Imagine being out on the water on a fishing trip, only to run out of gas when you’re coming home. Worse yet, you find yourself in the middle of a shipping lane. That was the subject of a viral video on YouTube, where the stranded boat almost collided with a supertanker.
Can you imagine the horror of the situation?
Running out of fuel is no joke; it causes big emotional stress for you and everyone else on board. It presents a safety risk, and it’s also a huge pain in the neck for any captain when they see the tow and maintenance bill.
So, it’s a good idea to have a strategy to avoid running out of fuel at sea or on the lake, wouldn’t you agree? We’re all faulty creatures, but when we commit to checking before taking out the boat, we’re less likely to forget about fueling the tanks for the trip.
Here is our strategy on how to avoid running out of fuel.
Contents
Tune and Service the Engine
Book your motor for servicing once a year or twice a year, depending on its frequency of use. Boat motors run on the “hours” of service they provide. Most boat brands come with servicing requirements per hundred hours of service., Check your dealer manual for servicing details and keep to the serving schedule.
Fit the Right Propeller
There are different propellors available for different motors and different applications. For instance, a wakesports propellor is very different from the propellor on a fishing boat and different from the prop on a cruiser model. The propellers can increase performance and burn more fuel or add economy to the engine, helping you get more mileage out of the gas tank.
It’s also important to check on the condition of your props. If there is damage to the propellor, it reduces engine efficiency by more than 10%, depending on the extent of the damage. Even small pucks and corrosion damage can play a huge role in lowering propeller efficiency and fuel economy.
Clean the Hull
You’ll also need to clear the hull of all fouling at least once a season. Letting the barnacles and algae build on the hull is bad boat ownership. Ensuring the bottom is clean and free of fouling is important for improving the planing speed of the hull and improving fuel economy.
Fouling on the hull equals more friction on the surface and a huge reduction in planing speed. If you have a boat in a warm location like Florida, you’ll probably need to clean it at least once a week. Cooler waters up north may only require monthly cleaning.
Most marinas offer these services for a reasonable price if you can’t de-foul your hull yourself. Keep your boat in good condition to preserve its service life, ensuring longevity for the motor and optimal fuel economy.
Don’t Trust the Fuel Gauge
Fuel gauges can be notoriously inaccurate and unreliable. We’ve all seen movies where the boat captain taps the fuel gauge, and it suddenly goes from half-full to reserve. It might surprise you that this actually happens in real life.
Install a flow meter, and you won’t have to worry about the fuel gauge anymore. You connect the flow meter to the fuel line, where you have easy viewing access.
For example, if you have a 100-gallon fuel tank, you’ll know you’re at your reserve when the flow meter reads 90-gallons, showing you 90-gallons of fuel went from the tank to the engine. Rest the flow meter after each fill, and you’ll always know how much gas you have left in the tank.
Carry a Reserve
It’s important to carry a reserve with you if you think you’re going on a long journey. As mentioned, a five-gallon jug isn’t going to do much if you have a 40-foot cruiser. So, make sure your reserve is sufficient to give you an extra 10% of your total mileage.
Place your reserve storage in a secure area of the boat. Ensure it’s away from anything flammable and any chance of causing an accident at sea. The last thing you need is your reserve burning down your boat in the middle of the ocean.
Fill the Tank After Every Trip
If you use your boat all the time, make a rule of filling her halfway after every trip. This strategy means that you don’t have to take the risk of filling the whole tank and potentially losing the fuel in an event like a hurricane.
It also means that you’ll always have some fuel in the tank in case you leave the dock and forget to fuel up. Fuel additives used in diesel and gasoline mean that the fuel takes weeks, sometimes even months, to separate. So, you don’ have to worry about the gas separating in the tanks and ruining your fuel system.
Fill up the tank after each trip, and you also don’t have to worry about doing it again when you arrive at the dock early in the morning. That’s one less thing to worry about in your preparation. All you have to do is grab the ice, load the gear, grab your friends, and hot the water.
Rule of Thirds
Experienced sea dogs use this old saying when considering the range in the fuel tank. They say you need a third of a tank to get you to your destination, a third to get you home, and a third as your margin of error.
The changes in ocean conditions make the engine consumption somewhat unpredictable. If you’re heading out and the weather report says it could get windy in the afternoon, you will have to factor that into your fuel planning.
Always check the weather conditions before you leave port. Most Marine radios come with access to the NOAA ocean weather alert network. You get real-time reporting of severe weather events anywhere on the east or west coast or the Gulf.
The difference in wind speeds can make a huge difference in your fuel consumption. Going out in 25-mph winds is very different from 5-mph winds. More wind means more swell and more effort required by the motors to navigate you back home.
The rule of thirds is no joke, and the change in consumption often works out to be just right. You’ll find out how accurate it is over your career as a captain.
Log Your Distance
This brings us to our next point, logging your distance. When you keep accurate distance logging, you can plan your trips in advance using the data you collect.
Garmin and Simrad systems allow you to collect trip data, and you can model that on your PC to determine your consumption in different weather conditions.
There are plenty of apps you can use to assess your distance and your fuel consumption. When you have enough information, you’ll find that you have plenty of data to build accurate models for your engine’s fuel consumption in all weather conditions.
Know Your Boat’s Fuel Consumption
Do you know your boat’s fuel consumption? What is its burn rate measured in “Gallons-per-hour” (gph)? You need to know the gph of your boat at cruising speeds and mid-range speeds to determine how far you can get with your reserve.
Managing your reserve can mean the difference between getting back to the dock or having to call for a tow. Understanding these figures can help you calculate how much range you have left. This information gives you what you need to know to manage that fuel to ensure you reach your destination. There’s no need to power your way to the dock and burn the gas down before arriving at your destination.
Using the mid-range speeds, you can drop consumption figures by 30% to 40%, depending on the motor’s capacity and condition. Obviously, well-maintained engines will have better efficiency than those that need maintenance and attention.
Imagine you’re running the average 28-foot bowrider with twin 250-hp outboards. At 3,500-rpm cruising speeds, you’re in the upper 20-mph range, burning around 2.5 mpg. But at 4,500 pm, in the upper 30s, you’re burning 2-mpg more, or almost double the mpg rate.
So, learning to manage that burn rate and keep your eye on the gauge and the throttle is the best way to ensure you get back to the dock instead of calling for that tow.
What’s Your Plan B?
You’re out on the water enjoying the morning with your friends. You suddenly remember that you forgot to fill the tanks as you cast your first deep drop.
After you feel your heart sink in your chest, you start cursing. And after you finish cursing, you realize it’s pointless to beat yourself up at the situation.
The most important thing at the time is to ensure that everyone on board is safe and has the best chance of getting back to land. Check your mapping device to see where the closest port is to your location. If you’re far from home, you might be close to a port for an emergency fuel stop. That’s your plan B, so start making your way there right away.
It’s prudent to have a Plan B because, even when you have enough fuel, sometimes the weather can come up suddenly prevent you from returning to your home port. Prudent skippers give themselves many options; mark them down on your maps before heading out, so you know where they are. If things take a turn for the worse at sea – you have your Plan B.
Tips for Restarting the Motor After Running Out of Gas
After adding the fuel to the gas tank, it’s time to restart the engine. You might have to bleed the fuel line first to remove the air in the system. Most tanks feature a primer bulb that you squeeze to “prime” the system. After priming the system, the fuel pump feeds the gas back into the engine.
Sterndrive and large outboard motors have fuel pumps to refill the system. It’s important to note that a gallon jug of gas will not get you very far. You’ll need to get back to the dock as soon as possible. So, chances are you’ll have to cave for a rescue, which can get expensive.
The safety of people on board is your top priority, not refueling the boat. After everyone is safely on the dock, you can worry about refilling your boat. If you run the fuel tank dry, it’s usually a bigger thing than you expect.
The chances are that you sucked up sediment from the bottom of the tank, and that’s gone through the fuel filter and clogged it. It also means there’s a chance some of the finer sediment escaped the fuel filter and ended up in your engine.
That means you will need to fork over more money to service the fuel delivery system, clean the jets or the carbs, and put everything back together. Those extra expenses are enough to ensure you never leave the dock without sufficient fuel again.
In Closing – Follow this Checklist if You Run Out of Gas
- If you have the misfortune of running out of gas, try to anchor in a safe location, not in the channel.
- Don’t drift with empty fuel tanks.
- Check the charts and estimate your position.
- Ensure everyone on board is wearing a PFD.
- If there is a VHF-FM radio on board, contact the US Coast Guard on Channel 16.
- Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates and advise on your status.
- The US Coast Guard won’t dispatch rescue unless there’s a life-threatening emergency.
- However, they will alert a recovery tow service that you’ll have to pay a service fee for the rescue.
- You can also call the tow service yourself without contacting the coast guard. The rule is don’t call and clog up Channel 16 unless it’s an emergency.
- Using Channel 16 for non-emergency communications can result in a fine.
- Consider getting yourself towing insurance to cover you for rescue.
