Stability issues with single engine and dual fuel tanks

[Mariner]

This may be unique to my boat, but I'm wondering if any other Express Trawler, or even Tournament Express owners have the same issue. My 36' Express Trawler has the single Caterpillar, and two ~175 gallon tanks on either side, and a single 40 gallon belly tank behind the engine. The engine draws off the belly tank, with a return line running to the starboard main tank. The two side tanks feed into the belly tank with two large 2" diameter hoses.

In general, this boat's hull shape makes it somewhat unstable as weight shifts around the boat. ie, if two adults are standing on one side, it will immediately list a good 5 degrees to that side. Then, as the fuel transfers through the belly tank, from one main tank to the other, the list gets worse. It's so bad that yesterday, a Vessel Assist boat chased me down in the harbor because he thought I was sinking. We all had a good laugh when my heavy-set friend walked to the other side to correct it, but it was concerning that it was that obvious.

Over the years, I've game-planned various solutions to the shifting fuel but can't some up with anything that seems like a practical solution, especially given the fact that it's a recirculating fuel system. So, for now, when we're not running, I simply close one of the valves, to at least keep things relatively level. But this doesn't help me when we ARE running, and the valves must both be open. And more to the point, the boat just seems like it moves a lot more from side to side than it should. As we were running through some current-induced chop yesterday, swaying wildly from side to side from the omnidirectional waves, I was watching the other, similarly-sized vessels plow through them with no issues.

Does anyone have similar issues with their Albin? What, if anything, have you done to correct it? Do I just need to add ballast in the bilge?

[MaasGuy]

Hi Mariner,

We have the same boat but ours is twin Cummins 270's. We have 2 saddle tanks that are 105 gallons each and a centerline tank that is 170 gallons. Sounds like the same setup though...both saddle tanks run into the center tank with valves at each one. We were out for Seafair this past weekend and it sure does like to roll side to side when taking the wakes from the beam. I have noticed that the trim tabs help a little while under way. Relatively new to us so I think it may just be the nature of the boat although the large center tank may help. (we do list a couple of degrees to starboard when at the dock).

[DesertAlbin736]

2" diameter hoses? That's a big flow rate! Can't really help much here, I'm an Albin 25 guy with a single 20 gallon tank feeding a 24 HP Yanmar burning 0.4 to 0.5 GPH at 6.5 knots. But I wonder if there were a way to run the recirc line into a T connection with a selector/splitter valve to send the return fuel equally to port & starboard tanks? I assume the belly tank draws equally from both side tanks and has a way to line up piping and valves to keep them balanced? Ha ha, you think a 36 is tender, try an A25. It snap rolls 30 deg to 30 deg in any beam seas over 2 ft.

By the way, Gig Harbor is a lovely town. We stopped there in 2016 on the way back from Bellingham & San Juans, (over the road, trailering our A25 on the way home to Phoenix) and bought a new Gig Harbor Nisqually 8 dinghy off their showroom floor. Wish we could afford a summer home there.

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[Nancy]

Hi Mariner --

I don't have any ideas for you other than to post in www.trawlerforum.com if you haven't already. Tons of people there with broad and deep experience. Will be interested to hear what you figure out.