Jere Lull wrote:
On 2008-08-06 18:25:43 -0400, "Skip Gundlach"
said:

However, at 7:51 AM, I had my first-ever engine shutdown.
snip

Much to my surprise, however, pulling the plug on the fuel tank
revealed that we were, in fact, out of fuel. Obviously our
memory of having fueled just before we put the boat on the ground
was faulty, because there certainly wasn't 100 gallons (nor any,
for that matter!) of fuel in the bilge.


Oops!

Been there. Why don't fuel gauges work very long on boats? I don't think
I've had one work for more than a season.

We mostly use the hour meter to manage ours. 40 hours at normal cruise
takes us to about half-full.

If its got a swinging float arm variable resistance sender, I reckon
they must just wear out from the continual movement of the wiper on the
track. In a car or truck, you dont get any slosh going streight at
constant speed on a smooth road and thats the bulk of most peoples
driving on a minute to minute basis.

My sender is well into its second season with no signs of trouble. I
wont be much surprised if it needs changing in a few years.

If I *didn't* have a working gauge, I'd either fit a level switch near
the bottom of the tank to give warning I was going into my reserve or a
reserve tank to switch to if the engine falters. Due to the layout of
my filler pipe, its impossible to dip my tank and I got fed up with
running out at awkward moments.