You can disconnect the fuel line at the fuel filter and pump from there or insert a tube into the tank through the sender port, that way, you can draw right from the bottom of the tank. The water will settle there so try not to bounce the boat around too much. Keep pumping until all you see coming out is fuel and keep pumping for a little while longer. Keep a supply of fuel filter/water separators on board, check them often, and replace as needed. Get a water dispersant product and add it to the tank, then go use the boat and use it often. Nothing will get rid of what ever water is left but the dispersant will break up the water into small droplets that the engine can manage should any get past the filter. When you get low on fuel, don't fill the tanks all the way. Add just a little, then more dispersant, and take her out for a ride right away. The idea is to not let the water that's left settle to the bottom again after getting agitated from adding fuel. Do this a few times and you should be okay. It's worked for others before.

You're dealing with fuel so be careful. Don't be pumping it into a container on board, pump it into a container off the boat. Use a pump approved for fuel, and ventilate.

It could have been worse, you could have done what one guy did and put fuel in the water tank, didn't realize it until he turned on the water. You can't get rid of that from the lines or any hardware. He had to replace ALL the lines, fixtures, tank, water heater, etc. Now THAT'S bad!

[Dewmyster]

Tony, as Viper explained it is very manageable. I went out in a rain storm and 6' seas a few years ago in another boat with twin tanks. Left a cap off the port fill and after every wave poured down the gunwhale the port engine shut down. Got about 20 gallons in before I discovered. Used an outboard fuel line with bulb and a 4' piece of small diameter plastic pipe from Home Depot. Siphoned it all out through one of the ports at the top of the tank. Then follow his instructions and you will be fine.

[tonyiiiafl]

Thanks! I have settled down some. Sadly marina won't let me do anything where gas is concerned. I did find a place called USA Fuel Services, who pump out the bottom of tan,. then "polish" the rest, while letting the pumped out stuff separate and then filter it all to 3 microns. They are pretty reasonable, now just need to know when they can get to me as we were leaving on a 10 day trip in two weeks. I guess we can still go, just won't have a reserve tank. More soon!

[bud37]

Good stuff, you may end up better in the long run actually with a clean tank at the bottom.....a question does this service do it right at the boat at your dock or does the boat have to be against the land so they can access it ?
I have thought it may not be a bad thing to have done as a maintenance item every couple years anyway. Haven't seen anyone up here that does this though.

[tonyiiiafl]

They come right to the dock, and are well insured, so the marina allows them to do their thing right there. They make it sound easy and more reasonable than pumping out the gas and disposing of it.

[tonyiiiafl]

The Fuel Polisher came yesterday. I don't know from where, but he got 36 gallons of water from the tank! We will top it off and take out for a run tomorrow. I am thinking the "change your filters 3 or 4 times" comes from the tank cleaner they use, not from left behind water. We shall see. Off for 10 days aboard Saturday. More when I return.