Range Question in 20ft master angler
 

Hey Guys,

I am trying to find out my range so I can figure out where I can fish/troll and get back safely. I have an 1982 20ft master angler fish with 200hp yamaha offshore series.

I believe I am the 3rd owner. I asked previous owner whom I bought boat from about gas tank and they do not know if its original. Its hard for me to know the size since I constantly fill it up.

Is there an easy way I could find out what size tank is? Or is there a safe guess on what my range would be? I read somewhere that the standard original tank was 42 gallons.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Justin

The 20' boats built by Potter in the 70s had 40ish gallon tanks. An '82 20' hull would have been built by Seacraft industries. My '83 20SF (also a Seacraft Industries hull) has a 70 gal tank. I don't know if they used the same size in the MAs.

If you have an inspection plate above the tank, you may be able to see the data plate on the tank. Otherwise, you'll have to pull the tank hatch (PIA) or just run it to near empty and fill it up to see how much it takes.

Dave

Edit - In one post you say '85, in this thread you say '82. Assuming from your username it's an '85. Either way, it's a Seacraft Industries hull.

its a '85 sorry for they typo. I will see if I can find a plate. I read that they came with a 42 unless they option for the 70 gallon was chosen. I will see if I can find a plate.

Thanks!

Your safe cruising range is 2/3 your maximum cruising range.
For instance, my old 20' Seafari came with a factory 29 gallon tank, 27.5 gallons usable.
With my 90 Optimax, I used an average of 4.7 gph at cruise speed of 25 statute mph, or about 5.3 mpg. This gave me a maximum range of 145 miles on a single tank to fuel exhaustion.
My safe cruising range was therefore 97 miles. I used to just figure on 100 miles as my cruising range.

From time to time, I used to greatly exceed that, necessitating the carrying of extra fuel on the deck. I would go fishing and diving for a weekend out to the Florida Middle Grounds, to a spot that was 105 miles offshore, so I carried an extra 60 gallons of fuel in 2 30 gal. blue barrels on the deck, burning that fuel first, and then lashing the barrels on the foredeck/cabin roof. No problem.

No, I never made the trip alone as the only boat going. The smallest party was 3 boats, with a 41' Cruisers as our "motel" offshore. Once we had 7 boats cruising together out and back for a long weekend.