My little piece of peace

Boat is going on the hard around 19 Oct... Replace propellers, Check all through-hull-fittings, Apply carpet to the bridge-deck saloon, Carry out checks on all systems...

Also planning to refuel and be ready with 1350 litres of fuel...

 

Keep us updated, mas. Are you adding some sort of stabilizer to that fuel, to keep it from degrading if it sets for a while?

 

No, preparing for another trip, and some fuel use tests first... I store the fuel in 20 and 25 litre containers so when in remote regions I can carry about 10 containers in my 'rubber-duckie' at a time from shore to boat etc... Full load is about 1.68 tonnes (3700 pounds) for a range around 1500 miles at 5 or 6 knots with the old propellers... It will be interesting to see what I will get ... and what my maximum speed will be ???

Australian diesel, it seems, is reputed to be a lot more refined from the normal in USA (from what visiting yachties have suggested), but like recreational fishermen and the size of their catch, 'cruising' boaties are not disinclined to extend the truth somewhat...

 

Throw in some penicillin.

 

Why?, I will get it in PNG if I need to... I can buy almost any pharmaceutical there, and it is cheaper than elsewhere in the 'west' and no need for a prescription...

11:34h - looking N and W and S out the window and clouds are gathering "C'mon rain"...... Likely a passing shower at most, or Vega (rain that does not reach the ground)...

 

Ha Ive forgotten when I last bought fuel, I know I have about a ton or more, the computers say I have approx 600liters per tank. Its at least 7 years old--I think.

Stabalizer, you mean methelated spirits sold to Sunday afternoon mechanics at wall mart.

Double Ha!! an American air pilot gave me gallons of petrol because he said it was old --he said it was 3 months old he he he. I wated till he left before I put it in the dinghy.

I dont blame them--if I sold petrol I too would put out ridiculous roumers too.

 

I guess the fuel in USA must have a built in expiry date (well the new stuff anyway) as I read a story in one of the cruising mags about 10 years ago where a cache of diesel fuel was discovered on Ovau Island, just south of Bougainville Island, 50 years old and still good, left by the USA after the end of WW2... For some unknown reason, your post Frosty, reminded me...

 

The expiry date is from the ethanol mixed into gasoline in many places. Here one supplier pays an extra 10 cents on the gallon for gasoline without ethanol. I fill up at that pump so I can fill my tank and not have the ethanol break down.

I've run gas with stabalizer added that was 3 years old when boat was in storage. Is your 7 year old fuel diesel?

 

Hi IMP-ish, Frosty's fuel would be diesel, almost like bottled kerosene, (except it has a bit of "lubricant" and "detergent" to keep the injectors clean), that you would get from a hardware store... Malaysia & Australia use TAPIS from Singapore...

 

Diesel looses x amount of its correct length molecules to disassociation over time. I can't remember what the process is called or what the mechanisms behind it are. After that the remaining molecules can last quite a while, its just the fuel isn't as good. The real killer is bacteria and other crap that can grow in the tank, that stuff can feed off the fuel and you end up with sludge. So I guess it depends on how it was packaged and how it was stored. Full tanks are way better than mostly empty because of condensation providing the medium for bacterial growth, the fuel being the food source.

Gasoline is way less stable because its a shorter chain molecule and it disassociates even faster. evaporates easier and at lower temps. Not sure if anything grows in it but it does go foul and eventually won't work at all.

My two cents

Frosty you probably had really clean tanks and you topped them off. Then you likely didn't add fuel after that, assuming the fuels still good and you were avoiding contamination. So the real question is, have you been out for a spin on this million year old fuel? and how did it run?

 

Bacteria lives in fuel/water level. It is easily killed by the fuel additives designed specifically for the purpose. Keeping the tanks full, helps eliminate condensation in the air section of the tank, thus reducing the amount of water from condensation that forms in the bottom of the tank.

 

Thanks Boston & Landlubber,
I was on the outlook for a fuel polishing system before starting the build, but they are frightfully expensive... I have heard of the old milk separators by AlfaLaval were effective but clearing sales from old dairy farms are also an event from 20 years ago...

My best option is to continue with my 20 and 25 litre (5.3 and 6.6 gallon) storage system and ensuring that the oldest is used first - easy to do and with no left-over or residual contamination...

3 weeks to propeller change over day (October 19 or shortly thereafter)...
92765

 

I made a fuel polisher it an old 12 V pump off an old constant running type auto pilot. They were actually fitted to aircraft too.

I just run this through a plastic water filter and then through a replaceble cannister type oil filter. I is all mounted of the STB engine room bulk head.

With a few valves N stuff I can clean one tank and dump it in the other or visa virsa. This is apparantly illegal in USA as they are sooo dumb they coud leave it on and flood the recipeint tank and flood the Marina.

 

Who is "they"? Your constant put-downs of the USA as a whole are tiresome Frosty. How long did you live in the USA again?

 

Hi Frosty,
That is a good idea... Next build, as there is almost no room inside present engine bay
I am also thinking of more effective filtering of the engine oil and larger "external sump" to facilitate longer intervals between oil changes