Gas Engine Liveaboard

[JeffN]

Hi all, I understand living on a gas engined boat is like living in a fireworks factory but do some do it anyway? This may be a 'someday' scene and I'm more comfy working on gas v diesel and know most of the pros/cons. If it ended up being and older gas boat, I'd install new tanks right off since both of my last 2 boats tanks went at inconvenient times...

 

[boatbum]

The worst of it in either world is fuel fumes. We slept over the aft diesel tank and if we filled the tank we knew it that night. The same was true of a gasser we had but we slept in the bow while the tanks were in the sides outboard of the engines. At this point I would fill the tanks, let things settle out and see if the odor abates. Fume detectors would be most appropriate.
Depending on tank, engines, and hose locations the fumes may not be that bad. MY's with aft cabins might tend to have more odor in the aft cabin IMHO. Unless they had a cockpit and v drives with tanks aft.

 

[PascalG]

Whether gas or diesel there should be no smell and no fumes after fueling. If there is, you have a leak somewhere either at the top of the tank or thru the vent hose. With a diesel boat, it may just be an inconvenience but on a gaser it s a safety problem.

I m not a big fan of gas boats for safety reasons but had them for 20 years before diesel and never had an issue. I used to replace the fuel lines every 6 to 7 years as precaution.

and yes fume detectors are an absolute must.

 

[Stephen]

I've slept many a night on my boat (gasser) and never smelled fumes. My biggest problem is that I have no AC. When the kids were small, the heat never bothered them. But it seemed that there was never a breeze when it was over 90 and I would just lay there and sweat.

 

[rwidman2]

If you smell gas or diesel fumes inside your boat, you have a problem and should fix it ASAP.

That said, diesel fumes will not explode but gasoline fumes can and do explode. Diesel is much preferred for living aboard and even cruising where you will be effectively living aboard for days or weeks at a time.

I would never go back to gas.

 

[HOGAN]

Agree that if you smell fumes, you need to find out where they are coming from and fix it. We hold 432 gallons of diesel, have never had any fuel smell inside our boat