Re: portable fuel tank as permenant tank??
USCG guidelines on ventilation as it pertains to portable tanks on outboard powered boats (from page 30 of above-referenced document):
Except for compartments “open to the atmosphere,” a natural ventilation system must be provided for each compartment in a boat that –
...[some verbiage concerning inboard engines]...
- contains a fuel tank that vents into that compartment; or
- contains a non-metallic fuel tank.
“Open to the atmosphere” means a compartment that has at least 15 square inches of open area directly exposed to the atmosphere for each cubic foot of net compartment volume.
It goes on to describe what an acceptable "natural ventilation system" is in terms of ducting, etc.
I know these are more "general guidelines" than actual rules, but I complied when I designed my rear deck, making sure that it had as little area in the compartment as possible, and one side open to the atmosphere.
It's not really that restrictive - to get "net compartment volume", measure the area of the compartment and subtract the area taken up by the tank(s) and anything else in there. If it's a tight fit, you don't need much opening to adequately vent the fumes.
I thought they would object to having fuel tanks & batteries in the same compartment, but they don't - I guess if it's vented well enough that's all that matters. I partitioned off my battery compartment anyway.
On filling up without removing the tanks - I forgot to mention that, in my opinion, if you're trailering, you might just have enough time for fumes to dissipate before you get to the lake, in which case, you just have to evaluate the risk of spillage in the boat. That's the main reason I put my tanks on the ground to refuel.
[note to JCF, thanks - I knew there was a difference - it's gotten lots harder to fill those portable tanks since the stations have beefed up the vapor recapture systems (or whatever they're called]
