{"id":14903,"date":"2025-08-12T10:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T10:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=14903"},"modified":"2025-08-12T10:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T10:02:22","slug":"do-you-need-to-carry-as-much-fuel-as-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=14903","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need to Carry as Much Fuel as Possible?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Do You Need to Carry as Much Fuel as Possible?<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"Boat's fuel tank\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/BTG725-SPL-Fuel-Capacity.jpg 1875w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Advances in technology and materials has changed the thinking on fuel capacity.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Jim Hendricks<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><iframe id=\"wxuzj5efbz\" src=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.dragonforms.com\/wxuzj5efbz\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Carrying as much fuel as possible ranked for many years as one of my most devoted beliefs, especially in the days of two-stroke outboards and heavy, overbuilt offshore hulls. But a recent fuel-tank retrofit project has led to an epiphany and a reevaluation of that belief.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Allow me to explain.<\/p>\n<p>The old aluminum fuel tank in my 22-foot center-\u00adconsole \u00adfiberglass boat had begun to leak, and so last year, my youngest son and I drained and tore out the old 88-gallon tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>True to form, I wanted to go big, but I discovered that the new design, once built, actually held less to the tune of 10 gallons, or 11 percent. A tad disappointed but otherwise pleased with the outcome, we put the 22-footer back to work, and an odd thing happened. My \u00addisappointment faded.<\/p>\n<p>Old-school thinking no longer seemed relevant. Unlike the \u201cold days,\u201d we now return from fishing 40 miles offshore with plenty of fuel, usually with more than half a tank. What\u2019s more, we have not yet violated the rule of thirds\u2014one-third to get out, one-third to get back, and one-third in reserve.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because of physics, in this case. But today\u2019s marine technologies are also increasing efficiency, and thus decreasing the need for the massive fuel capacities needed in the past. Here are five reasons why today you might not need as much fuel capacity as you did in the past.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stingier Outboards<\/h2>\n<p>Today\u2019s fuel-injected four-stroke outboards are a lot more fuel efficient than the carbureted two-strokes that dominated the market when I bought my boat in 1986. The old two-stroke outboards were particularly thirsty at offshore trolling speeds of 7 to 10 knots, forcing me on more than one occasion to carry as many as four 5-gallon fuel cans on deck in order to extend our offshore range and time on the water. By \u00adcomparison, today\u2019s four-stroke models sip fuel, \u00adminimizing the need to carry inordinate amounts of gas.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lighter Construction<\/h2>\n<p>Many of today\u2019s \u00adfiberglass boats weigh less than comparable models of yore thanks to advanced boatbuilding technology, which includes lightweight coring materials (versus wood), lighter and stronger fiber materials such as Kevlar and carbon fiber, and new vacuum-resin-infusion processes that eliminate excess resin. New boats are just as strong and durable as ever, maybe more so. And because they\u2019re lighter\u2014all other \u00adfactors being equal\u2014you don\u2019t need as much fuel to go the same distance as in the past.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Efficient Running Surfaces<\/h2>\n<p>Computer-aided design and \u00advirtual testing has resulted in slipperier hull \u00adsurfaces. This includes the increasing use of step-hulls by boatbuilders, as well as \u00adever-improving design methods, including \u00adcomputer-aided design and virtual testing of running surfaces before actual production begins. As a result, boats skim the water with greater efficiency than ever before, and so\u2014again, with all other factors being equal\u2014they burn comparatively less fuel than models of yesteryear.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/how-to\/avoid-running-out-of-fuel-while-boating\/\">How to Avoid Running Out of Fuel While Boating<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dynamic Trim Control<\/h2>\n<p>Recent advances in automatic attitude-\u00adcontrol technology are also increasing efficiency. A notable example is the Seakeeper Ride, which I recently installed on my boat. Instead of using a heavy hand in deploying trim tabs\u2014which increases drag and reduces efficiency\u2014the Ride system responds with blinding speed to bring down the bow to slice through a wave but then immediately lets the bow rise between waves to cruise more efficiently, I have found in my testing.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Fuel, Less Weight<\/h2>\n<p>Carrying less fuel is a bit of self-\u00adfulfilling prophecy when it comes to fuel efficiency. As I mentioned earlier, that\u2019s just a law of physics. My boat lost 60 pounds with 10 gallons less gas when the tank is full, and as I pointed out, the lighter your boat becomes, the less fuel\u2014and money\u2014you will burn through.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/do-you-need-to-carry-as-much-fuel-as-possible\/\">Do You Need to Carry as Much Fuel as Possible?<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/\">Boating Mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    Jim Hendricks<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/do-you-need-to-carry-as-much-fuel-as-possible\/\">Go to boatingmag<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do You Need to Carry as Much Fuel as Possible? Advances in technology and materials has changed the thinking on fuel capacity. Jim Hendricks Carrying as much fuel as possible ranked for many years as one of my most devoted beliefs, especially in the days of two-stroke outboards and heavy, overbuilt offshore hulls. But a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5157,126,148,167],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-14903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-august-september-2025","category-boatingmag","category-boats","category-engines","tag-boatingmag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}