More Tank Plumbing

Finished up installing the fuel supply and return lines.

I thought the floor joists were made of teak. However, after installing bigger fasteners in them today, I believe that the wood is what Tommy Chen calls 'Iron Wood'. We know this wood was used as coring for the fiberglassed floor joist stringer and to make the cradles in which the tugs were shipped to the U.S. Iron Wood is very dense and strong. To hold the joists together the factory used 2" #12 ss screws. Many of the screws were damaged when I removed them. To keep this from happening again, and to beef-up the joint, I re-bored and then countersunk for 2" #8 ss screws. The joists definitely feel more secure now.

The main reason the 3" exhaust hose had to be replaced was because it rotted where it sat in the lazarette-fed bilge area. Originally the factory secured the exhaust hose to the underside of the floor joists with hose clamps. Several of those clamps were missing and thus Nellie's exhaust hose had dipped down. Now the exhaust hose is supported every 20"; high, dry and protected from vibration.