New Boat 1st Block trip - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

wdmso · 08-12-2014, 08:10 AM

Left Swansea at 0400 Full moon nice cruise out of the bay went out east passage saw what I assumed were squid boats off Soco beaches

then I thought I had hit funny fish jack pot ! several schools of marauding fish cast after cast nothing but no birds , after watching for several minutes I think they were mullet . they were ravenous
the headed to SW side of the Island 3 waying eels got 2 30lb class bass and a few blues one guy hooked into what they assume was a shark the had on the line for an hour
went for some fluke but got hammered by sea bass and scup

a confused sea on the ride home i am feeling it a bit today but 105 miles round trip 100gal of gas 4 on the adults on the boat and burned a Quarter of a tank of gas nice trip but i'll drive closer next time

zacs · 08-12-2014, 04:31 PM

i think those marauding fish are frigate mackerel. pushing rainbait? we ran into them in BI sound on Sunday. they look like baby albies and are almost impossible to catch. you have a 400gal gas tank?!

fish4striper · 08-12-2014, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacs

i think those marauding fish are frigate mackerel. pushing rainbait? we ran into them in BI sound on Sunday. they look like baby albies and are almost impossible to catch. you have a 400gal gas tank?!

Yeah we got one of those frigate mackeral on vacation. Hard to hook up,rain bait is so tiny tough to match the hatch.

wdmso · 08-12-2014, 05:58 PM

frigate mackerel ? looked up a photo that was them it was an amazing sight would not touch a sabki rig

sorry 100gal tank used a quarter

bobber · 08-12-2014, 06:21 PM

100 miles and you only burned 25 gallons??!?! thats pretty good mileage!

bassballer · 08-13-2014, 09:23 AM

damn i have a 96 gallon tank, with a merc 150 4stk and i usually burn about half of it on a similar run fron newport. what are you getting for numbers on that engine?

fish4striper · 08-13-2014, 10:29 AM

Visually looking at the gas gauge? Gas gauges can be all over the place. Best to be full at launch, then refill once back to see how you do for a long trip.

thefishingfreak · 08-13-2014, 10:36 AM

Fuel gauges on boats are liars.
You should reset your GPS trip every single time you fill up and get to know your exact numbers (mine is 1.2 mpg average) then you be very accurate every time
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

wdmso · 08-13-2014, 11:01 AM

All I know it was full when we left and at dock when we returned it was 3\4
not very scientific but all i had to go by

Yamaha performance numbers claim 5.4 gal an hour at 3500 rpm or 4.9 round up to 5 MPG added 4 hrs to the hour meter .. Avg 3800 rpm for the trip .. still would think I used more than 30 gals. I am not a speed guy

its the newest 4cyl F200xb motor

RIROCKHOUND · 08-13-2014, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefishingfreak

Fuel gauges on boats are liars.
You should reset your GPS trip every single time you fill up and get to know your exact numbers (mine is 1.2 mpg average) then you be very accurate every time
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Bingo.
the gauge on Val barely moves until we are coming in from the edge, even though we've burned 1/2 a tank....

Sea Dangles · 08-13-2014, 06:30 PM

I go by the gauge,on newer vessels they work great and are dependable. Certainly more so than voodoo math.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Raider Ronnie · 08-13-2014, 08:26 PM

I have the very the best gage ever made.
A wooden stick.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

big jay · 08-13-2014, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I have the very the best gage ever made.
A wooden stick.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Same here.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

iamskippy · 08-14-2014, 07:45 AM

I agree with Mike, top off burn full record hours, refuel to get exact usage and do the math. Win
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Mr. Sandman · 08-14-2014, 07:56 AM

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.