Permanent tank(s) on a 16 cruiser

B

bmacpiper

New member
Hi all,
Well, Natural Blue has been sold. The new owners are up on Obstruction Island (in the San Juans) and a really lovely couple. He has replacement knees, and really can't be lifting 6 gallon tanks in and out of the boat at the gas station, and so I thought I'd look into options for him here.

Basically, is there a relatively easy way to add a permanent tank(s) to the boat, with a fuel filler pipe that could be used at the gas station? I see several mods in this section, but they are more radical than they'd be after. I'm thinking 12-15 gallons would be plenty, preferably distributed across the boat, i.e. one large tank or two tanks with a connector line a la an original Cooper S.

I'll have the boat in for service this week, but could deliver it to another marina if there's one who might specialize in this conversion?

Thanks and talk soon.
bmc
 
I was on Old Growth's 16-18' conversion boat. It had twin saddle tanks and that was real nice. Yes, you loose a bit of gunnel space, but, you picked pu the space aft under where the original tanks were. Made for great storage areas for fends, batteries aft...and better weight distribution for the fuel too.

Yes, this is a bit more than a quick fix....but, we have to set our boats up for ease of use as we, and our personal limits ....at times force us to do.

Not sure if Old Growth has a template or set up to re-make the tanks or not??? but.... I know if I still had my 16, twin saddle tanks would be right on top of the list....even before the ease of refueling was taken into consideration.

Good luck.

Byrdman
 
Alaska Diving & Mining in Anchorage set up a permanent 12' gal tank & filler cap on our 16' for the previous owner. Really convenient, but it does affect weight & balance. Picture below.

IMGA1224.jpg
 
bjidzik":y9eys22v said:
Alaska Diving & Mining in Anchorage set up a permanent 12' gal tank & filler cap on our 16' for the previous owner. Really convenient, but it does affect weight & balance. Picture below.

IMGA1224.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks bjidzik. Yes, balance is a concern. The 13 gallon is long and thin (32 x 10 x 10) and so my hope would be to keep it more or less centered, or slightly to port for when there's only a driver. Then have the battery to starboard.

With it being an open tank (no dividers/bulkheads), it seems like there may also be a problem with weight shift, i.e. when the boat rolls side to side, it will be more pronounced by the movement of the liquid also.

Has anyone ever just tied existing portable tanks to a filler pipe? That would be the easiest solution if it can be done, and would leave weight unaffected.

bmc
 
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