Arwen's meanderings

Hi everyone and welcome to my dinghy cruising blog about my John Welsford designed 'navigator' named Arwen. Built over three years, Arwen was launched in August 2007. She is a standing lug yawl 14' 6" in length. This blog records our dinghy cruising voyages together around the coastal waters of SW England.
Arwen has an associated YouTube channel so visit www.YouTube.com/c/plymouthwelshboy to find our most recent cruises and click subscribe.
On this blog you will find posts about dinghy cruising locations, accounts of our voyages, maintenance tips and 'How to's' ranging from rigging standing lug sails and building galley boxes to using 'anchor buddies' and creating 'pilotage notes'. I hope you find something that inspires you to get out on the water in your boat. Drop us a comment and happy sailing.
Steve and Arwen

Tuesday 20 September 2016

I wonder if......a remote refuelling system for an internal outboard tank.......

this idea is worth considering? Occasionally, if I have used the outboard to get out from the marina and then done some motoring to be somewhere more quickly due to time constraints, I have had to refuel by hanging off the back of Arwen and using a funnel and a metal 1.5lt fuel bottle for a camping stove. Not ideal in terms of safety or environmentally; so I wonder if this is worth considering? Is it safe? Worth the effort for such an infrequent occurrence on Arwen? Will it take up too much aft cockpit space to make it worthwhile? Some more to ponder as I try to heal the fractured elbow so that I can get back to some autumn sailing!

http://www.wwpotterowners.com/Modification82.html




5 comments:

Joel Bergen said...

Hi Steve,
I recently bought a new gas can called a No Spill. See their website at http://nospill.com/
I really like it. It automatically shuts off when the gas tank is full, much like a gas pump does when your car tank is full at the gas station. Never spills a drop of fuel. You still have to hang out over the transom, but it sure beats using a funnel.

Bursledon Blogger said...

Depends on your outboard, but many with integral tank can be fitted with connection to external tank. I converted a mariner (think it was 4 or 5HP) a few years ago, it was very easy, all the parts from our local outboard dealer. It retained the integral tank and allowed the use of a standard external tank.

The thing to check is that the carb has a pump mechanism - normally a diaphragm chamber at the side of the carb,

Makes for peace of mind if you want to motor for a long distance.

Max

Alastair said...

If you get a bottle that is smaller than the capacity of the on-board tank and has a neck small enough to fit inside the tank then you can refuel by just up-ending the bottle into the tank.

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

I used to have the same issue with the old engine... how about one of these:

http://www.rlauto.com/contents/media/green%20petrol%20can.jpg

...but put an extension on it? Jubilee clip a host to the end of the flexible spout so you can stay inboard and just reach back with the hose???

steve said...

Thanks guys. Lovely ideas. At the moment it is quite manageable but in rough weather.......um, maybe not so. Anyway plenty to investigate. Thanks folks. Appreciate the tips
Steve