Tomcat 25 Fresh Water Tank Size

[flboy77]

Hello

My wife and I finished our first big trip on our Tomcat and had a great time. One thing I was surprised about was how fast we ran out of fresh water. We are not new to boating and do our very best to conserve water including taking quick showers by turning on the water to get wet and then back on to rinse off.

I was curious so I filled the tank up at the house and proceeded to run the water into a five gallon bucket and then dump it and fill it again. I didn't even get to completely fill the fifth five gallon bucket before the water ran out.

I am under the impression the boat has a 35 gallon fresh water tank and it does have the 6 gallon water heater as well. I am not sure why it would be running out at just under 25 gallons.

It also fills back up rather quickly from the hose, seems like it would take longer to fill 35 gallons.

Has anyone else ever actually figured out how much water the boat actually holds?

It would be really nice if there was a way to see the water level in the tank but id doesn't seem like there is. I can only see the side of the tank and water line hookup by looking under the port side of the front berth.

Also, where is your fresh water pump installed? Mine is under the galley sink.

[gulfcoast john]

We were told the freshwater tank held 30g, the water heater 6g and the blackwater tank 9g.

In warm weather we tend to run out of 12v power after two nights running the 2.1CF fridge with three Group 31, 105 AH AGM batteries (avoiding going under 50% SOC). We found warm ‘basin baths’ with washcloths to be the most water-efficient. We had the same experience with the Regal 2665 (trailer boat #12 with 30g FW). It had a proper water cooled marine generator, but we’d run out of water.

Our blackwater overboard macerator pump is in the cabinet under the galley. Removing the deck plates to access the sponson bilges, our freshwater pump is under there, along with the shower sump pump (which also has the water heater overheat discharge hose plumbed to it). The galley sink drains directly overboard.

In discussions with other non-oversize trailer boats over the years, we found that two nights out was the most common limit regardless of boat brand. We managed a week once on Horn Island in the Regal, but had one big cooler with bag ice and dry ice (10:1 ratio) and other coolers with food, 10 second transom showers after saltwater dip (no one around for miles) but we finally ran out of wine.

The Moorings at Longboat Key has very nice showers.

Happy Cruising!

John

[Dreamer]

The earlier TC-255s (2006)) had the 25 gallon tank installed on the Starboard side. I added annother tank and pump to the port side. Don't remember ever running out of water! It may be possible to replicate this on the Port side.
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[thataway]

The factory says 30 gallons. I had ordered my 2006 Tom Cat with 2 water tanks--the factory refused to fulfill the order, but I eventually got them to ship the second tank. I did't put it in place, and when the boat was sold to captain Charlie, the second water tank was sent along.

We go about a week on the 20 to 25 gallon tanks on the 22 and 25. We do carry and extra 5 to 7 gallons in a extra container.

There are lots of ways to conserve water. For example changing out the 6 gallon tank on the port side, with a 2.5 gallon point of use Bosch water heater, eliminates the dead space in the pipes and conserves water.

As John pointed out the Sea Land head uses a fair amount of water--you can conserve there. Dishes? often done in water from bay or lake,-heated to boiling on the stove, and then used.

[flboy77]

Thanks for all the info. I may toy with the idea of adding another tank on the starboard side. Our current tank is mounted on the port side of the boat. Dreamer, when you installed your second tank how thick are the bottoms of the cat hull? Just curious how long the screws were you used to secure the tank to the bottom of the boat?

I did check and the factory states a 30 gallon tank. My water pump is mounted under the galley sink and the factory said they currently mount them under the berth right near where water exits the tank. I guess it's possible that mounting it closer to the tank could help the pump get the last four or five gallons out of the tank. It makes sense that when the water level is lower there is less pressure to push the water to the pump and it may be having a difficult time pulling the water that far.

[thataway]

I doubt that the pump location would affect the amount of usable water. The design of the pump is that it can pull liquid up 2 or 3 feet easily--this might decrease the pressure slightly.

More likely there is a "residual volume". My recollection is that the water is pulled from the bottom of the tank, on an end. This could explain why you do not get that last 5 gallons out.

[Dreamer]

Flboy77, I installed a false floor under the tank epoxied to two blocks that fit the hull's contour. No screws were put in the hull. The tank was secured to that false floor with straps.

[smckean (Tosca)]