8 Knots - Are you kidding?

[BandB]

I can enjoy things quickly and with speed and give me more time to do other things as well. My wife isn't terribly satisfied with that however.

Wifey B: I don't like not having a plotter or radar or anything I can look at to see where I am and the traffic around and the direction and check things out. So, I just have to sit and do nothing. Well, not nothing. I do find things to do. We're supposed to try to go to sleep right after dinner, but I don't know if I can. Need to because there is no tonight, tonight.

 

[Bigsfish]

I know I'm a little late joining this party and to be fair I do have a boat that cruises about 17 knots. I prefer this because if I have to get someplace fast because of weather or other I have the ability to do so. We go to the Bahamas cruising at 17-18 knots and once there usually go at 7-8 knots. Once we were almost to Georgetown when a hurricane made a turn and headed to where we were, we left early in the morning, stopped in Nassau for fuel and continued on to Chub, next morning we left for Miami. Speed was a wonderful thing to have on that trip.

 

[sbu22]

My old Viking will still do it's advertised 27 k. At that rate, it's burning fuel like a DC-3. 13-14 k is a comfortable "cruising" speed if you don't care about fuel burn.

Normally - trawler speed (7-8k). Able to sneak up on wildlife and hold a low decibel conversation, while sipping fuel. If I had a little more rudder surface, it would be perfect all the time. As it is, as long as I don't have a following sea, we do trawler speed.

Quoting (I think) from an old Greyhound ad - "Getting there is half the fun." Or more.

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: Rode one horse power means of transportation today. Walk at 4 mph, slow trot around 10 mph and gallop around 25 or 30 mph. Rode about 3 hours. Fuel required was some hay, a couple of carrots, some feed and about 2 gallons of water. Very efficient.

 

[O C Diver]

Wifey B: Rode one horse power means of transportation today. Walk at 4 mph, slow trot around 10 mph and gallop around 25 or 30 mph. Rode about 3 hours. Fuel required was some hay, a couple of carrots, some feed and about 2 gallons of water. Very efficient.

Yes, but the labor maintenance costs or personal hours, is exponentially greater than most boat engines.....and then there's mucking out the stall. Like so many things, better to rent than to own.

Ted

 

[McGillicuddy]

So, where are we? I am leaning towards a semi-displacement, with a good sized ER. I want 2 heads, preferably separate standup showers in each, but I would compromise with only one separate standup shower. This is the set up we currently have on our boat and it works fine, even when we have guests overnighting. I would prefer a raised pilot house, with side doors for easy exit to assist with lines when needed. We want an island master bed, something we don't have now. Other considerations - one or two engines? I am not a fan of an aft cabin where the cockpit is raised. I like the cockpit at water level, with easy access to the swim platform. Well, where do I go from here? What boats should I be researching? I am thinking 43 to 50', and controlling price with age of boat. Price is kind of up in the air, but I would think at least $300k, with room to go up if I fall in love with the perfect boat, a Unicorn.

Thanks again for all the input.

Jeff

You can get everything on your list in a Cheoy Lee trawler. The original ocean going trawlers. But they are scarce as hens teeth.

 

[BandB]

Yes, but the labor maintenance costs or personal hours, is exponentially greater than most boat engines.....and then there's mucking out the stall. Like so many things, better to rent than to own.

Ted

Wifey B: Or just ride at the grandparents of a friends home in Spain. They have acres and acres and stables and pastures. We have city sized lots in FLL.

Tomorrow we get out on the water. Never been on the Med.

Only two days on the water. Boat on water has 7200 hp.

 

[Bigsfish]

It's the exhaust that worries me. Seinfeld had an episode with Kamer driving a handsome cab in NY.

 

[Dani-lu]

Per factory input, our Borg Warner Velvet Drive trany can withstand free wheel rotation. In addition to keeping it at slow speed for sake of the trany I also switch engines running time about every 30 to 45 minutes. Can't be too careful IMO.


Check with your trany mfg to see if free wheeling in OK.

I never thought about the transmission when running on one engine. I guess I better look into this now. But, I was always concerned about free wheeling melting the shaft seal. Especially if you don't have a crossover hose between your port and starboard shaft seals, the spinning shaft will burn up your ahaft seal without having the water to cool it down.

 

[Art]

I never thought about the transmission when running on one engine. I guess I better look into this now. But, I was always concerned about free wheeling melting the shaft seal. Especially if you don't have a crossover hose between your port and starboard shaft seals, the spinning shaft will burn up your ahaft seal without having the water to cool it down.

Melted "dripless" shaft seal will likely happen if you have dripless shaft seals. I stopped using those many years ago due to failure potential of sinking boat as well as no free wheeling without heat damage when there was no functioning crossover hose... which, when crossover is installed, creates another "dripless seal" failure point.

You can always lock tight the shaft from non running engine. Locked prop creates a bit more drag than free wheeling prop. Also, will take a bit of time/effort to lock the shaft so it can't get loose - plenty of inventive options to accomplish that. You might be lucky and invent a simple, quick action, fool proof and affordable "lock-it-tight" shaft binder that can be patented and sells like crazy! Only one I've read about costs a bit, some effort to install.


SHAFT LOK INC. Since 1979: http://www.shaftlok.com/
Marine Shaft Lock, Boat Propeller Shaft Brake. “Shaft Lok”keeps propeller shaft from turning. For boat owners with Twin Engines slow down and save BIG on Diesel.
Email:Shaftlok.ix.netcom.com
New Berlin, Wisconsin 53151 USA
Contact Anne:
Phone: 262 786 6800


For packing a standard stuffing box... you might want to visit:


Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

 

[Dani-lu]

Wifey B: Rode one horse power means of transportation today. Walk at 4 mph, slow trot around 10 mph and gallop around 25 or 30 mph. Rode about 3 hours. Fuel required was some hay, a couple of carrots, some feed and about 2 gallons of water. Very efficient.

I agree that when the engineers converted actual horse power to engines, they underestimated the efficiency of a well taken care of horse!

 

[Steve91T]

Can you just put the transmission in gear? Surely the compression will keep the prop from turning.

 

[Bigsfish]

I needed to lock the shaft one and used a large vice grip to lock down on a two inch sharft and tied it off with some 1/4 lines. Did over 200 mikes with no problems. Easy fix.

 

[ljk]

Going slow

I love cruising at 7 or 8 knots, much more enjoyable, and the boat is "liveable" while cruising.

However, I can only do that alone or with buddies. When "Admiral" is aboard, its 16-17 knots, she want to get there!

 

[hmason]

It's the exhaust that worries me. Seinfeld had an episode with Kamer driving a handsome cab in NY.

The exhaust was a problem when he fed the horse Beefaroni IIRC

 

[Bigsfish]

Howard

Really? Your going to blame the Beefaroni? LMAO

 

[Al]

The Admiral has a great saying: In a go-fast boat you have to hurry to get where you're going; in our boat, we're already where we're going.

'Tip of the hat' to your Admiral. An outstanding observation and one which I intend to abscond.

 

[Art]

'Tip of the hat' to your Admiral. An outstanding observation and one which I intend to abscond.

 

[BruceK]

Art, "appropriate", in one of its meanings, would be more, well, appropriate, than abscond. But as a true grammarian,Al resisted adding "with" after "abscond", which might have worked but would offend by ending the sentence with a preposition...

 

[FF]

"Locked prop creates a bit more drag than free wheeling prop."

Depends , multiple experiments have given multiple results.

A locked prop is easier on the tranny , shaft bearings and stuffing box .

 

[Art]

"Locked prop creates a bit more drag than free wheeling prop."

Depends , multiple experiments have given multiple results.

A locked prop is easier on the tranny , shaft bearings and stuffing box .

No doubt!

 

[Marlinmike]

This is actually not true, spoke to the manufacturer and their displacement speed dripless seals don't even have a cooling line to them, they are perfectly fine, so a water cooled one for planing boats are fine if displacement and engine off (running on one), I've had that situation a couple of times.

Melted "dripless" shaft seal will likely happen if you have dripless shaft seals. I stopped using those many years ago due to failure potential of sinking boat as well as no free wheeling without heat damage when there was no functioning crossover hose... which, when crossover is installed, creates another "dripless seal" failure point.



SHAFT LOK INC. Since 1979: http://www.shaftlok.com/
Marine Shaft Lock, Boat Propeller Shaft Brake. “Shaft Lok”keeps propeller shaft from turning. For boat owners with Twin Engines slow down and save BIG on Diesel.
Email:Shaftlok.ix.netcom.com
New Berlin, Wisconsin 53151 USA
Contact Anne:
Phone: 262 786 6800


For packing a standard stuffing box... you might want to visit:


Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

 

[rwidman]

If I was in a hurry, I'd travel by automobile or airplane.

That is my stock answer when people ask me about travelling in a trawler. When thinking about a trip or cruise, I figure one hour by car equals one day by boat (my boat).

 

[Al]

Wifey B: Rode one horse power means of transportation today. Walk at 4 mph, slow trot around 10 mph and gallop around 25 or 30 mph. Rode about 3 hours. Fuel required was some hay, a couple of carrots, some feed and about 2 gallons of water. Very efficient.

What was the 'exaust' factor? Any condensation from the 'tailpipe'?:lol:

 

[Nomad Willy]

A locked (stopped) prop on an airplane is considerably less drag than one freewheeling.

But I've never heard that for boats. Density and compressibility may make it different I suspect.

 

[Jeff F]

My experience on sailboats was the the prop was always locked when underway by putting the motor in gear. Doesn't work with hydraulic transmissions like the VD though.

I seem to remember seeing dedicated shaft locks on some racing sailboats and some had little windows in the hull to see that the feathering prop was aligned up and down and not fouled. Before any racing it was someone's job to crawl under the cockpit and check it.

 

[BandB]

What was the 'exhaust' factor? Any condensation from the 'tailpipe'?:lol:

Wifey B: Corrected your spelling. Long move on from the 1 hp. Yesterday and today were 7200 hp. Could not possibly have gone from Barcelona to Valencia to Palma to Ibiza to Barcelona with 1 hp or even 100 hp all in two days. Covered about 560 nm in two days. Docking now. Good thing sunset here is around 9:30, sunrise around 6:15. An hour and a half more daylight than home. Omg it was fun.

I know some here have traveled the world, but this is new to me. One day a boat of our own to this area but for now we just had two marvelous days. The more I see of Spain, the more I fall in love with it. I'd read, I'd seen pictures, but nothing does it justice. Makes me realize too how little of the world I've seen and how much there is still to go. Enough for many lifetimes. And the people, everywhere so nice.

And the boat we were on came really close to my dream boat. It was a 119' AB. WOT was 47 knots and cruise around 35 knots. Seas were perfect. Well, the Belearic Sea to be specific. I'm just a kid with my eyes and mouth open in amazement. I just got a taste of it this time. And the wonderful thing is now I dream of returning here even more and then seeing the rest of Europe.

Sorry, I'm just not an 8 knot girl.

Did get sort of freaked out as we were leaving Ibiza. They explained to me and then I looked it up, a four hour party on a catamaran with 200 or more people. So they all go out on a catamaran and get drunk, then return and have free admission to all the clubs. Am I the only one who sees this as a bad idea? Something tells me this makes Bachelor in Paradise seem like a kids' show.



We must be old because we went to the old town, the Necropolis, the museums, the cathedrals, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. This was what we went to see.



Yes, they're just photos I found, not ones I took.

 

[ranger58sb]

Wifey B: Corrected your spelling. Long move on from the 1 hp. Yesterday and today were 7200 hp. Could not possibly have gone from Barcelona to Valencia to Palma to Ibiza to Barcelona with 1 hp or even 100 hp all in two days. Covered about 560 nm in two days.

Hmmm... your tour of Spain didn't take much longer than the lunch I had in Barcelona one time.

Touring at Mach IV!

My eyes don't work that fast...

-Chris

 

[BandB]

Hmmm... your tour of Spain didn't take much longer than the lunch I had in Barcelona one time.

Touring at Mach IV!

My eyes don't work that fast...

-Chris

Wifey B: We just have the week this trip, mostly on land, but two days on the water. Just enough to see enough to know what we really want to see next time or the time after, enough to get the flavor and feel. We've seen a bit of the cities, driven through the country side. We've spent days on an unbelievable estate. Our best friend and CEO's mother was born here and we get to see where she grew up. We even got to meet her nanny. It's the mother's parents who live here and invited us and it was only fitting we came to visit them since my hubby mercilessly badgered them into their first real visit to FL which they've now returned to several times. Just now about to eat dinner though at nearly 10:00 pm. They eat late here but not as late as we are tonight.

Next time every port will get several days. And then Spain is just a start.

 

[Bigsfish]

WifeyB

Sounds like a great trip, well except for the zoo on the catamaran, Spain has great food and wine but going too fast you miss the relaxing Spanish life style.

Are you planning on shipping your boat over for the season or will you rent a yacht?

Enjoy.