Mea Culpa, or "There but for the grace of God go I..."

[Freestyle]

Yesterday, we took delivery of Freestyle from a local yard after getting bottom paint, stabilizer service, and a new transducer.

My logs indicate we arrived at the yard at 20% (about 190 gallons) in two tanks. My aft tank gage is broken. The forward had been working but was not showing anything. The boat had been unplugged for too long and all battery voltages were low. So I did not take the fuel gage reading seriously.

An hour later, we lost the gen, then the port engine, and then the starboard main. I suspected a fuel issue so shut them down before sucking dry. Tow Boat US got us home.

The aft fill won't take fuel as something is in the pipe and fuel goes straight out of the vent.

All we can conclude is someone siphoned us dry while on the hard. We were right next to the slip where the crane hauls so it is easy to see how someone came in after hours, ran a hose to our boat, and pumped us dry.

I guess the lesson is locking fuel caps and trust whatever the gage says even if you do not like its attitude. Most of the time we carry several thousand dollars of fuel so this was an inexpensive lesson.

Has anyone else had their fuel stolen and where?

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54MY with ext)
Tampa

 

[madhatter1]

Re: Stolen Fuel

What yard? PM if you don’t want to say publicly. I’m in St Pete.

 

[JD5652]

Re: Stolen Fuel

What yard? PM if you don’t want to say publicly. I’m in St Pete.

Same inquiry here...

 

[ageless]

Re: Stolen Fuel

unreal---not that it will always stop them but we have 4 cameras mounted throughout the boat that always record and send notifications when there's movement. The deterrence is keeping the 50" TV in the salon on with the 4 views visible, no one likes to see themselves on camera when they're up to no good

 

[rsmith]

Re: Stolen Fuel

It’s highly unlikely unless they gained access to the inside of the boat. Most of our fill lined have multiple 90’s before they hit the tank. Plus you have to have something with a tank big enough to put it in. I do remember in the 80’s this being done but the boats were in the water and they got on the boat and cut a hole in the top of the tanks with a hole saw. Dropped the suction hose in and were prepared to haul azz if someone someone saw them. I remember several boats being hit in Lauderdale isles off Las Olas

 

[Pascal]

Re: Stolen Fuel

I don’t know how anyone could push a hose down the filler since most Hatteras have keel tanks with a 90 degree on top of the tank. No way a suction hose can be pushed past that

 

[ageless]

Re: Stolen Fuel

is it possible to pull the fuel out in the same fashion the blackwater tanks are pumped out?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Re: Stolen Fuel

is it possible to pull the fuel out in the same fashion the blackwater tanks are pumped out?

No, the fill pipe does not extend to the bottom of the tank like the pipe for the holding tanks does.

 

[SEVEN]

Re: Stolen Fuel

I don’t believe that anybody could siphon from the tanks. If they made their way into your boat and pulled the cap off and sucked it out from inside, that’s a possibility.

 

[Avenger]

Re: Stolen Fuel

The forward had been working but was not showing anything.

The aft fill won't take fuel as something is in the pipe and fuel goes straight out of the vent.

What I'm getting from your description is you were pulling from the forward tank and returning to the aft tank. Considering how these things are plumbed what's blocking your aft fill pipe and causing fuel to come out the vent is a full tank of fuel.

 

[doc g]

Re: Stolen Fuel

I thought the same as Derek that tank is full a "blockage "in the fill pipe would not allow you to pressurize the vent either. Vents are usually remote to the fill pipe anyhow........Pat

 

[cww]

Re: Stolen Fuel

99.9% likelihood this is the Karen-to-English-Translation on this one: I had one or more of my return valves set wrong so it pumped into the aft tank until I lost prime on everything running from the forward tank, now I'm blaming it on the marina stealing the fuel that's still sitting in the aft tank. I would bet money...

 

[Avenger]

Re: Stolen Fuel

99.9% likelihood this is the Karen-to-English-Translation on this one: I had one or more of my return valves set wrong so it pumped into the aft tank until I lost prime on everything running from the forward tank, now I'm blaming it on the marina stealing the fuel that's still sitting in the aft tank. I would bet money...

Sooooo, you calling me a Karen?

 

[cww]

Re: Stolen Fuel

Sooooo, you calling me a Karen?

I was being tongue in cheek, that said I think you should unscrew the fuel gauge on your aft tank and look in there and see if there's fuel in it. That and check the settings on your feed and return valves. Then we can answer the question of your Karen-hood objectively LOL

 

[Avenger]

Re: Stolen Fuel

I was being tongue in cheek, that said I think you should unscrew the fuel gauge on your aft tank and look in there and see if there's fuel in it. That and check the settings on your feed and return valves. Then we can answer the question of your Karen-hood objectively LOL

Ummm,... It ain't my boat.

I thought you were translating my previous post.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

[Freestyle]

Re: Stolen Fuel

Moderator, please change the title to the thread. No one stole any fuel/Operator Error as Usual

The oil change guy had left the priming valve open to both motors. I believe this allowed both to pull from the drained forward tank with the starboard motor returning fuel to the aft tank. Once the forward tank was drained to the aft tank, all of the motors shut down. The after market priming pump valves are not labeled so the problem wasn't visually obvious. The oil guy just made an honest mistake and we were further unaware because the aft tank fuel gage wasn't working so we couldn't see it fill.

I am disappointed in myself to jump to a victim based conclusion. The yard left the boat in the water tied with a stern line through the tuna door of the cockpit and otherwise a total mess. We had cruised 70 straight hours without incident from George Town to Tampa so everything was functioning when we got to the yard. Thus we jumped to the conclusion that blamed the yard or the derelict boat community anchored a few yards away.

I would rather discover that I am an idiot than have a broken boat. So I got my wish again.

Bruce

Freestyle
1985 62 CPMY (54MY with ext)
Tampa

 

[jim rosenthal]

I changed it, but I think you're being a bit rough on yourself. So I did not put "Operator Error" in there.

 

[Pascal]

Whenever you have people working on the boat, checking everything afterward is a must. It a a lesson I be heard the hard way over the years and which I still fail once in a while…fuel valves being moved, breakers being turned off, seacock left closed or mechanic on board for sea trial after maintenance not checking raw water pumps had re primed.

Full check is a must.

 

[Avenger]

So you stole your own fuel, and probably dumped gallons of it overboard in the process....

Good thing you didn't call the police.

 

[brettportzer]

These types of threads are great.

So much to consider, and learn!

There is no better learning experience than a close call!