When we bought our Viking, we always planned to be adventurous and wander as far as possible on cruising holidays. So, when we made an offer on Dreamtime, we asked for an extra fuel tank in the package. The problem was, all we got was the fuel tank and no means of fitting it!

Any Viking 26 CC owner will appreciate that the fuel locker is not the most easily accessible part of the boat. To gain access you have to lift a seat cushion, a heavy plywood baseboard and then the locker cover itself. With even the best planning, I knew that there would be a time when my fuel would run out mid cruise and I didn't want the kerfuffle of having to swap fuel hoses over while I was powerless, slowly drifting in the water. I needed an easier solution.

The fuel locker on dreamtime was big enough for two tanks, but only had a shelf for one:

The first job was to make a second shelf for the new tank. This was easily done by using a few bits of wood. Two cross-members each side could be screwed into the existing shelf at one end, and holes drilled in the adjoining locker wall at the other to take screws to fix it at the other end. Another thin strip of wood screwed to the underneath of these cross-members provided a lip for the shelf baseboard to sit on.

Now I needed to work out how to switch between tanks. A 3-way valve was purchased from Robert Owen Marine, along with barbed fittings, hose and clips. I could use this to control which tank was used and with careful placement, have it operable from outside of the fuel locker:

I decided I could use the cross-member to attach the brass valve to and drill a hole for the shaft to poke through into the aft cabin....simples!

This is what the final setup looks like:

And the valve fixed in place:

From the outside, I labelled the fuel cock like this:

The result is that now when I begin a day's cruising, I can vent and prime both tanks and the minute I hear a splutter from the outboard near the bottom of one tank, I quickly switch to the second tank and keep going. I hope that inspires someone looking to do the same...Happy Cruising!