replacement fuel tank conundrum in westerly longbow.

[VicS]

Well, it will certainly keep the rudder in the water. It seems an awful lot of fuel to carry probably about twice what most people would need and if it is half full the tank baffles will need to be effective to keep it from slapping about, 100 litres of fuel is a fair weight.

? ? only about the weight of a crew member and not an obese one at that.

 

[solent clown]

if you are having the tank made anyway, have it made as one unit with a centre bulkhead to split the tank in two, then you could have two fillers, or a diverter valve from your filler, and two switched outputs. Call one reservoir main, and one reserve, and just make sure the return goes to the main tank in normal operation.

 

[Vegable]

Steve,
Have you had a look at the Westerly Wiki site for the Renown. In there I describe how to remove and install the fuel tanks and how to put them back in and I also detail the dimensions of the 2 tanks.
Mike

 

[Quandary]

? ? only about the weight of a crew member and not an obese one at that.

Crew tend to stay in one place, but if you had continued reading, I edited the post to concede that Steve's choice of tank had an effective baffle across it, I obviously should have removed the first bit but I thought that my correction would be adequate.
Sorry if it annoyed you, will try to be more careful in future.

 

[Tranona]

170l is not excessive if the plan is to go to the Med. I had 150l in my old Bavaria which gave a comfortable range of around 65 hours at 5.5 knots (same hp engine as Steve's) or around 350 miles. Used a fair amount of that from Sardinia to Majorca.

 

[steve yates]

Since the tank should not need to come out again for about 20 years or so. why not just glass the floor back in

Aye, that was something I wondered about. Just how strong and watertight would the floor be compared to being glassed back in?

It's more the matter of fuel containing biodiesel sitting in the tank for long periods which would worry me. In your case I think I would fit a 40l tank for general use and a 130l one to fill only for long range trips.

Thats not a bad idea, jd but comes back to my concern over two tanks connected by plastic bouncing around in case of a knockdown. Besides would just putting 40l of fuel in not do the same thing? After all, most fuel tanks must be floating about only partially filled for most of the time anyway, by the law of averages?

if you are having the tank made anyway, have it made as one unit with a centre bulkhead to split the tank in two, then you could have two fillers,

I'm not though, I'm looking to bounce the costs of a custom tank into opening the floor so I can have a much bigger volume but much cheaper, std fuel tank put in.

Have you had a look at the Westerly Wiki site for the Renown. In there I describe how to remove and install the fuel tanks and how to put them back in and I also detail the dimensions of the 2 tanks.
Mike

I have Mike, I have read everything you wrote on that site Actually I read it back in April when I first realised the existing tank was going to be a problem. It seems to be a different configuration though in your pentland than the longbow, not sure why they did that if the hull shapes were supposed to be more or less the same.

Another question, is it worth putting some kind of fuel gauge in at the same time? I'm tending to think it's not really required, especially with such a lot of fuel Just make a new dipstick.

 

[JimC]

What'll do a lot will do a little. I'd go with the yard's proposal.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I'd fit a pair of 42l tanks, you can configure those in various ways. Have changeover valves or balance pipes etc. You could leave one empty for coastal cruising and fill the 2nd tank for longer trips. If you fitted changeover valves and separate filters for each tank you could change tanks if you had a fuel problem.

Carry some plastic jerry cans if you need extra long range now and again. Maybe keep the jerry cans full all of the time and use one tank. If you had a fuel problem you could tip the cans into the empty tank and change to that tank, or you could just tip them in periodically and keep the fuel turning over. While you're installing the two tanks construct somewhere secure (maybe between the tanks ?) for the jerry cans.

 

[duncan99210]

KISS. I'm with Tranona on this particular issue. 170 litres really isn't all that much in a boat where you're looking to make passage against the clock on a regular basis, which Steve's intention about the Med and further afield suggest is his likely pattern of use. In the Med we can use most of our 150 litres in a weeks cruising when we have people on board and can't afford to wait for the winds. Fitting split tanks, compartmentalised ones etc add complications and expense without giving much return on the investment.

 

[[70521]]

I suspect that I have missed an earlier part of a saga, but why would you need 170l of diesel? Is it for running heating while you're living aboard? If you don't get through it reasonably quickly, and at least once a year, that's going to be an awful inviting diesel bug farm.

That said, it sounds like a good scheme, at a pretty reasonable price. Could you fit two or three smaller tanks in the space and keep all but one dry when you're not doing long distance stuff?

+1

I us a max of 50lts a year and have a tank of 100lts, after all she is a sailing boat.

This winter the tank is out, new fuel lines and primary filter are being fitted, next summer I am planning to half fill the tank with white diesel and carry 20lts spare in a jerry can, with that I can motor across to Brittany - at the end of the season any unused will go in the car.

Unless you have a long trip planned I see no reason why any sailing vessel needs such a big tank.

 

[fisherman]

If you carry extra fuel is it valid to use outboard tanks, nice and red, and have a dispensing pipe attached for topping up the boat?

 

[steve yates]

I us a max of 50lts a year and have a tank of 100lts, after all she is a sailing boat.

fair enough, but I don't have the normal pattern of a home port and doing trips in and out of that, with maybe a longer cruise in the summer, otherwise I'd be quite happy to chuck a 42l tank in there. But it simply isn't enough for me. At least until I'm a much better sailor

I used approx 120l / 300miles/ 50 hrs between maryport and milfordhaven,

Delivering her between cumbria and essex will prob be a twice annual thing, (so approx 1200-1600 miles a year, as opposed to the 100 or so across to brittany,) and that will not usually be about sailing, but about getting the boat there. Cruising wise I definitely want to go round ireland, up to the faroes and iceland, and out to norway and the baltic in the not too distant future, while still uk based, before taking her to the med for a couple of years. Then eventually over the atlantic to be based around the Caribbean. There will be a lot of motoring involved over the years I suspect!

I'm pretty set on getting as big a tank as possible if having to do the job. I can see some merits in the idea of multiple tanks, but not enough to overcome my fear of damage to the connections between them, and the additonal costs of the tanks and fittings.

So now I am wondering about the best way of resealing the floor, should it be glassed or not.

 

[JumbleDuck]

So now I am wondering about the best way of resealing the floor, should it be glassed or not.

Yes, glass it. All you're adding is a couple of hours' work at most if you ever need to get in there again, and you're gaining permanent leaklessness. If you think you may need access to something in there, put a hatch in the right place ... I'm thinking of doing that to get at my otherwise hideously inaccessible stern gland.