The idea of cutting open the hull, repairing/replacing the tanks and welding
the skin and frames back is quite feasible IMHO. I watched a similar
operation carried out on a US Coast Guard cutter in San Francisco when a
large generator had to be rebuilt. (She was in the dock next to ours when I
was installing some equipment on Range Tracker.)

Roger

http://home.earthlink.net/~derbyrm

"C. Andrews La Varre" wrote in message
...
Hello, all.

I have a steel hulled cruising boat, presently in NL. The ship is
eight years old. The fresh water filters are filling with flakes of
rust, suggesting that the epoxy coating of the tanks has failed, and
needs to be cleaned out.

snip

The shipyard says they will have to remove the flooring of the head
and most of the cabinetry to access the tanks. I'm thinking that it
may be easier to haul the boat and cut a hole in the bottom of the
hull to access the tanks properly.
snip