I've just moved up from a 2003 Journey (258) that I had for 10 years to a 2004 Marlin (300) - so far very happy as the boat is very familiar, but different and bigger, but not too big.
One subject I have questions on is how to manage the two fuel tanks. There are two 150ish gallon fuel tanks - the aux behind the main. Since most of my trips are short, I was thinking of generally keeping one near empty so I'm not hauling around all that extra weight. That brings up a few questions / issues:
- is it better to get the weight forward (closer to the middle) than more toward the stern?
- will a near empty tank invite condensation in enough quantity to matter?
- other issues?
The boat's performance seems great when full... So, that is an option, but seems less economical.
One subject I have questions on is how to manage the two fuel tanks. There are two 150ish gallon fuel tanks - the aux behind the main. Since most of my trips are short, I was thinking of generally keeping one near empty so I'm not hauling around all that extra weight. That brings up a few questions / issues:
- is it better to get the weight forward (closer to the middle) than more toward the stern?
- will a near empty tank invite condensation in enough quantity to matter?
- other issues?
The boat's performance seems great when full... So, that is an option, but seems less economical.