Message 10 of 11
Posted by member Dominic And Nicola Gribbin on Sunday 23 October 2005

Know the trouble! We split them port and starboard with no issues. You can fine tune the weight by using either the auxillary or starter battery to counteract list by virtue of their differing (presumably in your case) weights. Both aft floor lockers breath to cabin via hand recess on top side of moulding. Perfectly safe and adequate. Put both batts in battery boxes for added security and all will be fine. Regards D and N.

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Message 8 of 11
Posted by member Angus Geddes on Friday 19 August 2005

Thanks for this Dom, but where, what etc is the dual feed connecter purchased I have not managed to find one so am probably looking for the wrong thing ?

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Message 6 of 11
Posted by member Dominic And Nicola Gribbin on Wednesday 17 August 2005

Reference Angus's queries over linking fuel tanks.... I had the same problem present itself when readying Jura Pilot for her 2000+ mile cruise. As you may know, we opted to seperate 2 53 litre tanks for reasons of contingency and ease of use. As both feed seperately into a dual feed water seperator unit then onto the o/b, any air/water that is drawn into one fuel line, should it be run dry, is vented off automatically. It offers peace of mind and is safe as water,fuel contamination and drawn air are all real issue in the marine environment with linking multiple tanks straight to engine. In theory I guess multiple tanks can be T'd off ad-infinitum but you will always face air lock risks. Short of this, the old failsafe of mid water reconnecting from empty to full tanks is the only reliable way...just more stessfull and can be trick sometimes if no one is there to take the helm when underway. I had a connector break on me when at sea once effectively denying me accesss to a full tank. Recutting the hose and swapping connectors in the busy Poole shipping channel at the time was an un-nerving experince. So I know exactly what is going on I have two seperate bespoke Plastimo fuel guages to monitor both tanks independantly from the helm. No need to go aft and peer into the tank now! Hope this helps Dominic.

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Message 4 of 11
Posted by member Angus Geddes on Monday 15 August 2005

Hi Pete, I moved the batteries up against the bulkhead under my feet when at the helm in a plywood box/footrest. wing engine is on port side. It helps a bit. Re your idea I wonder if they could go even farther forard? Moving to the centre did not make that much differance for the amount of work, you would need long cables.But see this next bit...my stepbrother who is a very big lad came out the other day and had a kip in the cabin up forard. Amazing difference, I still had the trim tabs down and the bow was low enough to cover us with spray. retracted the tabs and she flew onto the plane. Andy's weight in the bow made fantastic improvements. Getting as much out of the stern also helps a lot but is not as easy as it sounds. I have wondered about moving fuel forard as well but see Doms report. The water tank sounds very good idea but I have my rubber dinghy in the bow locker ... it just fits! I would also like some ideas about plumbing two fuel tanks together? [can it be done] I have up to 4 X 25ltr plastic tanks but usually only carry 2 except for the longer trips. at the moment i swop the hose over after about 1.5 to 2 hours running time when the guage reads empty although there often seems to be a about 5 ltrs left.

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Message 2 of 11
Posted by member Dominic And Nicola Gribbin on Wednesday 13 October 2004

Hi Angus In our experience yes, weight distribution is very important. We have a 1993 Pilot with a quarter berth beneath the cooker/sink arrangement. This is a handy area for redistributing bateries but we didn't feel the need to do that and wanted to keep it for storage. We only located an Eberspacher diesel heater there.(fits very snugly I might add under the cooker too) We seperated our port and starboard batteries between both aft floor lockers. The heavier 105ah to starboard, the lighter 85ah starter battery to port. Combined with the 19kg Yamaha auxillary on our port side that very roughly balances off that.We had no issues lengthening the battery cables this far anyway. We added two 53 litre Plastimo fuel tanks via a twin feed water seperator to the fuel well. These Fit perfectly on the 1993 Pilot, vastly improving range and were cable strapped down (luggage type tension straps). No need for any extra enclosure, they are very tough/safe. Retrospectively we could have fitted a better fuel filling system, either via an external deck fitting or an extended fuel filler, feeding both tanks. On a circum navigation of GB filling from spare petrol cans was inevitably a neccessary but smelly, potentially dangerous business (spill-wise)and anything to improve this would be good. That is my next project. All this kit is a lot of weight over the transom, but 9 x 12 inch trim tabs easily accomodate the extra lift neccessary. We moved water storage out of the aft lockers to the forward cabin triangular bow locker and fitted a flexible 120 litre Plastimo triangular water tank, filled via a screw fit hose fitting to the exterior, just next to the anchor locker hatch. I have to say though, expereince has shown these give an unpleasant PVC taint to the water. Not impressed! Spare fuel, like yourself was stored whlst underway in the forward cabin sole along with the 4 man life raft. Other than all the usual compliment of warps, anchor chain and spare bruce anchor in the chain locker, we had no need for any extra weighting of the bow. However, we do have trim tabs and that is the key to all this. I think it is worth noting Hardy always saw the Pilot having a slightly bow-up attitude whilst underway and it probably deserves some caution in overwieghting the bow to bring it down. If you get into a big sea that is the last place you want to lose control from it plunging or 'pooping'. Yet again, and I know I go on about them, but trim tabs will give you that bow attitude control you are seeking. If you are cruising sheltered estuary/inland it is probably fine, but if you envisage longer sea passages, really they are essential. Hope that helps Dominic and Nicola.

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