Carrying Extra Diesel

[FabioC]

I am debating whether to carry a jug of diesel on the boat when we go out (locally), just enough to get us back to the dock in the unlikely event we run out of fuel (my fuel gauge is very unreliable), but I am on the fence.

How do people feel about carrying a can of diesel? is it too much of a hazard and ultimately not worth the risk?

Thank you!

[Attikos]

The danger is minimal. Just be sure to make the jerry can secure and to use its contents before it gets old.

It's always a good idea to have as much fuel in reserve as it would take to get you from the most remote point of your cruising ground back to a port with a pump, plus a little, with the weather against you. I'd fix that fuel gauge, too.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by FabioC

I am debating whether to carry a jug of diesel on the boat when we go out (locally), just enough to get us back to the dock in the unlikely event we run out of fuel (my fuel gauge is very unreliable), but I am on the fence.

How do people feel about carrying a can of diesel? is it too much of a hazard and ultimately not worth the risk?

Thank you!

Locally? Could you define this better? If it is within the range of the fuel you have left, not an issue.


If you don't know the range of your fuel, then you should. You actually must.


Fuel gauges are horribly inaccurate for many reasons: senders break down too regularly, fuel tanks are not perfectly rectangular.


Every skipper should know the fuel consumption of his engine as well as the quantity of fuel in his tank when full.


Then do the math.


I have not used a boat fuel gauge in 20 years. In our trip from SF to BC in 2016 I did not carry a separate fuel jug. Never have. Never expect to.



Fuel Log 101

Fuel Log

[Auspicious]

Stu is on the right track.


I record start and stop times for main engine, generator, and diesel heater. I have a spreadsheet that tracks consumption. The fuel gauge just reminds me to look at the spreadsheet. *grin* On my boat the generator and heater pickup tubes are cut shorter than the main tube so I can't accidentally run dry in some beautiful anchorage and have to sail off the anchor.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Stu is on the right track.


I record start and stop times for main engine, generator, and diesel heater. I have a spreadsheet that tracks consumption. The fuel gauge just reminds me to look at the spreadsheet. *grin* On my boat the generator and heater pickup tubes are cut shorter than the main tube so I can't accidentally run dry in some beautiful anchorage and have to sail off the anchor.

That's pretty smart. I wonder how common it is.

[SV_Harbinger]

I always have a Jerry can of diesel aboard lashed to my port shrouds, I use it to top off my tank when I've run the engine enough to put the 5gal back in then I refill the Jerry can, that way it's always fresh and my tank is always full. For me that works out to about 6 hours of good running. I don't actually have a fuel gage, I just experimented with fuel consumption until I figured it out... Emptied the tank, added 5 gallons and motored around the cove till it ran dry, dropped the hook put another can in the tank, reprimed everything and headed in to the fuel dock and filled up the tank. Not a method I'd recommend but it did work.....

[sailah]

A rotopax is pretty handy and you can mount securely. Not a ton of extra capacity but 2 gals is enough to get me out of most situations.

If you run out of fuel you should probably know how to bleed the system too.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

That's pretty smart. I wonder how common it is.

Not very based on my deliveries. *sigh* HR does it from the factory. I've done it for other boats.

[sailormed]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

That's pretty smart. I wonder how common it is.

#metoo.

[RaymondR]

My old boat had a pickup tube made from 1/5" copper tube inside 1/2" copper tube with separate connections from the inner tube and annular space. The 1/4" tube went down close to the bottom of the tank and the 1/2" to within about 2" of the bottom.

I could connect an engine oil change pump to the 1/4" tube and suck tank bottoms out to check for water occasionally and it was available to pick up the reserve volume from the bottom of the tank if required.

The fuel tank was in the keel and only accessible from the top so no drain possible.

[Jason Flare]

I carry a few jugs of extra diesel strapped down tight under the cockpit.

The first reason is that it is extra fuel.

The second reason is that it is separate uncontaminated fuel I could run the engine on should my fue tank go south with crappy fuel.

When I run low in my main belly tank I add small amounts of fuel to keep the boat moving. I try to save an external jug for emergencies.

[Terra Nova]

There is little risk of safely carrying extra diesel. But it is simply laziness to put up with an unreliable capacity monitoring system, which can be as simple as a dipstick.