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Water Tank Size

Warren Holybee

Active Member
Morgan 382 #256
I have the standard starboard "55" gallon water tank, and the optional port side "40" gallon tank. From dry, they took 45 gallons, and 30 gallons. Is this a known discrepancy?

I'm about to cross the pacific with a crew of 5. Not happy to learn I have 20 gallons less water than I thought.
 
Morgan 382 #256
I have the standard starboard "55" gallon water tank, and the optional port side "40" gallon tank. From dry, they took 45 gallons, and 30 gallons. Is this a known discrepancy?

I'm about to cross the pacific with a crew of 5. Not happy to learn I have 20 gallons less water than I thought.
Warren
Is it possible that the port tank was fitted with a smaller “optional” tank to leave room for storage? The port tank full on our vessel #219 causes a list to port when full. I’ve never measured it. Just a thought. Someone may have opted for a smaller tank.
 
I've had the top off the port side, and the tank fits the space. There is no extra storage. It appears in every way to be the factory tank. And the Starboard tank is 10 gallons short as well, 45 instead of 55.

Interestingly, I list to Starboard with both tanks dry, and even more Starboard with both full.
 
I've had the top off the port side, and the tank fits the space. There is no extra storage. It appears in every way to be the factory tank. And the Starboard tank is 10 gallons short as well, 45 instead of 55.

Interestingly, I list to Starboard with both tanks dry, and even more Starboard with both full.
That’s really unusual. I’ve seen 5 or 6 M382 vessels in the water dry and they all had a slight list to port. The head, shower, stove, icebox, port locker are all on the port side. With water in our starboard tank only we are balanced.
Now I want to measure the actual water content of our 2 tanks. How did you measure yours?
 
Warren,
My 1978 owners manual states: "Water tankage (Rotomolded Polyethylene...60 gal. (Liner in FRP structure) 60 gal."
In an an article from "Motor Boating and Sailing" in 1978, the tankage was listed as 55 gallons.
No mention of an optional tank or its capacity.
Listing to starboard?
My observation on the port list after almost 40 years is similar. The galley and cabinets, hot water heater, ice box sail locker and the head are on the port side. The batteries (maybe 4 group 27?) under the quarter berth are aft of the other mass. Sorta makes my head spin. I'm back in the East Bay until the 20th. If you are around this weekend maybe I could meet at your boat and kick some of those last minute variables around.
"Two heads are better than one, even if the're both cabbage"
Cheers,
John
 
https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-56854-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EW4D0VVNQVDKY473JT3C

I suppose if your locker is full, galley stocked, icebox full etc. Those are generally empty on my boat. Otherwise, the starboard side has the nav table, batteries and quarter berth. I would think it should be fairly balanced.
Yes ...but that’s what I meant by “dry” sorry. We race ...nothing we don’t need is on the boat. A couple sandwiches and water...if you are lucky. We once emptied the entire contents of the boat onto the dock just to see and weigh what was there ...

I’m not an engineer but I believe for that style flow meter to be accurate you need constant 40psi ...Somebody else here would know. Run it into a known 5 gallon jug. See if it is accurate. My literature (you probably have the same) says 55 gallon starboard 45 gallon option to port.
 
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Warren
Dana has both the port and stbd factory water tanks. At first I believed there was close to 100 gallons of water on board. To get an accurate way to measure the amount I filled each tank at 5 gallon increments and marked dowels that I insert at the inspection plates. I did this up on land in the yard. I now have accurate measuring sticks for both tanks. What I did find was that both tanks are over represented in the literature. The stbd tank actually holds 45 gallons and the port tank holds 35 gallons for a total of 80 gallons. That number may be off a bit for my sloppy pouring but it's close enough. Good luck in the race, have fun!

Jim
 
Warren
Dana has both the port and stbd factory water tanks. At first I believed there was close to 100 gallons of water on board. To get an accurate way to measure the amount I filled each tank at 5 gallon increments and marked dowels that I insert at the inspection plates. I did this up on land in the yard. I now have accurate measuring sticks for both tanks. What I did find was that both tanks are over represented in the literature. The stbd tank actually holds 45 gallons and the port tank holds 35 gallons for a total of 80 gallons. That number may be off a bit for my sloppy pouring but it's close enough. Good luck in the race, have fun!

Jim
Wow...that’s kind of a lot ...20% less! Good to know though. 20 gallons could be the difference between surviving and not if you are at sea longer than planned.
160lbs less weight...good to know.
 
Warren,
My 1978 owners manual states: "Water tankage (Rotomolded Polyethylene...60 gal. (Liner in FRP structure) 60 gal."
In an an article from "Motor Boating and Sailing" in 1978, the tankage was listed as 55 gallons.
No mention of an optional tank or its capacity.
Listing to starboard?
My observation on the port list after almost 40 years is similar. The galley and cabinets, hot water heater, ice box sail locker and the head are on the port side. The batteries (maybe 4 group 27?) under the quarter berth are aft of the other mass. Sorta makes my head spin. I'm back in the East Bay until the 20th. If you are around this weekend maybe I could meet at your boat and kick some of those last minute variables around.
"Two heads are better than one, even if the're both cabbage"
Cheers,
John
I'm probably free on Sunday. Give me a call if you get a chance, 707-971-9502.
 
I understand that they cheated on the measurements, measuring the outside of the tanks and then calculating volume from this measurements. I always assumed I had about 90 gallons; now I know better. But the limits were why I got a water maker for my trip around the Eastern Pacific.
 
I understand that they cheated on the measurements, measuring the outside of the tanks and then calculating volume from this measurements. I always assumed I had about 90 gallons; now I know better. But the limits were why I got a water maker for my trip around the Eastern Pacific.

The rules for the Pac Cup require that a water maker not be used even if one is available. We have to bring our own water. 75 gallons/14 days/5 crew is a gallon per day per person. I hope to make the passage in under 12 days, but would rather have a bit more water. I'm considering a 5 gallon jerry can of water, and figuring that in an emergency a quart per person per day gives us another 4 days. But I'd sure rather have the missing 20 gallons in our main tanks.
 
The rules for the Pac Cup require that a water maker not be used even if one is available. We have to bring our own water. 75 gallons/14 days/5 crew is a gallon per day per person. I hope to make the passage in under 12 days, but would rather have a bit more water. I'm considering a 5 gallon jerry can of water, and figuring that in an emergency a quart per person per day gives us another 4 days. But I'd sure rather have the missing 20 gallons in our main tanks.
Warren
I’d recommend allowing 14 days. The 75 gallons sound right. 100 sounds better. It can get real hot.
 
Warren
What if you carried extra water in gerry jugs stored in the shower. Use them up early in the race. That may give you that margin of safety your are looking for.
Jim
 
I hold approximately 80 gallons on HuskaBean, too. Measured from empty using 5-gallon jerry cans. For cruising, I carried an additional 10 on deck until I bought a Rainman water maker.
 
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