Advice on lashing jerry cans ondeck

[robertsapp]

I can't remember what the name of those boards are that many cruisers fix up between a pair of stanchions to provide a place to tie off jerry cans on deck. But I've noticed over the years that most sailors make them out of varnished wood, and lash them in place. Occasionally I notice that someone had "a better idea," and made them out of Starboard or some other composite material. Here's my question. Is there some reason why you can't just add a rail made out of stainless tubing, attached to a pair of stanchions with bimini fittings? I'm just not understanding why almost everyone adds a couple of large chunks of varnished wood to their topside maintenance regimen. Does using a stainless rail violate some ancient law of the sea? Can any of you Old Salts tell me what I'm missing or failing to understand?

 

[RobertLangdirect]

Maybe the specifically selected, precisely engineered, meticulously measured, ornately carved, and highly varnished woodwork is to compensate for the FUGLY jerry cans?

 

[redhead78]

I think what u r asking about r called monkey boards or pinrails, they r usually, a really nice, piece of hardwood, and loose running rigging and haylards are held on them, very nautical, what u need is a pile-on dock board, between the stantions, I seen them made from 4 or 6" pvc pipe also and are deployed over fenders hangin from the rail. It depends on how fancy u want them... Red

 

[seadaddler]

$$$$$

I think it's about the $$$$ cost and even more important is strength,I used treated wood from HD and than painted them after a year or so and I think the wood is stronger than stainless round tubing may flex and maybe bend out of shape maybe.
I recently saw stainless tubing on a sailboat and thinking about doing the stainless but thinking hard which would be better for strength and maintance also,I am always cleaning the stainless on my boat aand the wood has be good so much with out any extra work.
I used stainless U bolts to fasten the wood to the stanchons and use straping to hold jugs to the wood when I sailed from NY to Florida all ocean.
Nick

 

[Stu Jackson]

It's a repetitively dumb idea.

The weakest link are the stanchions. Just about every week someone writes in and asks how to rebed their stanchions. Stanchions flex from even regular use. Adding the load of two or three jerry jugs full of fuel at 8 to 9 pounds per gallon is NOT a good idea.

For those with sugar scoop and/or open transoms, find some way to lash them down back there.

For those without, find a different way than stanchions to lash the jugs on deck.

And FWIW most of the stories I've read is that the guys who added the jugs didn't use them anyway. Plan ahead, find fuel, read and use Active Captain for fuel sources. Unless you're going to Cape Horn (deliberate exaggeration), most of the time a reasonable sized boat should have a good amount of fuel in its own fuel tank. We've got 23 gallons, say 20 useable, at 1/2 gallon per hour is 40 hours at 5 knots is 200 miles. There are a lot of fuel pumps within that radius, even going up the coast from SF to Seattle, where harbors are no further than 70 miles apart. Really.

 

[robertsapp]

We're fixing the boat up to head down to the Caribbean, and the idea is to have enough fuel onboard to not have to start every passage from a fuel pier. I know that when it comes to boat things, sometimes there are perfectly good reasons that things are done a certain way, but the reason is lost to the mists of time. I'm just curious if there's a reason why using a stainless frame rather than a big hunk of wood would be a really bad idea (besides the whole issue of anchoring to the stanchions).

 

[Stu Jackson]

Stainless vs. wood: your boat, your choice.

Have a great trip.

 

[Charles Erwin]

A plank can have more than one use however.

Charles

 

[jibes138]

Big hunk of wood = cheap

Stainless frame = expensive

For a long offshore passage, say out to Bermuda or from say Newport to Norfolk, that is longer than 200 miles (and maybe you also have a generator on board for power to run lights all night for several nights) you might want a bit more fuel than comes in the tank.

 

[jibes138]

Another reason to use jugs. If you don't trust the fuel going into the tank you can fill up the jugs then run it through a filter with a transfer pump on the way into the tank. Essentially polishing the new fuel to remove water and crud. I just built a small portable unit for just this purpose. All the fuel going in my tank will be filtered first.

 

[redhead78]

If u say bungee or lash a 2x6 between 2 stantions, It will not make it weaker or cause them to break, if so you have other problems. If u tie say half way down, any jerry cans will be fine, there is no actual weight on the stantion. On a long trip I would have an extra 25 gallons of fresh water and couple cans of diesel....Red

 

[seadaddler]

Strong

I would check the stanchons to make sue they are in good condition and secure for sure but I did it when sailing down from NY to Floria with no problems and when traveling far from marina's that extra fuel sure comes in handy for sure but if just coastal than no need for them.
I have sailing all around florida over the years have seen many a sailboat carrying jugs of fuel and water on deck many many times mostly live a boards, but I found carrying extra fuel comes in very handy and less wasted time waiting my turn into a marina for fuel wheen one of those big power boats is getting fueled up and taking his sweet time and no room for me on a busy windy day,really depends on where you are planing to travel to and how far between Marina's.
I did it to see how it would work out doing so first and have tthe wood ssince 22008 on my sailboat,every one does theeir own thing but sure make sure it is good and safe.
Nick

 

[Peppercorn]

It seems that while talking with a dock mate, they added the timber because they were headed down the Tombigbee Waterway with 10 locks. The boards were added for additional protection from the sides walls or what ever else they had to raft up to. Sacrificial lumber.

 

[gettinthere]

I added stainless tube with rail clamps on both sides for the 4 diesel & 2 gas jugs we carry while cruising east coast & Bahamas. We definitely need the extra jugs as we've made several 200+ mile runs with no wind the whole way. Even with shorter hops, the extra capacity means we can skip the expensive places. And AC is very unreliable for up to date fuel pricing. Many listings are dated 2012.

 

[Ron20324]

I had a number of old bimini/dodger bows sitting around, so made the can-tiedown with the SS tube. Also makes a good place to tie on fenders instead of on the lifelines. Also, it gives extra support to the lifelines/stanchions. I plan to put another rail on the oposite side of the boat.

 

[higgs]

If your stanchions cannot support the weight of those fuel cans you have got other problems. I think the choice between wood or a stainless tube is a matter of personal choice and expense.

 

[koolfrog]

If your stanchions cannot support the weight of those fuel cans you have got other problems. I think the choice between wood or a stainless tube is a matter of personal choice and expense.

I use the planks of composite deck covering sold at home depot with lightening holes cut into them : strong , no maintenance. BTW since they are attached to 2 stanchions with U-Bolts they spread the loads and ease the forces on the said stanchions.

 

[Kordie]

I lash mine to a nice sized space next to my arch.

That's four jerrycans with diesel. An extra 80 litres.





I am considering adding some more capacity for a couple of petrol jerrycans and maybe even additional water. But I am concerned about that additional weight against my stanchions. Especially if I get breaking water across my deck.

Anyway here is a picture showing the lashing, my jack stays were too long for my boat. I delayed cutting them to size and glad I did because the tails are just right to tie down the jerrycans with.

 

[PaulK]

When we needed to carry extra fuel for a transatlantic trip, our skipper lashed them into the cockpit footwell with a plank over the top of them. This reduced the volume of water the cockpit could hold (though we never really got enough water aboard to fill it) and provided another surface to stand or sit on in the shelter of the dodger. When it gets really rough, cans lashed to stanchions can be washed away or, as mentioned above, cause undue strain and damage to both the stanchions and lifelines.

 

[Ross]

I can get about 20 miles per gallon if I am not in a hurry so I carry a spare can with about five gallons in it. There have been a few passages where the winds failed us and we had to motor a lot. But we could never carry enough fuel to cross an ocean so we plan to carry more food and water.