I don't have space to store 4 scuba tanks on the back deck and I want to get weight off the stern. Is there any reason why scuba bottles can't be stored below in a sail locker if I make a rack to hold them securely?
Sounds good to me but personally I'd prefer mine on the stern to counter the chain up front. What are you sailing?
Select to expand quoteEastCoastSail said..
I don't have space to store 4 scuba tanks on the back deck and I want to get weight off the stern. Is there any reason why scuba bottles can't be stored below in a sail locker if I make a rack to hold them securely?
The navy dive boats always store the tanks down below midships.
Select to expand quotesaltiest1 said..
Sounds good to me but personally I'd prefer mine on the stern to counter the chain up front. What are you sailing?
Arends 33, heavy stern due to hotwater tank and Bukh.
Ramona's comment is interesting, why would anyone store a heavy lump - like a battery, chain, anchor or dive bottle - at the furthermost possible points, away from the center of a vessel, is beyond me.
I stored my dive bottle in the best spot I found on a 28 foot boat and it worked for me. (Yes, I know, work-safety people start salivating and having a fit now! 
)
Just as the 120 feet anchor-chain weighing 300lb was stored close to the mast-base, not in the chain locker, the heavy dive-bottle was not far from it, either.
Storing four of the suckers below, close to the center would make perfect sense, I certainly would not store them on the stern even on a fifty footer. 
