Identifying source of list

[rgano]

To the OP, I would cease and desist with the inventorying and possibly carting "stuff" off the boat in an effort to find out if that somehow causes the problem. Just decide what you need on your boat and put it where you think makes the most sense. Fill the various tanks to what you feel is a normal operating condition and use the aforementioned laser level (they are cheap and so useful) to determine what the list is. Now start with as many gallon jugs full of water as you can stuff down low in the bilge to level the boat. Be mindful not to affect the trim (fore and aft level) unless that is also you goal. Once you have her level, you can begin the process of replacing the water with something a lot smaller and denser until the list and water bottles are gone. It's not all that elegant a solution, but it also is well within your abilities to perform an iterative correction.

 

[t/t CVN69]

Sail boaters have it so easy.

So Steve-uears ago I was running a 60ft sailboat from a semi-reputable builder with a perpetual starboard list. Mirror cabins fwd, owner cabin aft on centerline. We had custom sheets made for fwd cabins including fitted bottom sheets. When they came back somehow we compared port and starboard sheets and round the port set was 1.5" wider. Out came the tape measure and after about 90min I had figured that the port side of the boat (forward anyway) was built noticeably wider off centerline than the stbd. More boat/more flotation thus starboard list. Go figure

 

[C lectric]

I used to have a pronounced list. I used several 5 gal. buckets to fill with water to estimate how much weight it would need to even out the balance. Once I got that figure I could estimate how much weight I needed to move to even things out.
I left the buckets in place untill I had the list virtually eliminated.
Rearranged batteries, from all down one side to a split location on either side of the bilge. Moved heavy tools for the same reasons.
Instead of several 5 gal pails of various stuff like oil supplies I used several MORE 1 gallon jugs which could be easily located in different spots.

Worked well.


Then the wee bit of list left could be dealt with by the trim tabs and that evened things out quite well.

Of course it meant battery alterations, building higher retaining wall attached to the E.R. floor. But it worked and although not absolutely perfect it is far better than what I was faced with.