88 Californian 45

I just purchased a very nice Californian 45 with twin 375 Cats in Jacksonville. My wife and I plan to use her as a relatively inexpensive liveaboard for the next 4-5 years while I am working down here in the Ft. Lauderdale area.

As a full-displacement trawler guy (past sales manager and charter captain for Great Harbour Trawlers), going back to planing hulls is turning out to be a re-learning experience! On that subject, I have a question for anyone with this style Californian. Which tanks do you draw from first? My broker insists that most people run the fuel out of their (relatively) high side auxiliary tanks first and then switch to the main (aft) tank. However, after running the boat the short distance from Jax to Green Cove Springs a few weeks ago, she sure seemed ass-heavy to me. Took a lot of tab to get the bow down and I was thinking that getting some of that weight out of the aft main tank might be preferable.

Any thoughts?

ERIC

I run my 48 primarly from the wing tanks. I went to Ft. Pierce a couple of years ago and never did fill up the aft tanks. I have the Detroits and MG 509 gears so I have a lot of weight down low. The aft tanks sit way low in the bilge so they are notorious for rotting out. This was the case with mine and they had to replace one prior to me purchasing the boat. Did you buy yours down at Lambs?

Yep. Bought it through Roger Hansen. Fortunately, on my boat the aft tank sits up above the bilge so was not rotten. Surveyor was rather surprised by that. Still, can't figure out why NOT to run off the aft tank...

kraftee said:

Yep. Bought it through Roger Hansen. Fortunately, on my boat the aft tank sits up above the bilge so was not rotten. Surveyor was rather surprised by that. Still, can't figure out why NOT to run off the aft tank...

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Well, I think many don't use the aft tank so it's not full to be run out of. But if you fill it as you do the others, then would seem to make a lot of sense to run out of it first.

I agree, nothing wrong with running from the aft first, if I were to take a trip to the islands definitely but for the most part my trips; 200 hundred gallons is enough and we have a tendency to hit marinas most nights so I just plan accordingly. Good luck with the boat, she was a real beauty and well maintained. I know the couple that took care of it for the owner. Where to plan to keep her?

Going to keep her in Pompano Beach at the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club - and live aboard her for the next five years or so. Going to be some Keys and Bahamas trips in her near future. Leaving Green Cove Springs on Wednesday for the trip south.

I am a late comer here but I always ran my 1989 45' from the aft tank. Only used the saddle tanks when I had to or thought the fuel was getting a little old. I put 900 hours on the 6-71 TIB's running in this configuration. Texas to Maine and back.

I usually ran 8.5 knots but at 20 knots having the aft tank a little down really helped her jump up on plane.

Kraftee, are you going to mount these fishtail rudders on your 45 Californian?

Fishtail rudders would have been nice on my 45. Since there was no prop protection even the slightest bump against the bottom cost a grand to fix the props.

I have a trawler style Cali (totally different boat) and carry 500 gal in 4 stern tanks. The one area that might be a concern, besides stability, is deck angle fore and aft, while not running.

When I use about 200 gal my stern rises enough that I get standing water on my walk around decks toward the stern. If you're in a rainy area, that becomes an issue as standing rain water will cause algae growth, slippery decks and the potential for leaks. At around 7.3 pounds per gallon, it doesn't take much to upset that balance.

Thanks Edelweiss. My stern tank is down from 200 gal to about 50 right now and I have not noticed any difference in the "rake" of the boat. We have had PLENTY of rain here in Florida over the past few months and no standing water or algae evident. I am much more concerned about the potential for condensation and algae growth INSIDE the mostly empty tank. Never had to worry about that with the composite tanks on our Great Harbours!

And Al, while I sure don't need the drag of big fishtails on this planning hull, you can bet that I would sure love to have those Great Harbour sand shoes protecting my props & rudders!

ERIC

kraftee said:

I am much more concerned about the potential for condensation and algae growth INSIDE the mostly empty tank. Never had to worry about that with the composite tanks on our Great Harbours!



ERIC

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Here's a good article on that: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/fuel_tankt_condensation