What is a workable plan for drawing fuel given the multiple tanks?
There are several schools of thought. The first is to simply leave all the valves open so fuel is drawn-from and returned-to all the tanks simultaneously. The second school of thought is summed up well by the following from Greymalkin (#71). Given the multiple tanks, you have an advantage in drawing from only one at a time, not just opening everything up. You can measure each tank (fuel-flow gauge, dipstick or Tank-Tender) and know how much you have remaining. You have the other tanks in reserve until you switch to them, and all this makes being mindful of the old “1/3-1/3-1/3” rule easy: No sudden “oops!” when all four tanks hit bottom. A couple summers ago, we found another advantage. In a hurry, (always a mistake!) we raced to fill the water tank at the last minute. (You can see this coming, can’t you?) Yep—-right into the starboard fuel tanks. I was lucky—-we were running on the portside aft tank for about 5 miles before I noticed where the water stains were on the deck—-nowher
