Moving from WA configuration to sport cruiser-gctid398817

[Guest Close Guest]

So having owned WA style fishing boats, I've always been used to what I consider a "normal" size fuel tank. 150-250 gallons on a 26' - 28' boat giving about 2-300+ miles range and about 100 miles on very rough seas. So my entire family has started to enjoy boating ... the women want a proper head and galley. So I now have a 1998 Bayliner Ciera 2655. I just cannot get used to the 70 gallon fuel tank.

In shopping around ... all other sport cruisers have the same size tank. Usually 70-80 gallon ... Searay, Larson, Maxum (RIP), Chaparral etc... even the mightly Commander 26 with a 10' beam and twin engine only has 100 gallon capacity. For the price of a Commander, I would like to see two 150 gallon tanks.

Anyways, does this bother any other sport cruiser owners? Has anyone ever thought of increasing your fuel capacity? How?

Here are some ideas I've been kicking around

- Get rid of the captains chair seat post, stuff a fuel cell there. But I don't like the location and I don't like all that weight so high up.

- Move the hot water tank from the port to startboard side, move the batteries to the empty space under the steps, move the battery charger and selector switch to same area to get rid of electrical in port aft section. This leaves that entire area free for a custom made fuel cell which I calculate I can fit a 50 gallon tank. Less work than the next option but still a lot of work.

- Get rid of the fresh water tank, put a fuel tank in its place. But that is a lot of cutting of course.

[Guest Close Guest]

It's a totally different style of boating; when you're trolling for fish, you can appreciate that huge fuel capacity (especially when 50+ miles offshore!)....now that you've swapped boating styles (cruiser= point to point destination boating) you have to swap your mindset.

Might be time to consider a 32' diesel cruiser- big tanks, great amenities, and fantastic range....

[Guest Close Guest]

Oh my, that's a lot of work. Is it because you actually need to use that much fuel in a weekend? Have you ever had any close calls? Granted I have no experience with large boats, I have a 12 gallon tank that I fill maybe twice a year. When boating the mississippi river I only used maybe 5 gallons in a weekend, maybe. But I'm off topic, i have a 160OB with a 60HP motor.

My main question is, do you want the fuel capacity, or have you actually needed it? You can buy a big comfy walkaround with all the amenities, but it'll cost ya $$$$$$

[Guest Close Guest]

makonnen wrote:
So having owned WA style fishing boats, I've always been used to what I consider a "normal" size fuel tank. 150-250 gallons on a 26' - 28' boat giving about 2-300+ miles range and about 100 miles on very rough seas. So my entire family has started to enjoy boating ... the women want a proper head and galley. So I now have a 1998 Bayliner Ciera 2655. I just cannot get used to the 70 gallon fuel tank.

In shopping around ... all other sport cruisers have the same size tank. Usually 70-80 gallon ... Searay, Larson, Maxum (RIP), Chaparral etc... even the mightly Commander 26 with a 10' beam and twin engine only has 100 gallon capacity. For the price of a Commander, I would like to see two 150 gallon tanks.

Anyways, does this bother any other sport cruiser owners? Has anyone ever thought of increasing your fuel capacity? How?

Here are some ideas I've been kicking around

- Get rid of the captains chair seat post, stuff a fuel cell there. But I don't like the location and I don't like all that weight so high up.

- Move the hot water tank from the port to startboard side, move the batteries to the empty space under the steps, move the battery charger and selector switch to same area to get rid of electrical in port aft section. This leaves that entire area free for a custom made fuel cell which I calculate I can fit a 50 gallon tank. Less work than the next option but still a lot of work.

- Get rid of the fresh water tank, put a fuel tank in its place. But that is a lot of cutting of course.

The problem with that is the weight distribution, there is already too much weight on the port side. I think you would have issues leveling out the boat.

[Guest Close Guest]

Pau Hana wrote:
It's a totally different style of boating; when you're trolling for fish, you can appreciate that huge fuel capacity (especially when 50+ miles offshore!)....now that you've swapped boating styles (cruiser= point to point destination boating) you have to swap your mindset.

Might be time to consider a 32' diesel cruiser- big tanks, great amenities, and fantastic range....

Yea I thought of that but I need to be able to easily tow it. 8'6" is the widest I'd like to go to avoid any wide-load restrictions.

I tried moorage a few years ago, I find it very restricting to be limited to the same places over and over again.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

You'll be changing the OEM balance and handling characteristics of the boat if you were to do this.

[Guest Close Guest]

JasonS wrote:
Oh my, that's a lot of work. Is it because you actually need to use that much fuel in a weekend? Have you ever had any close calls? Granted I have no experience with large boats, I have a 12 gallon tank that I fill maybe twice a year. When boating the mississippi river I only used maybe 5 gallons in a weekend, maybe. But I'm off topic, i have a 160OB with a 60HP motor.

My main question is, do you want the fuel capacity, or have you actually needed it? You can buy a big comfy walkaround with all the amenities, but it'll cost ya $$$$$$

Well we do a lot of fishing, crabbing, prawning and lots of exploring. We don't go for many day trips but prefer week-long trips or even longer. The "new" Ciera 2655 has elx downriggers, 9.9 trolling motor, rod holders etc... the difference is that it also has a galley, full head with shower and 110V ... all stuff that my Trophy never had. But I sacrificed probably half my range.

Put it this way, Trophy 2502 = 140 gallon tank. Ciera 2655 70 gallon tank. Both with 8'6" beam.

I thought of that too. The smallest WA cuddy I can get with those features would be a 2802 Trophy (I looked at several, kick-*** machines). That would be a 9'6" beam and a bit big for towing and most I looked at do not come with a trailer. If I go cruiser, I can get as small as a 24' Ciera or Ciera Classic (2452) with all of those things.

[Guest Close Guest]

2850Bounty wrote:
You'll be changing the OEM balance and handling characteristics of the boat if you were to do this.

Good point. I might hire the services of an engineering firm if I were to seriously do this.

[Guest Close Guest]

tank1023 wrote:
The problem with that is the weight distribution, there is already too much weight on the port side. I think you would have issues leveling out the boat.

Good point.

Maybe two fuel cells, one on the port and one on the SB side ... and a fuel transfer / levelling system. This is what medium duty trucks do with dual fuel tanks.

So 70-80 gallons on a 26' boat with 8'6" beam doesn't bother anyone else but me??

[kwb Guru Find all posts View Profile Close kwb]

different style of boating - you don't need the capacity since you are never that far from a fuel dock.

Adding 100 or so gallons to a boat that size is 600# (plus tank weight) that is like having three buddies on board (or 5 hotties). These small pocket cruisers are very weight sensitive, often struggle to plane when loaded heavily and 99% of people would rather have the stowage for more food/clothes/other stuff. That add in if the tanks are full you start pushing trailerability limits which is another big marketing point of the 24-26' 8'6" beam boats.

[Guest Close Guest]

It would bother me a bit, but not too much. I'm translating , your dilemma as one of "boat-that-does-everything-itis"...

At this point, I'd be looking at something like a 270 Amberjack, Shamrock 270 Mackinaw, or something similar to meet as many needs as possible- OR, accept the fuel capacity of your boat and enjoy the happiness of having the family onboard.....

[Guest Close Guest]

Maybe I can find a fat guy to sit in the bildge port side while I plane and see how it feels haha!

[TenMile Guru Find all posts View Profile Close TenMile]

I made a very similar move -- actually a series of moves similar to what you describe. First boat was a 19' Striper WA -- fishing only, but then we started weekend cruising and liked it. Second boat was a Striper 2600 Sport Cabin. This was a good combination that did the fishing well, and cruising OK. It has a 130Gal fuel tank so the range was similar to your Tropy, but had an enclosed head, galley and convertible dinette with a V-berth and single quarter berth. A little tight however for more than 3 people however and we have 4 in our family.

Current boat is a 288 and I do find that I am still able to balance the fishing and cruising well. Fuel capacity is 115Gal so the range is still 100-200mi. Galley, head and sleeping accommodations are much much better than the Striper. The Striper had a "doghouse" on the back deck used to access the I/O engine (or a pod with the OB config) and you lost a ton of space. The 288 has a much much much better engine compartment below decks that is HUGE.

So far I find that the 288 is better at everything except handling in the wind particularly around the docks. With the flybridge up top it gets blown around so if I'm fishing alone, it's a ton of work but I've got it rigged up so I can do it. I take it to the west coast of Vancouver Island each August (t-minus 2 weeks) and it's very comfortable fishing offshore.

All that to say -- if you consider trading up again -- the 288 (aka 2858) does the fishing and crusing thing very well.

[Guest Close Guest]

Yea I moved from a Trophy 2052 to a Ciera 1655. Both have the same sized gas tanks - 70 gallons ... I am totally determined to get my range back on the Ciera. I'm aiming for a total capacity of 100-120 gallons.

Same experience on the Trophy, there was a doghouse in the back that held the engine. But we've grown to work around it. It became a table for me to prep bait, then when the family started coming with me, it bacame the table for the kids to eat. I used to stand on it to fish when we went out for bottom fish.

115 gallon on a 288 is reasonable. Pretty good actually. Most other 288's (Larson, Baylonder, Chaparral, Regal etc...) come 70-90 gallons for that configuration.

My 2655 is a 5.7 with Bravo III. I have read some reports that the Bravo III will give me a "significantly" lower RPM planing and crusing speed than a similarly equipped boat with an Alpha 1. We will see today.

I also noticed in doing the bottom paint on the Trophy 2052 and Ciera 2655 that the 2655 doesn't use that much more bottom paint when painting to the water line. I don't know THAT much about boats, but it seems the Ciera's hull doesn't sit as far into the water as the Trophy. But this isn't an exact measurement.