|
|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
From: Peter Pisciotta (no email)
Date: Sat May 06 2006 - 15:03:12 EDT
> For me, the primary
> disadvantage is the boat's ride. Small boats
> without active stabilization
> tend to roll unpredictably, often in
> fairly gentle conditions. In contrast,
> a sail boat (under sail) tends to stay more
> or less at the same angle of
> heel.
All power boats are not the same. I can tell you Willard owners (full
displacement, double-enders, heavy ballast, low profile) tend to use
stabilization about 10% of the time when offshore. Nordhavn, which
are more plush but all that space comes at a price (bit more weight
aloft - still rock-solid boats, just a different design principle),
tend to run stabilizers all the time. In the power-boat world,
there's a bit of a holy war between outrigger stabilizers (paravanes)
and hydraulic stabilizers. To my tastes, steadying sails, unless
quite large, are generally minimally useful except in strong beam
winds.
Its hard to describe the motion of a full-displacement, ballasted
trawler. It's a gentle roll from side to side, maybe 5 degrees or so,
not enough to knock over a soda can or anything. I rather like it.
Most folks who buy an offshore-capable trawler had a lot of
experience in sailboats. They cite comfort, safety, and lack of
heeling as their motivators to go from sail to power. They also like
the light, airy cabin and the home-like amenities like washers and
dryers and air conditioning which is why sailboats are creeping up in
size too. For me, I just got cold one summer heading north on the
California coast aboard a sailboat. I got into power boats (trawlers,
actually) and have never looked back, though I still spend several
days offshore each year on a sailboat.
As far as cost, one post compared $7000 for sails versus Idlewild's
$20,000 for fuel. Perhaps, but sailors generally run their engine
quite a bit so there's still fuel cost on top of sails. And for a
comparably sized sailboat, spars, sails, rigging, running rigging,
wind instruments, winches, poles, furlers, etc. add-up really fast -
I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a ~55-foot sailboat have $10K-
$15K in 2/3-speed ST winches alone (more if there's a spinnaker
setup), and another $1000 or more in sheets/halyards. Given the total
cost of ownership, the operating difference between the two is
probably negligible, it just comes down to personal taste and
preference and where a cruiser is willing to take risk: because
sailing involves an elevated level of exposed, physical deck-work,
there's a bit more risk of personal injury aboard a sailboat. On a
powerboat, the risk is mechanical failure. Commercial fisherman have
the worst of both worlds - lots of exposed, physical deck work
combined with a reliance on their power plant. Just depends on what
you're comfortable with.
Just a different perspective but the goal is the same: love of the
ocean and adventure.
Peter
Willard 36 Trawler
San Francisco
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get to your groups with one click. Know instantly when new email arrives
http://us.click.yahoo.com/.7bhrC/MGxNAA/yQLSAA/A1TolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-cruising/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|