CD 26 Water Tank Capacity

[mkaplan]

On my CD 26 I filled the water tank using 5 gallon jugs - the tank took 13 gallons. The owners manual says the boat has a 24 gallon tank. Either the manual is wrong or a prior owner changed the tank. Do any CD 26 owners know the size of their water tank?

[Jim Walsh]

The CD 31 has three water tanks, two are described in the owners manual, and on the builders plates on the tanks, as being “30 gallons”. I checked them several years ago to verify the capacity and they each hold 23 gallons. My third tank is the same story....supposed to be 20 gallons but in actuality 18 gallons. Don’t be surprised if you find a similar discrepancy.

[mkaplan]

Wow. So it appears that Cape Dory misrepresented the capacity of the water tanks. Is there any kind of backstory to this? Is this common in the boating industry and I'm the last to learn about it?

[Jim Walsh]

Wow. So it appears that Cape Dory misrepresented the capacity of the water tanks. Is there any kind of backstory to this? Is this common in the boating industry and I'm the last to learn about it?

My personal opinion is that the quality control people at CD neglected to confirm the water capacity of the tanks sourced from their provider. Below is a photo I took several years ago of the identification label affixed to one of my 23 gallon tanks. Trust but verify......

[jbenagh]

I think it was laziness and most customers didn't care.
The advertised volume seems to be the external dimensions but the tanks were built with baffles and rounded corners that greatly reduced the tank capacity.
I think my CD30 has about 45 gal capacity but advertised as 60. That's a lot.
Mostly not a problem until you go far from home.
Jeff

[Tod Mills]

I wonder if they originally planned on the larger tank but found that all that weight that far forward threw the boat out of trim?