Boy, does this bring up some memories.
We left Key West against our better judgement, to sail upwind in 28 knots. As we prepped the boat that morning, I briefly thought about closing the crossover valve. Didn't. A couple hours later my wife went below and yelled, "there's water on the floor!" Of course I had to ask if there was a little or a lot. Turns out, all the water from the stbd tank flowed to the port tank and out the overflow. Then a box of red wine and a box of long life milk broke. This all made for a nasty mess. Even though I hosed out the bilges of the boat when we bought it, there was still construction debris floating around to plug up the bilge pump. Took over an hour to empty out the bilge.
New story. You've heard of hurricane Charley? Well our boat was anchored in the eye of the storm in Punta Gorda. We had no damage, but after the storm I noted there was NO water in the port tank. Boats were reported to be laying with the masts to the water during the storm, and I believe all the water went out the overflow.
Other occurences have prompted me to replace the vent on the port tank. It is now routed out thru the transom. I didn't want to go out the side like the holding tank, as I feared taking on sea water when the rail is in the water. (We sail that way a lot!)
Yes we also had problems with the caps leaking. I now grease them with white lithium grease and they seal well.
The port overflow line was never plumbed properly and I strongly recommend you do something to relocate the line.
Jerry JAMMIN' #226
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