South Coast Sailboats
Removed fiberglass water tank up in bow nose, installed
battery platform
I have removed fiberglass water tank up in bow nose, installed
battery platform to accept up to four 12-volt deep cycle batteries
at the same time. Battery placement was then moved from stern
up into nose of the bow. 2 to 4 12V deep cycle batteries mounted
way up in the nose of the boat counter balances a tremendous amount
of weight carried in the stern of the boat. This levels out the
boat so that the tail is not dragging 6 or 8 inches deeper, or
more, than the bow of the boat. If you think about it, Before
the big rebuild, I used to have in the back of the boat, 2 - 6
gallon gas tanks, two 12 volt batteries, 1 - 6 hp Johnson motor,
1 anchor plus loads of other gear in the two lazzerrette. And
all that was before 2,3 or 4 husky guys would climb into the cotpit.
No wonder this boat used to be such a tail dragger.
Another point of information, when we carry four batteries
up in the nose of the boat, this goes a long way to counter-balancing
the heavy weight carried in the stern. If the water tank (that
is no longer there) carried 12 gallons of water at 8 pounds per
gallon, that would be 96 pounds of weight placed all the way up
in the nose to counter-balance the heavy weight carried in the
stern. Well, my stern is a little heavier than your average South
Coast Sailboat, so, 4 - 12V deep cycle batteries at maybe 35-40
pounds apiece would add up to a maximum of about 160 pounds. This
went a long way to rebalancing the boat so it does not drag its
tail deep in the water like it used to. I never used that old
water tank anyway, and it was always empty, therefore this was
the reason that my boat used to be such a tail dragger. All that
weight is mounted up where the water tank used to be. This helps
even out the weight (from front to back. As a result, when sitting
at the mooring, the stern usually hangs out of the water by only
about 1". This then drops back down and in the water when
we climb on board. This is a major plus. (A great upgrade for
a water tank that never got any use)
Click on a picture
to look at a larger version
Up in the battery compartment, I normally keep a small
12 volt battery charger plugged into a GFI outlet which is switched
back at the electrical panel. With the battery charger in place
and connected, I don't need to relocate everything found up in
the front berth to charge the batteries. I simply flip a switch,
and based upon the settings of my battery switches I can charge
one or two batteries at a time
