Essential Emergency Tool

[Jim Cate]

2500 gallons in three half-year seasons, ken?? That's a lot more than we have used in the thirteen years we've owned I-2, full time cruising...

Do I remember correctly that it was you who started the thread about Catamarans motoring all the time?

I'm sorta kidding, Ken, but it is ironic...

Jim

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

2500 gallons in three half-year seasons, ken?? That's a lot more than we have used in the thirteen years we've owned I-2, full time cruising...

Do I remember correctly that it was you who started the thread about Catamarans motoring all the time?

I'm sorta kidding, Ken, but it is ironic...

Jim

In Ken's defense (like he needs me or anyone else for that matter to defend him) he has been cruising the Med the last few years. Haven't been there yet but I've been studying Med cruising, including the weather, and from what I can tell it's either blowing a gale or a dead calm.

Seems like if you want to go anywhere in the Med you have to triple reef and fly the storm jib or crank the engine and motor.

[pickpaul]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Pickypaul,

This thread is about a useful emergency tool, not ditchbags. What I choose to put in MY ditchbag is my decision. When the next fuel system crisis happens... I'll know right where to look for the hose.... under the companionway ladder in the ditchbag.

No need for name calling, defensiveness or shouting. I wasn't the only one to point out your unconventional use of a ditch bag.

Sure you are free to do whatever you want with yours, even if it is objectively wrong for a bag specifically used to only carry things needed when abandoning the boat.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

2500 gallons in three half-year seasons, ken?? That's a lot more than we have used in the thirteen years we've owned I-2, full time cruising...

Do I remember correctly that it was you who started the thread about Catamarans motoring all the time?

I'm sorta kidding, Ken, but it is ironic...

Jim

We go places (as in cruising). Cover lots of Med sea, no sitting still. Use copius amounts of electricity to make copius amounts of water via our Watermaker to take hot showers.

Frankly, I couldn't care any less how much diesel anyone uses... In fact, we're most likely going to switch over to a powerboat and use even more diesel sometime in the near future.

I'm not kidding.

Now what was this thread about? Safety equipment.

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Skip,

I have a rather extensive fuel polishing system, so that's never the issue. Regarding the use of a jerry can.... The idea sounds good and I did try that, BUT... My engine fuel pump consumes about 1 liter per minute, so with a five liter jerry can, that gives me only five minutes of run time before the pump exhausts the supply of fuel. Not enough time to get out of a serious jam.

The only answer is to have a length of fuel hose to run directly from a hopefully clean fuel tank or directly from a Racor system, assuming the air leak isn't coming from the length of hose preceeding the Racor.

Wow! I'd go broke quickly using that kind of fuel. Your motor must be much bigger than what the average sailboat has. Oyster's are nice boats though.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by exMaggieDrum

Wow! I'd go broke quickly using that kind of fuel. Your motor must be much bigger than what the average sailboat has. Oyster's are nice boats though.

I think the one liter per minute is what the fuel pump sucks from the tank but a large part of that goes to the return line and back to the tank. Running from a portable jug it's a bit complicated to route the return back to the jug instead of to the tank.

So the fuel isn't consumed at that rate, just empties the portable jug at that rate.

[a64pilot]

Last I looked my 5 gl cans, were 20 L, that would be 20 min
This is the day to beat on Ken isn't it?

[exMaggieDrum]

Skipmac is right. A large part of the fuel that goes to an engine actually gets bypassed back to the tank. Ken is still pumping more fuel than most. And I just reread the posts and Ken was very clear in saying that. mea culpa

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by exMaggieDrum

Wow! I'd go broke quickly using that kind of fuel. Your motor must be much bigger than what the average sailboat has. Oyster's are nice boats though.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Last I looked my 5 gl cans, were 20 L, that would be 20 min
This is the day to beat on Ken isn't it?

Guys,

A point of information is in order:

The fuel pump on any diesel engine returns most of the fuel back to the fuel tank. Check your fuel lines and note the return. Our 100hp Yanmar consumes about 1 gallon (4 liters) per hour, but the fuel pump moves around 40-60 liters per hour through the system, into the Racors, to the engine (a small amount is consumed by the engine), then returned to the fuel tank.

Which is the reason why a jerry can will run dry after only a few minutes, most of it gets sucked into the main fuel tank.

Mr. Moderator,

My post read five liters, not five gallons.