Yet another "Wow!" when I see one of your mods.
Do you have an estimate of how much the boat will draw when it's fully ready for an extended cruise?
Ok here is a picture when we were out on Lake Powell...
... We were loaded for a 30 day trip, turned into 18 days. There is a small wave going by the boat in the picture, but you can see about where it sits. We had quite a bit of gas in the laz (not good) and the main tank in the cockpit (I think about 10-12 gallons total). We had about 30 gallons of water or a little more and food and clothing and tools and lots of other stuff.
Since then I've added the ...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-33.html
....solar panels, which has added about 40-50 lbs. to the boat and we can now carry if we want 19 gallons of gas, so that is about another 50# over what was going on in the picture. I've upped the water capacity to about 40 gallons, so say another 80 lbs. there. The frig over the two coolers and ice in them adds about another maybe 20 lbs. So we might be 150 lb. more than in the picture if we tried to provision for 30 days again. Forgot we added the Manson Supreme 25 lb. anchor, but won't take the Danforth, so another 15 lb. there also. Ok throw in some stuff I forgot and let's say we are 250 lb. more than in the picture.
I looked at the Mac today and figured that it had at least a four foot average width at the waterline and closer to 5 foot. If the boat sat an inch lower in the water using the 4 foot width it would displace 500 lb. of water, so we would sit 1/2 and inch lower in the water than the picture. If you use a 5 foot average width then one inch lower would displace almost 700# of water, so now we wouldn't even be 1/2 inch lower in the water.
I pulled the trailer out from under the boat today and will sand the bottom tomorrow for barrier paint and bottom paint. I'm going to move all of that 1 inch above the waterline stripe in the picture or whatever it is called and then later will put a new stripe one inch above that. I want to make sure that the bottom paint is above the waterline as I've read that that is were most of the growth happens.
We really aren't concerned if we sit 1 1/2 to 2 inches lower in the water since we don't/won't race and I think the lighter boat there only helps accelerate on a new tack or maybe in real light wind. There are boats a lot heavier than ours that are the same length and have lower PHRF ratings.
Nice shape! still its less than 24hrs running time... but big enough, I figure...
what di you do about the fuel pickup?........still I'd figure you need at least 1 gallon to have steady supply.,,,
Hey Bill we can't stay up 24 hours, so that isn't a problem

. I agree that I'd want to try and not get under 1 gallon in the tank. The pickup is in their stock location that looks to be just off the bottom, but it is hard to tell.
Nice install. When the tank is full, what kind of heel angle do you need to have fuel come out of the vent line? I did something similiar, and ended up with a long "S" shaped vent line running from gunnel to gunnel. Besides the fire hazard, spilled fuel comes with a HUGE fine....
OK I went and checked. The vent is very high in the outboard well and it is 18 inches down to the tank and the tank is 20 inches long off one side of the vent and 26 off the other. It looks like I'd have to heel 35 degrees to port before I'd have a problem and over 40 degrees to starboard to have one and then only if the tank was filled to the very, very top. Under full to the top the the heel angle goes up. If we are heeled over 35 degrees and it isn't a knock-down situation Ruth will be leaving me :cry:. I'm going to try it where and how it is before I do anything. Having a loop or low spot in the vent line would stop it from working if any fluid collected there (why your sink doesn't stink).
Nice installation, Sum. Did you seal off the laz from the cabin? -Paul
Nope and don't intend to unless I get stopped and the Coast Guard has a problem with it. I've read and re-read the regs on it and came to the conclusion that if you have a tank that is vented outside of the compartment it is in that you don't need positive ventilation (blower). Now one thing that isn't so clear is the part that if you have something in the compartment that can generate a spark (inboard engine, switch, etc.) then positive ventilation is required. Now since the laz is connected to the cabin and way forward of the laz in the cabin you have spark producing items then positive ventilation is required. I have positive ventilation, so feel I'm covered. I'd be interested in reading something that says I'm not if you have it.
I do know that many, many Mac owners have gas cans in the laz and a lot of them have their outboard tank down there. These all vent into the laz and would fail their tests maybe. We had containers down there before, but kept the outboard tank where you have to have the vent open up in the cockpit. I think we are much safer now with this install.
One last thing is that the bottom of the laz is sealed from the cabin and fumes have to build up to the hole for the cockpit drain before they could spill into the cabin. That height is well above the intake for the blower ventilation.
Thanks for the input guys,
Sum
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