Question on Towing
 

Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder -
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance. But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?
Currently, my boat is great for LI Sound and the CT River, etc. but 50
gallons doesn't go all that far. I like to have at least 20 gallons in
reserve so I go out using around 15, plan on using 15 to return, and always
have the 20 in the tank for safety - but 15 gallons 'out' doesn't go very
far. So I'm wondering about methods to increase fuel capacity.
Thanks.
John.

Question on Towing
 

Question on Towing
 

Evan Gatehouse2 wrote:

wrote:
Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder -
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance. But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?
Currently, my boat is great for LI Sound and the CT River, etc. but 50
gallons doesn't go all that far. I like to have at least 20 gallons in
reserve so I go out using around 15, plan on using 15 to return, and always
have the 20 in the tank for safety - but 15 gallons 'out' doesn't go very
far. So I'm wondering about methods to increase fuel capacity.
Thanks.
John.



towing a raft will decrease performance more than having the weight in
your hull, in most circumstances. No free lunch I'm afraid.

I've seen sports fishing boats which towed a 50 gallon barrel of fuel
in a dinghy to Ft. Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas because otherwise,
they could get there, but not get back. Usually a large number of
people on board, so they didn't have room for it on the boat. I guess
the decreased performance on the way out was better on the way back.





Evan Gatehouse

Question on Towing
 

Evan Gatehouse2 wrote in news:45693064$1_1
@news.cybersurf.net:

towing a raft will decrease performance more than having the weight in
your hull, in most circumstances. No free lunch I'm afraid.



He could slow down, even turn off two of the three 250hp outboards and
enjoy the view...(c;

50 gallons will go a LONG ways on a 4-stroke Honda 90!

SLOW DOWN...What's the hurry?!

Larry
--
Guess what I want to do with the Little Drummer Boy's drum
by Christmas Eve....rrrrump..pa-pum...pum...up his bum....

Question on Towing
 

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:59:39 -0500, Larry wrote:

Evan Gatehouse2 wrote in news:45693064$1_1
:

towing a raft will decrease performance more than having the weight in
your hull, in most circumstances. No free lunch I'm afraid.



He could slow down, even turn off two of the three 250hp outboards and
enjoy the view...(c;

50 gallons will go a LONG ways on a 4-stroke Honda 90!

SLOW DOWN...What's the hurry?!


I would second that. Assuming that is 50 US gallons of diesel, we
could go nearly 500 nautical miles.


Mika



--
----------------------------------------------------
Haluatko lähettää postia? Vaihda osoitteen
eka (vai oliko se toka?) numero vitonen numeroksi
kahdeksan...
----------------------------------------------------

Question on Towing
 

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:44:56 +0000, wrote:

Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder -
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance. But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?

Towing a load in a Zodiac will diminish performance a lot
more, plus adding potential points of failure and safety problems.

Currently, my boat is great for LI Sound and the CT River, etc. but 50
gallons doesn't go all that far. I like to have at least 20 gallons in
reserve so I go out using around 15, plan on using 15 to return, and
always have the 20 in the tank for safety - but 15 gallons 'out' doesn't
go very far. So I'm wondering about methods to increase fuel capacity.

20 extra gallons is not a big deal. Get a few jerry cans and tie them
down safely. For a more permanent solution, add a tank. With a
relatively common, mainstream boat you should have no trouble finding a
ready-made plastic tank that will fit somewhere.

Matt O.

Question on Towing
 

In Matt O'Toole writes:

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:44:56 +0000, wrote:

Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder -
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance. But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?

Towing a load in a Zodiac will diminish performance a lot
more, plus adding potential points of failure and safety problems.

Currently, my boat is great for LI Sound and the CT River, etc. but 50
gallons doesn't go all that far. I like to have at least 20 gallons in
reserve so I go out using around 15, plan on using 15 to return, and
always have the 20 in the tank for safety - but 15 gallons 'out' doesn't
go very far. So I'm wondering about methods to increase fuel capacity.

20 extra gallons is not a big deal. Get a few jerry cans and tie them
down safely. For a more permanent solution, add a tank. With a
relatively common, mainstream boat you should have no trouble finding a
ready-made plastic tank that will fit somewhere.

Matt O.

I do not fancy an idea of loose jerrycans in my boat, so I would not
recommend them to others. If you for some reason decide to go with jerry
cans get a handy siphone pump, so you can get the fuel from one tank to
another without pouring it all over the cockpit. The boat might not
behave wery well in the waves without any power on.

The better idea would be to have another tank and then a fixed fuel
transfer pump to fill the tank you are using for driving.

- Lauri Tarkkonen

Question on Towing
 

On 27 Nov 2006 00:39:09 GMT, in message

(Lauri Tarkkonen) wrote:

I do not fancy an idea of loose jerrycans in my boat, so I would not
recommend them to others. If you for some reason decide to go with jerry
cans get a handy siphone pump, so you can get the fuel from one tank to
another without pouring it all over the cockpit. The boat might not
behave wery well in the waves without any power on.

Loose jerrycans would be a very bad idea because they can smash into
things, so they should always be lashed down. Refilling from jerrycans
underway depends a lot on where the fuel fill is located. From
experience I can say that refilling through a deck plate adjacent to
the cockpit is quite doable in all sorts of situations with minimal
spillage. It's not the best solution, but it can be workable.

Ryk

Question on Towing
 

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:50:31 -0500, Ryk
wrote:
Loose jerrycans would be a very bad idea because they can smash into
things, so they should always be lashed down. Refilling from jerrycans
underway depends a lot on where the fuel fill is located. From
experience I can say that refilling through a deck plate adjacent to
the cockpit is quite doable in all sorts of situations with minimal
spillage. It's not the best solution, but it can be workable.

A guy on one of the maillists I follow had a good idea. He uses a
length of plastic pipe threaded to match the filler cap. Whip the cap
off, attach the pipe, and you have an extension that let's you pour
from a comfortable height. With even minimal care the chance of a
spill is just about eliminated. But even better, an unexpected wave
that comes on deck doesn't dump salt water in your tank.

Glen
__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at world wide wiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

Question on Towing
 

In article ,
Matt O'Toole wrote:

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:44:56 +0000, wrote:

Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder
-
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance.
But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?

Towing a load in a Zodiac will diminish performance a lot
more, plus adding potential points of failure and safety problems.

One thing you fellows should really look at in this "Towing" business
is that if you tow ANYTHING, and your vessel is 26 Ft (7.8 Meters)
overall length, or over (or larger), then you are REQUIRED to comply
with the Bridge to Bridge RadioTelephone Act. CFR47 Part 80 Subpart U.
It doesn't matter if your non-commercial, commercial, pleasure, or
whatever, if your are US Flagged, over 26Ft and Towing, you are REQUIRED
to comply.

Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

Question on Towing
 

Bruce in Alaska wrote:
In article ,
Matt O'Toole wrote:

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:44:56 +0000, wrote:

Hello; Love this forum, and I've been reading it for a while. I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder
-
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance.
But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?
Towing a load in a Zodiac will diminish performance a lot
more, plus adding potential points of failure and safety problems.

One thing you fellows should really look at in this "Towing" business
is that if you tow ANYTHING, and your vessel is 26 Ft (7.8 Meters)
overall length, or over (or larger), then you are REQUIRED to comply
with the Bridge to Bridge RadioTelephone Act. CFR47 Part 80 Subpart U.
It doesn't matter if your non-commercial, commercial, pleasure, or
whatever, if your are US Flagged, over 26Ft and Towing, you are REQUIRED
to comply.

I'm curious, where do you get this? In 47cfr the phrase "towing
vessel" refers to a commercial tow.

Question on Towing
 

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:44:56 GMT, "
wrote:

I own a 24'
Bayliner which has a 50 gallon gas tank in the stern engine area. I wonder -
can additional fuel be towed on a large inflatable, like a Zodiac?
Adding larger fuel tanks is not a good idea - it diminishes performance. But
I wonder if with a raft - you could tow along a large fuel supply? Say
another 300 gallons or so?

Basically you've got the wrong boat for the job. You don't really say
what your range aspirations are, but 300 gallons will take a 24 ft
Bayliner a lot further than it was designed to go, and certainly not
offshore I hope. Towing fuel is the wrong answer for all of the
reasons others have provided. Offshore fishing boats in that size
range will typically have fuel tankage of 150 to 200 gallons.

Question on Towing
 

... if you tow ANYTHING, and your vessel is 26 Ft (7.8 Meters)
overall length, or over (or larger), then you are REQUIRED to comply
with the Bridge to Bridge RadioTelephone Act. CFR47 Part 80 Subpart U.
It doesn't matter if your non-commercial, commercial, pleasure, or
whatever, if your are US Flagged, over 26Ft and Towing, you are REQUIRED
to comply. ...

That's not correct.

see 47 CFR 80.5 also 33 CFR 26.02

(5) Towing vessel. Any commercial ship engaged in towing another ship
astern, alongside or by pushing ahead.

I hate the CFR's!

-- Tom.

Question on Towing
 

Matt O'Toole wrote:
20 extra gallons is not a big deal. Get a few jerry cans and tie them
down safely. For a more permanent solution, add a tank. With a
relatively common, mainstream boat you should have no trouble finding a
ready-made plastic tank that will fit somewhere.

Matt O.

That's what I did on my old Chriscraft Cavalier '27 when I cruised down
the Illinois river from Peoria to Alton. We strapped 6 jerry cans
(back when they were made of metal) onto the dive platform. I knew we
wouldn't need them going down, but coming up , yeah, we tapped into
them.

Question on Towing
 

Tim wrote:
Matt O'Toole wrote:
20 extra gallons is not a big deal. Get a few jerry cans and tie them
down safely. For a more permanent solution, add a tank. With a
relatively common, mainstream boat you should have no trouble finding a
ready-made plastic tank that will fit somewhere.

Matt O.
But what I thought would always be cool, would be to get an military
surplus aircraft fuel cell bladder, that lays right in the keel of the
boat. they deflate as fuel is used. and you can configure them in
amazing ways. I saw some go on ebay for reasonable.

Question on Towing
 

But what I thought would always be cool, would be to get an military
surplus aircraft fuel cell bladder, that lays right in the keel of the
boat. they deflate as fuel is used. ...

Beware of chafe problems with them; they've been known to rupture. Of
course, you could tow the bladder behind the boat :) You'll want to
put a diamond day shape on the back of it and an all around white light
at night.

-- Tom.