Fuel Checks

I wrote some time ago of how I ran out of fuel with the gauge showing half full, and this was on the day I took the boat over! It turned out that the owner had a new fuel tank put in and the fitter had failed to check that the sender to the gauge was in the same position as previously. I believe that if you do not know your boat’s fuel consumption and you have an engine hours meter, it is worth while making a note of your hours run, fill up the tank(s) and then when you next take on fuel make a note of the engine hours and how much fuel you put in. If you have been using the engine normally you should get an idea of what your fuel consumption is. A motor boater’s rule of thumb is one gallon per hour for each 20hp’s worth of diesel engine and one gallon per hour for every 12 -14 hp for petrol engines. Consumption will however, depend on how heavy the helm is with the throttle, the weather and the sea state. With no engine hours meter, I keep a record in my log of engine running hours.