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Subject: Re: TWL: Cruising range of passagemakers
From: Robert Austin (thataway4@XXX.XXX)
Date: Tue Jan 01 2002 - 17:51:49 EST
Despite some suggestion that those who may have made passages in sailboats
should not post on this list, I shall continue to share my experience (and
perhaps use my spell checker more frequently), since a motorsailor shares
many of the same characteristics as a passagemaking motor vessel. I
averaged 150 to 175 miles a day in boats that had LWL of 41 to 46 feet.
This is a S/L of less than 1.0. This is a comfortable speed for
passagemaking. The fuel comsumption was slightly over 1 gallon an hour at
6.3 knots. The engines were both 85 HP. The beam was 12.5 feet in both
boats. Displacements were 18 to 30 tons. As Larry points out there is
absolutely no need for a passage making boat to have a S/L greater than 1.0.
Many modern "trawlers" have gotten beamer and heavier--for some reason to
pack more into a shorter boat.
This makes little sense to me. The cost of building a boat is not
necessarily propionate to length, but the weight is also a major factor.
I described Adriania, a 60 foot long, 10 foot beam, approximately 20 ton
aluminum vessel that crossed the Atlantic powered by a Perkins 4 108,
effectively a 35 hp engine.
I purchased a 200 gallon bladder tank which I secured in the bilge of my
Force 50--I lined the bilge, and the floor frames above the tank with a
polypropylene carpet, and secured the four corners with lashings to eye
bolts in the frames. This was a supplementary tank, and a transfer pump was
used to directly pump fuel to the main tanks as fuel was utilized. This
worked well for over three years. I had filled this tank in Portugal. The
night before I was to leave the Canary Islands to cross the Atlantic , I
smelled diesel. A quick check revealed a small amount of diesel in the
bilge. I sold all 200 gallons from the bladder tank in two hours to other
cruisers--and dumped the bladder tank in the trash--it was gone the next
day. I know that sportfishers often carry bladder tanks in their cockpits,
as they run from the gulf coast to the Western Caribbean.
Happy New Year to all!
Bob Austin,
30 foot single diesel aft cabin Carver
Pensacola, FL.
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