How much fuel????
Submitted by baddog35 on Sat, 2013-12-21 07:51
G'day everyone,
I am a first time user of this forum and relatively new to fishing and boating so go gentle with me!
We are looking to go out to the FADS to chase some dollies and was just wondering from others experience what amount of fuel is generally taken?
We have a 6m half cabin with a Johnson 150v6, 4 medium sized guys and tackle etc
Im reckoning around 300ltrs should be ample but we havnt been this far offshore before so any help and advise would be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Thats a hard question, so
Thats a hard question, so many factors to consider. You need to do a few runs in different conditions and work out your consumption and have a back for the worst.
Personally I use about 120-150l but thats a newer 4st. I always tske a full tank 320l.
How big is your tank?
baddog35
Posts: 8
Date Joined: 19/12/13
under floor is only 100ltr
under floor is only 100ltr but also have above deck portable tanks and can put more in if I need to. It usually uses about 80ltr to get to rotto and back from fremantle boat ramp, cruising at 22knots, but im not sure on exact distance to FADS and we may have to move to another one and troll etc when there
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
I think they are about 55km
I think they are about 55km from mainland ?
My economy is around 1.2km per L
If your using 80l return to rotto is about 40kms? so your getting about 0.5km per L ?
Remember when you load your boat up with another 200l of fuel and more gear your economy will go down !
hornet42
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 24/07/12
3 x 80 ltr
3 x 80ltrs 80ltr to get out and back from rotto 80ltr to the fads and back to rotto and 80ltr up your sleve so 240ltr or 140ltr on deck. Panel and paint shops have good clean on the inside 60ltr drums or thats where i got mine. good luck on your trip
PB Dhu 850 mm Pink 820mm
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
Agree.
I think you might use up to 150 liters return. My 5.25 - 90 four stroke can use between 80 and 100 litres return. I do operate at best fuel economy when sea conditions allow. WOT uses a lot more fuel than expected and is to carefully considered in consumption when doing a 150km day.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh i would be allowing a
Yeh i would be allowing a fair bit haha probably closer to 300L Really need to crunch the numbers for worst case scenario
If your pushing home and a stiff breeze with lots of gear on board fuel economy will half.
hornet42
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 24/07/12
Fuel flow meter
Get a Fuel flow meter so you will know exactly your useage because .5 km per ltr is very high
PB Dhu 850 mm Pink 820mm
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh its high. I spose theres
Yeh its high. I spose theres a fair few kms in the river from freo to rotto. Fuel flow meter the best for sure but $$
hornet42
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 24/07/12
$400. for the Garmin 750s
Then you have a real fuel gauge you will know how much is left. i have 120 ltr tank but tell the system i onyl have 100ltrs for safty factor. the flow meter will help you set trim and speed right for best fuel economy and give a true figure and could save a lot more then it cost .
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spinksy
Posts: 266
Date Joined: 06/10/10
Those old 2 strokes
Drink oil and fuel,I had an evinrude 150 and i would get around .75 to 1k per liter
Terry
Posts: 458
Date Joined: 04/12/05
agree
Absolutely correct.They are juice guzzlers for sure .
I always work out my fuel as such. One third for the trip out. One third for the trip home and one third in reserve. This has proven to be good practice in the past for my situation.
Some good advice has already been given in above posts so go careful and good luck.
Terry
Paul H
Posts: 2104
Date Joined: 18/01/07
You'd know what you got left
You'd know what you got left when you get to the ramp Terry which will tell you how close your getting to the edge but my first thought with your equation was 1/3 there, 1/3 looking/running around which leaves you 1/3 to get back with no reserve, what happens if it blows up and you need more than you used to get there to get back - just something to keep in mind.
I always bank on still having a 1/3 to 1/4 of what I use for the day when I hit land anything less and I consider that I was pushing it too fine
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Terry
Posts: 458
Date Joined: 04/12/05
not quiet right
What I said Paul . Meaning that back at the ramp I have 1/3rd of my fuel load left (minimum)
My boat carries 120L. Normal trip of around 40nm out equates to around 40l used. Same on return leaving 40L in reserve. Boat has averaged 1nm/ltr over 3000nm of travels.
Cheers
Rob H
Posts: 5810
Date Joined: 18/01/12
flow meters
Really the best and only failsafe way to keep a check on your consumption is visually but unfortunately most boats dont allow you to dip a tank.
Most of the flow meters are really only handy for a guide as even assuming they are calibrated accurately just a tiny bit of crap can slow the little paddle wheel down and give you an inaccurate reading-10% inaccuracy and theres a fair whack of your spare gone. Navmans especially are notorious for inaccurate readings but having said that the one I had on my old Trailcraft worked perfectly, but after calibrating it a few times I had a good idea what I should be using anyhow!
The electronic ones on EFI motors are much better but still rely on you to accurately calibrate tank size and actual available fuel.
You really need to do a test on it maybe with a 25 litre tank, take a run out in a bit of seabreeze and see how many miles you get out of it into the slop.
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Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Experience!
The more time you spend on the water, the more you can work out what your fuel usage is....it's the only foolproof way. My petrol consumption of one liter per nautical mile is derived from an average of WOT, canal/river cruising at 5 knots, start/stop drift fishing/trolling...just about everything, and it's proven to be quite accurate.
The southern most fad is about 29 nautical miles from Point Peron boat ramp...so that's 58 nm to allow for before you start thinking about trolling, going off to another fad, the numerous drifts required to actually fish the fad...for this particular trip I would be anticipating a total travel distance of 80 nm, so in my case, 80 liters of fuel plus reserve.
baddog35
Posts: 8
Date Joined: 19/12/13
Thanks to everyone, I really
Thanks to everyone, I really appreciate the help and valuable advice.
I went and bought a few extra fuel containers today just to be safe so hopefully will get to go out next week and do the big test run, just out of curiosity, are they still in the same place as the chart plotter says they are, or do they move around each year?
Thanks again guys
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Just double check them but
Just double check them but yeh last time i went out they were pretty close. Just spot the hundreds of boats on a good day haha