how could this possibly happen

[WildBill]

Just another fun fact found out the hard way. My brother used to fish offshore in a smaller boat, a 19' Wahoo in rough sea's (an honest 5'-6') and his vent would get a little to close to the sea's if you catch my drift. He would ultimately suck in sea water through his fuel vent all day long. He would make it in and not notice anything was wrong but after a couple of trips and between sitting and refueling the problems would arise. We figured it out after a few years of fuel/water issue's. I'm assuming your talking about your 23' Sea Craft and not a smaller boat. But if you fish or travel through heavy sea's this could explain some of the water in your tank. You should know how close your vent opening is getting to the sea's once you think about it; and check which way its pointing (should be pointing aft and downward) the water tends to roll up the sides while running through the slop. It may or may not be whats causing your issue but just something I've experienced and thought I should share.
Good Luck
Wild Bill

[strick]

Originally Posted by WildBill

Just another fun fact found out the hard way. My brother used to fish offshore in a smaller boat, a 19' Wahoo in rough sea's (an honest 5'-6') and his vent would get a little to close to the sea's if you catch my drift. He would ultimately suck in sea water through his fuel vent all day long. l

I have had this happen beforeas well. Vent turned the wrong way (slightly forward)...taking turns very sharp (seacrafts are fun ) and bingo lots of water in fuel and tank had to be drained.

strick

[thedog]

Originally Posted by Blue_Heron

Seems a little far fetched to me. Water is heavier than gas, yes, but unless they brought along a fitting that made a tight seal with your deck fill, it would be a very slow messy process to capture gas pushed through a vent.

The water in the gas at the last fill up is unlikely, but I think more likely than the theft by water displacement scenario. Every time I've had water in my gas, it's been a problem with the tank. 12" is a bunch, though. Is your tank really 24"deep?
Dave

how can I run the boat till end of november and not have a problem, this is what burns me.
if I had 12" of water in the tank I would have never made it anywhere to fish.
over the winter 3-1/2 months the boat had a full cover over it. and was up in the air in a rack were there was no access to it. then it was down on a ground level rack for a week. how could the boat get 12" water in the tank in one week. it did not rain that week, we have had very little rain here in the last month. and if I left the cap open and put a big funnel in it , there is no way that 75 gallons of water could have gotten into the tank. in a weeks time.

[pelican]

a common problem - the most overlooked thing - a missing "o" ring on the fuel cap...

another potential area for this is actually caused by water leaking INTO the tank - don't laugh,i've seen this quite a few times - it's actually pretty common...you're not stating how old the boat is - or if that water was fresh or satwater...

[FishMagnet]

Could it be that he was told not to fill the tanks because old gasoline is not as good as new gasoline? Sitting in a tank for six months may result in the gas "going bad". Does Stabil completely stop the aging process or just retard it?

[bigdave]

as far as water in fuel issues bg chemical makes a great product that totally disapates water in gas or diesel.

[pelican]

Originally Posted by dave1972

Due to ethanol issues, I've been advised NOT to fill the tanks at the end of the season.

Run as much of the gas out of the tank as you can and still treat with startron.

The 43 gal. tank on my 20' is only 11.5" high and I can't imagine there being anywhere close

to a foot of water in your tank, even if it's 100 gal.

when i read someone,who recieved advice like this - i honestly shake my head...

"ethanol issues" - ethanol PROBLEMS,they're "problems" ,not "issues",are usually caused by water finding it's way into the tank - if you're experiencing a phase seperation problem,do a complete check out of the fuel system - it's allowing water in somewhere,find that cause,and your problem's solved...in order to preform that whole"check out" thing,the tank should be removed...

i winterize and store approx 40-45 boats every season - i've yet to have a phase seperation problem,after removing any of these boats from storage...

as far as fuel additives are concerned: i use stabil in the fall,NOTHING else,and i advise every client of the same,do not waste your money...

lots and lots of bad information,and old wive's tales concerning fuel...

[thedog]

Originally Posted by dave1972

Due to ethanol issues, I've been advised NOT to fill the tanks at the end of the season.

Run as much of the gas out of the tank as you can and still treat with startron.

The 43 gal. tank on my 20' is only 11.5" high and I can't imagine there being anywhere close

to a foot of water in your tank, even if it's 100 gal.

the tank is 150 gallons, over half the height of the tank is water now.