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Sticks will not work in most production boats anyway because you have to snake it down a fill hose. sticks are really no better than a fuel gauge and are a function of trim and list angle of the boat. You never get an accurate number..."About half or almost full or OH CRAP!" is usually the best you can get from a stick.
Computers today on modern engines tell exact fuel burn. Coupled with gps and a good tack and you have accurate speed-power-fuel consumption and range numbers for your boat. It is not a guessing game anymore. You should know exactly how much fuel you have, how much further you can run within 1% these days. I just produced these curves for a couple friends who have older boats that didn't have these engine computers. Actually the engines had the computers but they don't have the ability to access the data. So I did it manually...(see plot)
You can make a test run take the measurements once, plot it up and have a good idea of where your sweet spot is. Each boat will vary depending on a number of factors, hull type power plant load etc.... IMO the computers are very accurate. (to within a gallon or two on 250 gals) and when you buy your next boat make sure you have it.
On my old boat I had a flow scan and that measured very accurately how much fuel was consumed and it had a link to the gps so it gave an instantaneous mpg and kept track of how much you have left. Now the engine manufactures have all that built in.
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