How low can I go with the fuel level?

I'm pretty conservative.

I'm looking to come in at about half tank. Which is verified by 6-8 hour run getting me 120-140 miles down the way. That's a pretty good day and usually about what it might take to get from large inlet to large inlet.

But I think your question was how far down the tank would I feel comfortable going to. Prob, about 1/4 tank no less... And I always have 4-6 spare primary and secondary filters aboard. If you really want to ruin your day start getting your filters clogged.

I ran into a situation one day I was running that the stbd side was fluctuating rpm like crazy. Couldn't maintain 2000 rpm. It would drop to 1700 and pop back up.... It was the first time I experienced the symptoms. I backed her down to 1100 rpm and pulled into the next marina to change the filters. It would have been a mess time-wise if I didn't have the spares. It cost me an hour or so...

Another thing to keep in mind, it isn't just the amount left in the tank that can cause issues. You start getting into rough conditions and that can stir things up considerably.
 
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What are stage 1 and stage 2 filters? I keep plenty of 30 micron Racors on board (I have 6 right now) and I have dual Racors. I only run one at a time, so I have a "hot spare" on each engine ready to go as well. But I only have one spare spin on secondary filter per engine.

Based on all I've read I am comfortable at the 160 mile range, which burned 100 of the 175 gallons per tank. My original question as to whether I should push it any further was well answered by all of you. If something came up and I had to go up to another 40 miles I now believe I could without risk, but I am not going to plan that way.
 
Don't hold me to the numbers - I have Racors - then there is a secondary (or it called primary ) 2-3 micron filter at the engine.

Would have to look it up - for some reason thinking I am running 10 microns on the Racors - running whatever the book said for the QSC600.

Mark
 
ZZ13 said:
What are stage 1 and stage 2 filters? I keep plenty of 30 micron Racors on board (I have 6 right now) and I have dual Racors. I only run one at a time, so I have a "hot spare" on each engine ready to go as well. But I only have one spare spin on secondary filter per engine.

Based on all I've read I am comfortable at the 160 mile range, which burned 100 of the 175 gallons per tank. My original question as to whether I should push it any further was well answered by all of you. If something came up and I had to go up to another 40 miles I now believe I could without risk, but I am not going to plan that way.
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While re-reading this thread I remembered another small thing....tankage useable fuel. The specs on you boat show 350gal total and 333gal useable. The portion not useable is small and the last dregs that you wouldn't want to burn anyway but still something to be aware of.
 
Another thing I do is start a new track on my GPS everytime I fill her up.....
 
All great points and all point to the one thing that scared me as a Supply Officer Afloat and still concerns me as a recreational boater.......If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there!!!

I've learned 3 things on the water...

Figure out what can go wrong because it will and either the weather and/or the sea will not be in your favor.

Preventive maintenance is easier at the dock than repairs underway.

Mother nature is no lady.


WRT fuel consumption, the USN for a variety of reasons used (maybe still uses) a simple rule for it's oil burners. No less than 60% fuel capacity on board at all times. There better be a damn good reason to the fleet commander as to why there was a variance. (HINT: There were no good reasons....There were really no reasons at all!!!) BTDT in the North Atlantic.

Consider getting a fuel metering system. Depending on the engines, you may be able to do the whole thing electronically.

Maretron has great stuff. Merc may hook right to your engines with no middleware.

Good Luck.
 
Good discussion regarding fuel, and spares. I always used the 1/3 rule, but there are other factors to consider as others have noted.

I am doing a 10 to 12 day trip this summer up the coast, and then across to Catalina Island, and around a good portion of it. I am concerned about the fuel quality on the island so trying to avoid taking on fuel there. It is probably fine, just don't want to risk adding bad fuel to a new boat. there will be a lot of trawler speed to conserve it. My tank levels Gage's are not good, but the flow meters are precise for gph.

still getting over the shock of the fuel economy of the oil burners verses gas.
 
Good discussion as Bill mentioned.

One thing I'll add to this is for those of you who cruise in areas you're not familiar with, Active Captain's Interactive Cruising Guide has reviews of just about every marina. One of the things they show is whether or not a marina has gas or diesel available. I've found that a nice backup reference when we're looking for places to fuel up.

For those boaters in the PNW, the Fineedge Fuel Price Survey http://www.fineedge.com/fuelsurvey.html has a listing they update weekly for almost every marina in Puget Sound and Canadian waters that shows their gas and diesel prices and also discounts they offer for large purchasers. It's another good reference to bookmark on your computer.
 
Billfletcher said:
Good discussion regarding fuel, and spares. I always used the 1/3 rule, but there are other factors to consider as others have noted.

I am doing a 10 to 12 day trip this summer up the coast, and then across to Catalina Island, and around a good portion of it. I am concerned about the fuel quality on the island so trying to avoid taking on fuel there. It is probably fine, just don't want to risk adding bad fuel to a new boat. there will be a lot of trawler speed to conserve it. My tank levels Gage's are not good, but the flow meters are precise for gph.

still getting over the shock of the fuel economy of the oil burners verses gas.
Click to expand...
How good is it?:grin:
 
Hi Bill, I live in Dana Point but get my fuel in Newport at Island fuel dock, it's much better than the fuel any ware else around here, they pump valvtech and it's .45 cents a gallon less than Dana. So if you are in the area I would put them on my list. I have twin Volvo TAMD 75 EDC 480's and never had a fuel problem with them.
 
Aspirated and EFI engines took 30 micron at racor and 10 micron on the engine....primary, secondary or stage 1 and 2. The new common rail engines are in need of cleaner fuel so many motor makers have changed to 10 at primary and secondary's to 2 micron filters. New racors have sensors attached that will sound off for bad or contaminated fuel.

Distance on tank...I am a delivery guy and would not want you to have to travel like I do, but due to great distances we cover I am okay with the 1/4 versus the 1/3 method. Bottom line though is at a quarter tank my bow is headed to a marina for fuel and usually for the night. Fuel burn is everything to me where speed is not.

I spend time with folks on our new yachts and teach using electronics to provide great data to help navigate. But I see where many have problems when they set a waypoint or course line and the instruments say there is 3 hours travel time. Understand that time is computed via GPS readings and are suggesting at a given speed you will arrive at the destination at XXX time. Problem with that is your instruments are assuming you are going in a straight line or as a crow fly’s to us Southerners. Boat driver will tell me he has four hours of fuel and instruments say we have three hours to get there......NOTICE- boats do not travel as a crow fly’s or in a straight line for that matter. Unless it is flat clam and we're not going over so much as six inch waves, the screen maybe right. I travel the Atlantic Ocean and it is rarely flat so a gauge or instrument that is telling me I have 8 hours to go is probably off by as much as an hour in conditions. Going over even the littlest of waves is changing the distance you will travel.

Point is that your fuel and fuel management is far more important than the toilet working or AC going out. Those are conveniences where good fuel is a necessity...treat it like you do your 21 year old single malt. Fuel senders in a tank that hold thousands of gallons are not as accurate as knowing how much fuel is onboard and observing the fuel burn per hour. Simple math that even a crusted old captain can use with a small pre-departure calculation of percentile of fuel I cannot access off the bottom of the tank.

Last time I was on a flat ocean was with FW onboard with me heading down the Atlantic. He is an old school mate of King Neptune and must have called in a favor simply because the ocean was our friend that day.…and we throttled up and did our best to flatten out what little ripples remained. That has not happened since and I have logged many days at sea wishing for another view like that…reckon I’ll have to beg Frank to come along again just so I can have another smoooooth day!

Capt. R
 
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It's quick enough to keep track of this on paper, but I know some people are going paperless with their iPads and other devices on their boats.

I found a simple spreadsheet for iPad that is free. I have not used a spreadsheet in years, but I built a simple one for this in a few minutes of playing around.

screenshot of app.

View attachment 39654
 
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