How Big is Your Tank?

[four winds]

30 gallons. Just about empty now, but I haven't filled up since Sept, 2011.

Original monel tank from 1978, still in great condition.

[minaret]

450 gallons in two tanks.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by minaret

450 gallons in two tanks.

We've just discovered a new way to ferret out the motorsailers.

[Iskoteo]

287 imp gallons in two tanks giving a range under power of a little over 2000nm

[Jim Cate]

G'Day all,

~600 litres in three tanks, 43 hp 3 blade folder prop, around 1000 miles at around 6 knots in calm conditions. Usually only fill up when clearing out and having access to duty free fuel... lasts us about a year from full, depending on where we are and how cold it is (diesel heater). No gen set, solar and wind.

Cheers,

Jim

[skipmac]

Gee, this thread is giving me tank envy. I've only got about 300 Liters (80 gallons) in a 42' sailboat. Guess no one will accuse me of being a motor sailor.

Wouldn't mind having a bit more. Will certainly carry a couple of jerry jugs on a passage.

[Nicholson58]

380 gallons distributed in five tanks. 1500 miles @ 4/gal; 115 HP Westerbeke with 3-blade X 24 inch prop and on-deck variable pitch control Hundested; 55,000 disp; 58 foot Camper & Nicholson ketch. No heater; 12 KW generator.

[bobconnie]

Just because we have Motorsailors, don't mean we use this option constantly! and if fuel tanks make a motorsailor, then my Colvin had 300 gals for a 42 ft boat, was this a motor sailor ?? To me haveing an abundance of fuel gives me the chance to anchor out as much as we wish, with not a thought about heat, bugs, or just being comfortable both at sea and at anchor !! And if you factor in idea we just might be able to get out of the way of bad weather by useing our rather large powerful engine makes our tankage a safety measure, rather then just a motorsailor thing !! It seems some folks think that haveing an engine is really cheating LOL

[sww914]

75 gallons in one side, 0 in the other because the DAPO filled the iron tank with water so that it wouldn't rust!
We have 20 gallons in jerry cans when we need it.

[gjordan]

I just googeld the Steelaway 35 and the brochure calls for 120 gallons of fuel and 170 gallons of water. I wonder if the OP got them confused? It is still a huge amount of fuel and water for that size boat. If I was about to launch in a boat like this, I would look into a feathering or folding prop to make up for a rather heavy boat.___Just some thoughts._____Grant.

[Panope]

Had 30 gallons - not enough. Have 100 gallons now - is enough.

Steve

[Steelaway35]

My boat is definitely amatuer built, I'm finishing it up right now with a plan to launch this summer. My dad initially built the boat starting back when I was a kid. I took over the process last May, I have been learning a lot this past year about boats! It's overwhelming at times, but I'm getting it done.

My boat is a Glen L marine design, 38' steel hull with a pilot house. You could easily say its a motor sailor. Full keel, displacement of 21,000lbs with 8,000lbs of ballast in the keel. I have a Perkins 4.107 (40hp) with a 3 blade prop (16" dia with a 12" pitch). The design originally called for 4 separate tanks, 120gal of diesel and 175 of water. I decided to switch the tanks allowing for more fuel capacity (and hey, fuel weighs less right?!?). I'm installing a Dickinson diesel stove which will serve as a cabin heater as well as a galley stove. I have a 5 gallon diesel day tank to serve as a gravity fed fuel supply to the stove, a separate fuel pump and line pulls diesel from the tanks for this. I'm close to getting the engine running this month. Wrapping up the electrical and plumbing, then it's on to sand blasting and painting (hopefully done by June). Then I'll spend two months working on finish work. I'm mostly just following the design and hoping for the best! I still have 800lbs of ballast to add to the keel, but I'm waiting until I put it in the water this summer to see how it sits in the water and where the waterline is before balancing it out.

I have no idea how this boat will handle and I'm excited to get it in the water and put it to the test. As far as sailing goes, it's a cutter masthead rig and I'm still putting all the rigging together. If it all works out as designed i understand it will have a hull speed of 7 knots...I'll let you know next fall how that works out!

Seemed like a lot of fuel capacity to me as I was going through it at first. But, I always see boats cruising with Jerry cans strapped to the deck and I suppose I wont have to worry about that I guess. I plan on cruising a lot in the inside passage up to Alaska, exploring the many inlets up the coast of BC. Not always a lot of wind outside of the straights, and fuel is more expensive in Canada compared to Seattle

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Bash

We've just discovered a new way to ferret out the motorsailers.

Or the long distance exotic area cruisers who pick the spots to fill rather than lugging possibly suspect fuel in jerrycans like many do.

Don't have to fill all your tanks but its good to have decent capacity unless you are a racer or ocassional cruiser.

[Livia]

25 gallons in the main tank. 15 more in jerry cans. Has been fine so far for Canada through French Poly.

[david7]

4000 Liters!!! That's a mega-yacht right? My 30 foot sailboat has a 30 gallon bronze tank under the cockpit floor and I was almost cursing it the other day for taking up too much space.