27 foot coastal cruiser, how much water and fuel?

[seaductive]

Greetings,
I was not sure where to put this and I could not find any information using the search function. I have a com-pac 27 that I am taking to Florida the end of this year. I will be mostly anchoring and traveling the Chesapeake, ICW and Florida Bay. So, mostly near civilization. My question is how much fresh water and how much fuel should I bring? I have a portabote with a 2.5 Yamaha outboard, it seems to sip fuel I will also be bringing the Honda 2000 generator.

I have a m-12 universal diesel that burns 2/3 gal per hour and a 12 gallon fuel tank.
The stock water tank under the vee berth is approximately 45-50 gallons fresh water.

I have lots of fuel and water jugs but I really have limited space so I only need to bring what’s necessary.

Currently I have 4 (5G) military scepter tan water jugs, one (5G) scepter red gas can, one no spill (2.5G) red gas can, one (5G) scepter yellow diesel can and finally one opaque (2.5G) currently properly labeled and colored for extra diesel.

For a total of:
20 gallons of extra water
7.5 gallons of gas
7.5 gallons of extra diesel

Now, I have been thinking about ditching two of the water jugs I don’t have the space but I can make multiple trips in the dinghy or stop at a fuel dock and fill up the main water tank occasionally. The opaque container is fuel rated and can be recolored to carry something else if needed. I’m just one person but with the adequate tankage I can afford to take a hot shower when I need to and wash dishes without agonizing over fresh water use. The only other thing I carry is a 20# aluminum propane tank for the Dickinson propane stove, a 4# propane tank for the mr buddy heater and two 1# tanks for the portable propane stove and torch. I will be building a special tube to house the propane canisters.

Need some reassurance that my logic is sound. That would give me four tanks lashed to the side decks plus I’ll have the 2.5 gas can lashed to the push pit as well. Seems like the gas quantity isn’t total overkill since I’m refilling the 2.5 gallon gas can I carry for the outboard and this smaller gas can fills up the generator as well. I use the generator for power tools aboard and occasionally the battery charger.

I have a feeling I’m overthinking this and I should just ditch two water cans.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[MARC D]

Well, since you’ll stay close to civilization, go with what you can bring without becoming cumbersome and adjust on your way.

[Sam Woodbridge]

I overthink things too. I know nothing of the area you will be in, but what has worked for me, is knowing my distances between fuel stops and planning around that. If there’s fuel there should be water. I also research the potential fuel stop and know how close a store is and what they offer. I think that’s a slightly different way of looking at your trip.

Good luck

[landlockedgm]

Most days on the ICW require motoring all day long so bring all the diesel. 2.5 gallons of gas is great plenty. The generator doesn’t burn much charging batteries unless you have big battery bank. Plus you will be motoring so won’t need to run it very often. Your outboard burns 1 liter per hour at full throttle. Make sure to use only non- ethanol gas and add stabilizer or the 2.5 gallons will probably go bad before you use it all. As far as water goes 45 gallons should last a couple weeks. While cruising the ICW we bring two water jugs but don’t fill them so they can go in a locker or spare berth. You will have plenty of opportunities to keep the water topped off. Have fun!

[StuM]

One way to look at it is:
I have a m-12 universal diesel that burns 2/3 gal per hour and a 12 gallon fuel tank.
So you've got enough tankage already to run for 15-18 hours and say 60 to 80 nautical miles. How much do you expect to be motoring between potential re-fuelling locations?

"The stock water tank under the vee berth is approximately 45-50 gallons fresh water.
That would last me a week

"For a total of:
20 gallons of extra water
7.5 gallons of gas
7.5 gallons of extra diesel"
Weight wise, that's the equivalent of having a couple of extra people on board.

[Don C L]

How much water do you plan to use a day? It's me and the kids on my 29 footer coastal cruising and we have been away from refills for 2 weeks at a stretch and it sounds to me like you have plenty of fuel and water. I use bottled water for cooking and drinking and I leave the 25 gallons in the keel as much as possible for ballast. I stow 10 gallons in bottles, one 5 gallon jug, and then stow two 2-gallon chemical sprayer bottles (and all those are stowed in the bow under the v-berth) to use for bathing and even then my teenage daughter can wash her hair twice on a trip and we usually have water left over. We skimp though, I wash dishes in salt water and rinse with fresh, same with bathing. As for fuel I have 14 gallons of gas for an outboard which for me can get me in theory over 100 miles at my rate of use. With a diesel you should do considerably better.

[seaductive]

Lots of great insights and posts. It got me thinking. I’m going to ditch the 5 gallon gas can and maybe think about getting another 2.5 gas no spill or I can get another no spill opaque 2.5 and put the proper legal flammable logos and red tape/marker. Reason being is that a 5 gallon can half empty still takes up as much space as a full one. With two opaque cans I can relabel them as needed for gas or diesel. I also like the idea of tailoring the amount of extra water carried on each leg of the trip, as storing them in the cavernous cockpit lockers.

So it seems like I have narrowed it down to 3x jerry cans on the starboard side deck and the portabote on the other. The boat should hopefully be trimmed with that arrangement. I am trying to keep it as simple as possible. Smaller jugs of gasoline are more manageable anyways and I don’t need to keep both full.

[Island Time O25]

I would check that engine and/or the fuel gage. 2/3gal/hr seems a bit excessive for a 12hp engine. Mine is 5432 and sips about a gallon at 2,800rpm, much less at 2,000. Yours has the factory calculated burn of about 2L/hr i.e. app. 1/2 gal/hr. (170gr/hpX12).

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

I would check that engine and/or the fuel gage. 2/3gal/hr seems a bit excessive for a 12hp engine. Mine is 5432 and sips about a gallon at 2,800rpm, much less at 2,000. Yours has the factory calculated burn of about 2L/hr i.e. app. 1/2 gal/hr. (170gr/hpX12).

Yep, probably a bit high unless running WOT all the time. A common rule of thumb is 1 gph per 20 HP
I'd assume that under normal running, it would be putting out 10HP or less, so 0.5 gph wold be a good planning figure.

[seaductive]

Originally Posted by StuM

Yep, probably a bit high unless running WOT all the time. A common rule of thumb is 1 gph per 20 HP
I'd assume that under normal running, it would be putting out 10HP or less, so 0.5 gph wold be a good planning figure.

I was overestimating slightly. I also like to plan on a 15% margin on top of what I will actually think I will need. How many miles do most people carry fuel for? Minimum/maximum or average miles? How many gallons of diesel should I carry? Is 20 gallons total too much or just right? This is assuming a full tank and cans when leaving.

Also I carry marine fuel stabilizer for diesel and gas. I read somewhere that diesel stays fresh for 10 years if properly stabilized and stored. Maybe I should bring two 5 gallon diesel cans in this case.

[Cloroxbottle]

The other advantage to having a decent amount of diesel in jerry cans is if you end up in a situation where water has gotten into your diesel tank and the motion underway allows contaminated fuel to get to your fuel line and kill your engine you have a clean source of diesel to run off. Although I would imagine that you would run less of a risk of this motoring down the ICW than offshore (though with bridges and shoals outside the channel the consequences could be bad).

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Cloroxbottle

The other advantage to having a decent amount of diesel in jerry cans is if you end up in a situation where water has gotten into your diesel tank and the motion underway allows contaminated fuel to get to your fuel line and kill your engine you have a clean source of diesel to run off...

ALL of my diesel fuel went through a Baha Filtre, into Jerry cans, only then into my main (25 Gallon) fuel tank.
Never HAD to change a fuel filtre, in ten years.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by GordMay

ALL of my diesel fuel went through a Baha Filtre, into Jerry cans, only then into my main (25 Gallon) fuel tank.
Never HAD to change a fuel filtre, in ten years.

It happens. We have the same Baja filter set up and picked up terrible diesel in the Bahamas before heading back to the U.S. Three fuel filters later, we gave up, sailed to the St John’s inlet, and called TowBoat to get us into the marina where we promptly got rid of the diesel. We vowed never to buy fuel from that place again, but Dorian took care of the issue the next year.