Some lively sailing on Saturday led to a minor project so I thought I would
share and see how others have addressed this.

While racing yesterday we had winds of 15 gusting to 25.  At one point
while on port tack and maneuvering around some boats on starboard tack, a
big gust caught me by surprise while I was sheeted in tightly and we heeled
over enough to get a bit of water over the rail and into the cockpit before
I uncleated the mainsheet and headed up.  I probably had too much sail up
for the conditions.  My crew and I were both hiking out on the windward
gunwales looking down and holding on.  While heeled quite a bit, the gas
tank came tumbling down from it's spot under the port side cockpit bench.
You might observe that was not great seamanship on my part to get into that
situation and you would be right.  Fortunately nothing was hurt and it was
exciting!

The long, low, flat containers that I use for storage stayed put thanks to
a non-stick pad (the kind that you can use for shelving) that I roll out
and put underneath when I expect to be in conditions where I anticipate a
lot of heeling.

The weight in the gas tank sits up higher and it doesn't have as wide of a
bottom so can tumble down easier.  I just disconnected the gas tank from
the fuel line and shoved it back in place for the rest of the race until it
was time to motor into the dock at the end of the afternoon.

To secure the gas tank, I got some Scotch Dual Lock velcro like material
with a peel and stick adhesive on the back as well as 3M Command hooks
rated for 7 lbs.  The Scotch material is supposed to work wet or dry and is
supposedly rated for 10 lbs, though I don't know if the adhesive will stand
up to that.  I cut some of the Scotch strips to put on the gas tank and
where those strips come in contact with the boat surfaces.  I also ran a
shock cord from the two 3M hooks and around the gas tank handle.

I'll have to wait and see if that is sufficient to keep the gas tank in
place.  I wanted to avoid putting anything solid, such as a bar, to keep
things in place under the cockpit benches since people sometimes have an
instinct to put their feet there to brace when heeling even after being
instructed to put their feet on the edge of the leeward bench instead.

I'm guessing others have solved this in a variety of ways so feel free to
chime in if you would like to share your solution.  Alternatively, maybe
you all just stay in better control of your boat than I do to avoid
excessive heeling :)

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

GasTank02.jpg

GasTank01.jpg