New to Yachting - Fuel Level

The insurance market is just down right crazy. I'm a well seasoned owner/operator and have worked in the commercial world for almost 40 years now. I have trouble getting insurance. Most of my trouble comes from my location and vintage of my boat but still have issues with underwriter's citing all kinds of silly issues. Nearly half of my annual costs are now insurance! I've never had a claim and there's never been a hurricane in my location. It just sucks!

Oh, and get ready to get feedback from some on your selections above. They don't refer to Azimut as Mutts without good reason

Used to follow (she vanished) an older woman who had purchased a 70 ft. Hat M/Y as her first boat to run and liveaboard. Personally I thought she was well out of her league and evidently so did insurance underwriters. She eventually went with one that required a licensed captain but if she underwent 50 hours of "hands on" instruction and after that signing she was "good to go," she could go on her own. After the policy ran out in 12 months the terms of the renewal changed so she went back on the hunt, eventually finding one where she would not need a captain. I recall warning her about "fly by night" insurance companies as ages ago when I didn't know better, had one that wrote a small Donzi always kept in a dry rack building until one night I left her in a slip I owned behind my condo and low & behold in the AM she was on the bottom. Long story short, learned the next day the insurance company had gone bust so claim was never paid and the cause of the sinking never found.

Why are you looking so large?

-Chris

Depends on capacity and features. Prices vary widely. I installed a 750 gal/day top quality unit. I think I paid around $16k for the equipt. That was 5 years ago so add inflation. Installation depends on boat and available space.

Many various ones out there in 12, 24, 110., and 220 v. Can always be added. Prices I've seen run from 3500. on up and a case that size matters.

I figure the best place would be the top of the buggy top on the tower; replacing the obsolete dome presently there. Since the front tower legs don't line up with the solid bridge roof that's bolted together it that has to get undone and then forced open with a wedge. Like you said, running the wire and I've no clue how to deal with the topside of the buggy top. Need a lift like the yard has and the electronic company I use is only a few blocks from the last yard I was in and may again visit come May for some bottom paint.

It’s not as much water as you think. The 750 gal/day is if you run the machine for a solid 24 hrs. I certainly don’t need 750 gals/day. It makes about 30 gals/hour. I went with a bigger machine so I would only have to run it for 2-3 hours to get a decent amount of water.

Ah.

Well, I can suggest you might be able to do all that in something smaller, then, depending. First: saloon, dinette, cockpit, and flybridge can be four distinct (and "semi-private") spaces, even if seemingly connected. (We've got all that in a 58'.) A raised pilothouse can add another separate space. (Friends with a 45 RPH have that.)

Might also depend on how many people in "families" and/or how many simultaneous "families" might be visiting. (We could sleep 7 guests, in a pinch: 4 in two staterooms, 2 in saloon pull-out, 1 on the enclosed heated flybridge. Not actually gonna happen, but it's an example of length versus body count... We just routinely limit our guest capacity to 4x max.)

And then schedules often get in the way of "the great party" dream. For example, we have friends who would love to come visit, but... it seldom really happens... just because our calendars are almost never in alignment. Even when they do come visit, it rarely means more than a couple days. Or once, when we had our previous smaller boat, family and friends came to visit (separately) and they stayed in the hotel just across the parking lot for overnights.

Not meaning to talk you out of something... just suggesting your starting idea of minimum might be more than you'd actually need. If you find the boat that fits YOU, you can often adapt it to occasionally handle those other hangers-on...

-Chris

Another "minor" thing that may not have been mentioned but I've noticed in postings is dockage availability. Seems to be a growing shortage in many areas and the larger the vessel the greater the shortage. Also, not all marinas permit liveaboard and many cities have their own restrictions on them. At only 46 ft. and owning private dock I've not experienced the above but I do know liveaboard in my city is only permitted in one of the two marinas. Code was changed several years back after one was discovered behind a private home, where now if found aboard after 2am ( I think that's the correct code time) you're considered a liveaboard.

Yeah, that's the ticket. It's not as important to make 750 in 24 hours. It's more important to be able to make 50+ gallons in a hurry.

I'll add, if you have multiple tanks, and your use limits your consumption to a point where you don't turn your fuel inventory, then you should really consider fully vacating tanks so they are completely empty. Partial tanks encourage condensation. My rule of thumb has always been to keep tanks full, to fully empty any tank when transferring fuel, and to keep an accurate fuel log that includes polishing cycles and filter changes. Unlike the Pentagon, I can pass an annual fuel audit. But water of any amount in your fuel is one of your biggest enemies on board...