Anyone installed fuel tank for regular gas?

[BAD ORCA]

Just curious if anyone has installed a small fuel tank aboard for regular gas for dinghy motor/ small generator instead of relying on stowed jerry cans?

It seems like a better solution if you have space aboard. Any particular downsides to doing this? Obviously a leak would be a major issue but if it was installed into a sealed fiberglass compartment vented overboard similar to propane, this could be mitigated.

Im in the restoration phase of a sailboat so still can plan something like this into the restoration.

Reason i ask is that when i finally get to go cruising, i think a lot of it will be high latitude sailing where energy generation will have to be something other than solar. Absolutely will have a high output alternator, but will also have a gas engine dinghy and most likely a small gas powered generator in case of engine troubles.

anything im missing or are really good quality metal jerry cans the way to go?

[HopCar]

That had never occurred to me but I kind of like it.

Of course you’ll need to figure out how to get the gasoline out of the storage tank and into the dinghy tank. Pumping gasoline can get complicated and expensive.

Be sure to clearly mark the fill fitting as gasoline. You don’t want someone to accidentally pump diesel in there.

Might be a lot easier to make a nice storage locker for Jerry cans.

[PaulSommers]

I once had a 27 ft. sailboat with an old gas engine which died. I put a 10hp Honda outboard on a bracket on the transom, and used the inboard gas tank plumbed to the Honda with the usual squeeze bulb to prime it. It worked very well. And the space formerly occupied by the inboard engine became a lovely storage locker!

[Kettlewell]

One huge advantage of jerry cans is that you can put them in the dinghy and carry them to someplace to refill ashore and then back to the boat. Once you leave the regular marina cruising tracks places to get fuel at a dock are few and far between. You'll also need to carry jerry jugs to refill your diesel tanks for the same reason. Plastic jugs are the way to go for lightweight, no corrosion, and no leak. I have gone for years at a time without approaching a fuel dock. Even here in the USA it is often much more convenient to just jug the fuel via dinghy than to try to get to a crowded and difficult to approach fuel dock, especially if you anchor out. Personally, I wouldn't want a gas tank onboard.

[BlueH2Obound]

I considered putting a tank on the cabin roof. Fill from either cans, or from fuel dock. Fueling would be gravity feed down into the dingy. No electricity involved. Lots of ventilation as well, but it would be exposed to direct sunlight, so expect off gassing.

We ended up putting a dock box, permanently mounted to the foredeck where we can store 5 five gallon jugs. We went to Alaska and back from PNW and only ended up coming back with about 15 of the 22 gallons of gasoline we took, so we've realized that we really don't need that much gasoline. If you are running genny on gasoline, that's another story, as having more would be better.

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

One huge advantage of jerry cans is that you can put them in the dinghy and carry them to someplace to refill ashore and then back to the boat. Once you leave the regular marina cruising tracks places to get fuel at a dock are few and far between. You'll also need to carry jerry jugs to refill your diesel tanks for the same reason. Plastic jugs are the way to go for lightweight, no corrosion, and no leak. I have gone for years at a time without approaching a fuel dock. Even here in the USA it is often much more convenient to just jug the fuel via dinghy than to try to get to a crowded and difficult to approach fuel dock, especially if you anchor out. Personally, I wouldn't want a gas tank onboard.

While there are no right answers, Kettlewell's is exactly why I jerry can it.

I am going to propane conversions of my generator and outboard.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Might be a lot easier to make a nice storage locker for Jerry cans.

^
That is probably the best plan for someone doing a refit or new build.
A vented/drained locker such as one would have for propane.

[Kettlewell]

That is probably the best plan for someone doing a refit or new build.
A vented/drained locker such as one would have for propane.

I had a small 30-foot custom cruising sailboat once that had the coolest cockpit lockers. The cockpit seats were essentially just boxes above the cockpit sole, which was above the waterline so some holes in the transom drained everything overboard. There were two segments under the cockpit seats aft that were perfect fits for a couple of 5-gallon plastic fuel jugs. They were out of the sun and weather, secure, and drained overboard if there was any spillage. Just brilliant!

[capt jgw]

I almost always fueled my sailboat from Jerry cans, bought the fuel from regular gas stations. It was diesel, but same procedure. Around here even with road tax applied gas station diesel is usually a few cents cheaper than the fuel dock. I built my propane locker to fit two regular patio grill tanks for the same reason. The same gas station I bought fuel at usually had propane tank exchange too. Short walking distance from where I landed the dinghy and I carried a folding cart to move the tanks and cans.

[deblen]

Check with your insurance re built-in gasoline tank./Len

[BAD ORCA]

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. Very much appreciated. Im thinking maybe a storage locker that drains overboard to hold a couple of five gallon jerry cans sounds like the most sensible solution. Im hoping to go to very remote locations so it sounds like im going to have to have them aboard anyways. Also, it might be easier to build in a small pump to extract fuel from the cans than to get fuel from a tank set deep into the hull.

[BobFord]

My boat came with a 120litre ULP tank and it has proved a very useful item. Situated under Aft Co'pit seats, 4mm 5083 aluminium ,vented to high level, sealed self draining compartment. I use a manual rotary pump to fill Jetski and o/b tanks. Rotary pump is excellent but not speci for ULP. Simply run a teaspoon of oil thro' after draining. In service >10 years.

[Tedd]

You might be interested in a technique I saw used in racing cars many years ago, before fuel cells were mandated. It's an easy way to make a fuel tank of virtually unlimited shape.

You begin by carving a block of foam into the shape of the final tank, undersized by about 5 mm on each face. This block is shaped to fit the space available. Then you fiberglass the outside, including whatever flanges or fittings you want to build into it. Once it's done you dissolve out the foam with acetone.

You can make quite a complicated tank that way in a weekend.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Tedd

You might be interested in a technique I saw used in racing cars many years ago, before fuel cells were mandated. It's an easy way to make a fuel tank of virtually unlimited shape.

You begin by carving a block of foam into the shape of the final tank, undersized by about 5 mm on each face. This block is shaped to fit the space available. Then you fiberglass the outside, including whatever flanges or fittings you want to build into it. Once it's done you dissolve out the foam with acetone.

You can make quite a complicated tank that way in a weekend.

Fiberglass is a no go for gasoline tanks. There's no resin that holds up well enough to ethanol long term.

[CaptTom]

Good plan to go with the jerry can storage.

One more point about a built-in tank: Regulations. At least in the US, there are some very specific rules for any vessel with permanently installed gasoline tanks.