Adding 4 five gallon fuel tanks to the bow?

F

Finally2

Member
Got a pretty stern heavy 22 cruiser and want to do some extended trips. I am on the central coast of California so we have some weather to take into account for sure. Not calm fjord cruising. I fish so I need all my cockpit space. I have gotten 4 quality leak proof (vp racing jugs) 5 gal fuel tanks. I can put them on the bow and secure them with ropes.

Do you guys think this will be too dangerous? I know the dangerous part will be in following seas. I always run out into the swell/wind and ride it home so theoretically I could empty these before running home. I’ll post some pics in my album if I can remember how
 
Oh also! I don’t have trim tabs but have twins with permatrims and have never had an issue getting the nose up in following seas. In fact I had to swap out my captains chair with a folding one to be able to sit on top of it to be able to see in following seas my bow would get so high (plus a ton of fish in the aft cockpit contributing)

But 130lbs of weight that far up makes me nervous as I believe it should but also this would unlock all kinds of Channel Islands and Big Sur potential.

I’m taking it out tmrw. Rigs as it is in my pictures. Not on a long trip but just to see how she rides. Both stern tankes are full. Ice, downriggers crap with 15lb weights. I’ll be loaded. If it’s sketchy I’ll be close enough to get in but if I’m forgetting anything please don’t hesitate to chime in :). Love y’all
 
I can’t say if that is a good idea or not but I don’t think the weight will matter. I wanted to get the bow down on my boat also and I put a 120# AGM battery as far forward as possible, under the vberth forward of the portapotty. I still wish there was more weight up there.
 
You could try 4 five gallon jugs of water(for a trial run) - then if the weight proved problematic you could heave to and just empty them.

In addition to securing with ropes I would strap them down in such a way that they couldn't bounce. Also consider the cleats so not all the stress is placed on the bow rail.

Just curious - do you have a plan to keep the bow to weather while refueling?
I have found - depending on the boat and your personal weight that combined with the weight of 5gal. gas the stern quarter can come close to being swamped by any significant sized sea approaching from the stern - maybe not swamping the cockpit but with the fuel fill open enough to contaminate the fuel supply.

Regards,

Rob

PS. One more thought that came to mind after viewing your pics - I would consider using larger diameter lines - they are much easier to handle. Any knots, etc. in a small line become difficult in any stressful situation - esp. if your fingers are cold. If seas are not calm you will not want to be out on the bow any longer than necessary. Also consider how you will release 1 jug at a time - keeping the other secured.

re. size of lines - a marina on Lake Huron that we like staying at requires any boat renting a slip be secured with 1/2" or larger dock lines. I swapped out my 3/8" lines for 1/2" and would not go back - much easier to hand.
 
I can't imagine that amount of weight will be a real issue, but I am not in love with storing stuff on the small bow deck of CD 22 for all the reasons already mentioned. I read in a previous post that 5 gallons in the stern along with your own weight can swamp the boat. I'm sure it's possible, but I have never had a wave put a significant amount of water into the back of my 22 in thousands of hours of boating in the salt. And I can't say that for other boats I've owned! The stern of the 22, even with a lot weight, seems to be very buoyant.
 
So just got back. It handled well. Biggest issue is lack of visual. It was foggy and I was mostly running off radar anyways. A whale could be an issue. If it was one 5 gallon tank the cockpit space wouldn’t be too big of an issue but I’m trying to bring 4 5 gallon tanks. I’d like to build the roof rack one cbrat did but that’s gonna have to wait until at least this offseason. And yes I secured the hell out of them tanks
 
Finally2":2nt0nuz0 said:
So just got back. It handled well. Biggest issue is lack of visual. It was foggy and I was mostly running off radar anyways. A whale could be an issue. If it was one 5 gallon tank the cockpit space wouldn’t be too big of an issue but I’m trying to bring 4 5 gallon tanks. I’d like to build the roof rack one cbrat did but that’s gonna have to wait until at least this offseason. And yes I secured the hell out of them tanks
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Lack of visual is the main reason I wouldn't do it. And that I don't want them falling off! But, you can probably tie knots better than I can....lol....
 
I don't know if you are running out of Morro Bay--which would be logical if you live in Los Osis. There there is a very bad bar--there is a photo of the Charter Yacht MoJo being destroyed on coming onto a huge wave at the bar, when chartered by George C Scott.

If you want to go to channel Islands, I would trailer the boat to Santa Barbara-Point conception and Pt. Arguello are some of the roughest water on the West Coast. My last time gong North in my Cal 46, it was calm when we arrived at Coho Anchorage in the afternoon, so we went on. By the time we got to Arguello the seas were 10' breaking and at 12 second intervals. The breeze was up to 45 to 50 knots. The wonderful folks at Moro Bay yacht club had heard me on the ham radio Mariners Coastal net describing our night and made room for us to moor at their dock, as well as saving hambergs and trimmings for us!

All of the way from San Simion to Still Water Cove (at Pebble Beach)--there are no really good anchorages along the Big Sur except abfew miles South of Point Sur is Phieffer Cove. I have checked it out several times--and in some conditions it can be farily good. Other conditions--not so. I would not want to spend a night in a C Dory there especially if it was windy from the West and Some South West breezes. Fair protectoin from the North West-usual winds.
 
I’ll definitely trailer down south, probably launch outta Channel Islands since it’s a shorter run to island protection then cruise up to Santa Cruz. And I don’t plan on going to far into Big Sur. Head up outta Morro and crash in San Simeon cove for the night then fish Big Sur early and ride the following home.

Morro bay can be sketchy but I believe since that accident they have redesigned the jetty and tredge way more frequently. Yes Morro is my main launch spot 95% of the time but looking to travel north and launching outta moss and also the channel island overnight trips. The tide push is Morro is prolly the sketchiest part. I was coming in as the tide was rushing out from a 8ft king tide and so much water was pushing out the jetty gap it didn’t want to let me in. Had to WOT it for a bit to power through.

Bob you’re a legend on here and the amount of knowledge you have passed on does not go unnoticed. Your a legend brother thank you

-Zac
 
Agree that Channel Islands would be better for Anacapa and Santa Cruz. Not sure what the situation is at Santa Rosa now. I had anchored at Johnson's lee a few times. In the 1960's there were some abandoned military buildings there. Lots of anchorages at Santa Cruise. San Miguel is one of our favorites--at Cuyler Harbor is beautiful. I am sure a limited permit is required. Good hiking on the Island. It can get windy--I have seen 50 knots on some days.

If you have not read it "Diary of a Sea Captain's Wife" is a true story about a lady who lived on Santa Cruz about 100 years ago.

We had a friend who stayed at Howland's landing camp as the winter keeper. She had lived on all of the channel Islands, including San Nicholas and San Clemente. "Ms Onion" was her name. Her husband had been a sheep herder and they had run sheep on all of the Islands. She had rowed from Catalina to
San Pedro several times, when needed supplies (This was many years ago--a bit more civilized now.).
 
Finally2,
I see you posted a comment in Dessert 1st’s album. I don’t think Casey, the owner of that boat, has been active on this site since before my time here. Also, as an FYI, when a comment gets posted in an album, I don’t believe there is any kind of notification that is sent to the owner of the album.
Getting back to the gas tanks, I looked at your boat in your album and it seems likely to me that a similar rack would interfere with the radar function on your boat. Just my opinion, but I would consider moving the radar forward. Just this summer I built a rooftop rack for Hammerhead and it is one of the best upgrades I have made to the boat. I wouldn’t hesitate to put 20 gallons up there.
 
I had similar issues with my 22 in needing extra range then available with only the main fuel tank. So there are another couple ideas to consider - maybe something will help.

First one, and to keep it simple, you could carry the tank in the cockpit when full then transfer to main tank as soon as you have burned enough fuel, they can be moved to bow or roof and laid flat as to not obstruct vision or radar as much. That would avoid the extra weight on the roof and/or having to make 2 trip to the bow while underway or while getting toss around in the wave.

now here is what I did on my 22, I added a quick connect fitting to my Raccor fuel filter, same as you would have on a portable marine fuel tank, so I could connect a portable fuel tank to it. the transfer from main tank to portable tank can happen at any time, any speed and is seamless, unless you want to drain the tank dry. In a couple occasions, I had enough time to switch tank between the moment I started to feel hesitation from lack of fuel and the engine completely dying, that was on a carbureted engine, not sure it will work on a FI. I had a couple 6 G and a 12 G which gave me all the range I needed. That work very good for me and I never had to handle fuel transfer while on the water.
 
First one, and to keep it simple, you could carry the tank in the cockpit when full then transfer to main tank as soon as you have burned enough fuel, they can be moved to bow or roof and laid flat as to not obstruct vision or radar as much. That would avoid the extra weight on the roof and/or having to make 2 trip to the bow while underway or while getting toss around in the wave.
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That is a mighty important point! There are lots of situations that trying to move jerry cans from the bow to the cockpit would be downright dangerous to the boat and to the person attempting the transfer--not good seamanship!
 
Alright everybody thanks for all the reply’s. I just got back from a multi day bigsur trip and tested everything out. I hated the cans on the bow. The boat rode ok when I tested it in a day trip but I just need better vision. Honestly if I made my bigsur trip with the cans in the bow I may not be here writing this message. I’ll get back to that in a bit…

So awhile back I fitted some Yakima racks to my roof after seeing another cbrat do it. I then raised my tower significantly. Since I’ve been able to slide paddleboards, lake tubes, whatever I want up there that’s inflatable or a surfboard sort of deal. So what I did is attach a car rack to those Yakima roof racks like so (I hope dropping the link to the picture in my album works)

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

So I placed the 4 fuel cans up there and strapped em down tightly and it was awesome. I was able to explore bigsur freely. Spend the nights in San Simeon anchorage. As far as moving the cans. Thanks for all the responses and I agree moving them can be dangerous at sea. So I created a siphon hand pump long tube and am able to run it from the roof fuel tanks to the gunnel uptake so I don’t even have to unhook them!!!

Ok the I almost died moment and prolly would have if the gas cans were on the bow. On my way north I was cruising about 14-16knts with the AP on. I’m at the helm. Weather is pretty good. I could have been going faster but wanted to keep it smooth I wasn’t rushing. Then boom a whale no more then ten yards directly in front of the bow. I slammed the throttle back and we were ok but if the cans were there I do not think I would have saw the whale at all. And I’m thanking the man upstairs cause many things could have put me one second ahead of schedule and landed me on that whale.
 
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