Converting 1 water tank to fuel and adding watermaker on 47
I recently purchased my Swan 47 with the intent of cruising it from SoCal to Australia within the next year, with a crew of 5-6 people. I would like to have more fuel capacity, as it seems my 4-154 burns about 1.5 GPH,(under full load at appr. 7 kts) and at 55 gal tankage that works out to about 250 miles range. Since there are 3 water tanks, two of 40 and one of 45, and all the tanks are SS, how feasible is it to convert one of them to fuel and add a watermaker to the boat? I am trying to keep my systems as simple as possible, plus the fact that the boat simply does not have much extra space, so where would the watermaker go, and is it possible to gravity feed the converted tank into my fuel system? It seems impossible since the tank is below the engine level. Perhaps I should consider just setting up a transfer pump between it and one tank. Also this would require modifying the manifold for my water deck fill - it would have to have a separate deck plate and vent system. Any other considerations I should think about, or do you just recommend carrying jerry cans? My experiences with them cruising is that they are a PITA, difficult to lash well, stinky and leaky, and difficult to transfer into the fuel tanks w/o spilling. I would like to eliminate them if at all possible. Anyone done this to their Swan?

On my 48' I added an extra diesel tank ( about 50 ltr) which is positioned in the aft cabin just behind the freezer pannel. It is higher than the engine and therefore there is no need of any extra pump . To make things easier I added additional fuel tap/pipe/vent on deck , closer to the lazarette . On the line which goes from the tank to the engine I simply added a tap which I open when I want to use the extra tank .
To Increase the capacity a better idea could be to fit an inflatable diesel tank which is probably easier to fit inside a locker or under the flor but I don't know where to find one. My extra tank is a standard rigid one made out of plastic .
For the watermaker I decide to put all different parts in different places. Mine is engine driven and the high pressure pump (cat) sits under the engine ( I had to built a steel plate "made to fit") and has two pulleys driven by the engine with a standard "A" size belt. The first pulley is for what I call the mediteranean mode (engine revs at 2000) while the second one is for the ocean mode with the engine at 1200 revs.
Filters (3) are all under the sink and membranes ( 2 tubes , 1 meter each) are above the water tank under the floor.
The system is able to produce 145 l/h of fresh water
I did everything on my own with the help of a friend of mine who is very good in engeneering this sort of stuff.
fair winds
Sergio, Clarion of Skye 042/48

Dear 47/061