The single engine thing

[alormaria]

Didn't a single engine pleasure boat just cross the Atlantic ocean?

 

[Nomad Willy]

Al,
Yea and a guy probably just rode across the US on a bycicl.

eyschulman,
I like your redundancy and envy your maneurability.

I think most of us just bought the boat we liked and it came w whatever it came with. It's a lot like that w anchors too.

 

[High Wire]

I promise I'm not a troller in the trawler forum. I understand that the single vs twin engine (or get home) is a quasi-religious question. However, it's going to factor into my decision and I'd love some input.

So here's my question - and it's not "which is better?" Rather, what do people do when they're single engine breaks down? Here are some options that come to my mind

1) Call for a tow home - this is ok if you're in range of a tow company. I have had the BoatUS Gold Towing service for over a decade and wouldn't be without it

[Let's assume you're making a coastal passage and not in tow boat range]

2) Fix the engine. The most likely things to stop a well maintained cruising engine can be fixed by the well-prepared skipper who has spares (fuel filters, pumps, hoses, impellers, etc)

3) Is there a number 3?

It's a serious concern for me - since I intend on making coastal passages and expect to be out of tow boat range. However, if people do this without undue risk then I'd like to be able to consider single engine boats.

Thanks

Richard

Anchor somewhere safe and out of the way first, then Plan A would be #2 (fix it myself). Plan B would be get towed to where I could get the engine fixed. Plan C would be to break out the blue poly tarps and plywood and become a squatter where-is.

 

[eyschulman]

I promise I'm not a troller in the trawler forum. I understand that the single vs twin engine (or get home) is a quasi-religious question. However, it's going to factor into my decision and I'd love some input.

So here's my question - and it's not "which is better?" Rather, what do people do when they're single engine breaks down? Here are some options that come to my mind

1) Call for a tow home - this is ok if you're in range of a tow company. I have had the BoatUS Gold Towing service for over a decade and wouldn't be without it

[Let's assume you're making a coastal passage and not in tow boat range]

2) Fix the engine. The most likely things to stop a well maintained cruising engine can be fixed by the well-prepared skipper who has spares (fuel filters, pumps, hoses, impellers, etc)

3) Is there a number 3?

It's a serious concern for me - since I intend on making coastal passages and expect to be out of tow boat range. However, if people do this without undue risk then I'd like to be able to consider single engine boats.

Thanks

Richard

Variation of #1 call for tow-wait 5 hours if you can anchor-flag down boat to tow where you can anchor while waiting the five hours-Old 52 ft fish boat sent by Can CG hits rock on way in to tow you-fish boat gets line to you and tows you into the only other boat in the anchorage and only your fast action with your bow thruster avoids a major catastrophe and ends up with a glancing collision rather than head on-5 hour tow to outer breakwater for a rough overnight- followed by the determination that the motor is truly frozen and boat needs two more hours tow to where head comes off- motor is toast-engine can not be repaired there and boat cannot come out of water-hydraulic lift truck 6 hours away comes and pulls boat out of water and takes it 7 hours away to where it can get a new motor. Needless to say my new boat has TWO engines.

 

[BruceK]

If 2 engines have twice the failure rate of a single (rubbish IMO), it follows that a single has half the failure rate of twins. From that it follows that having no engine will reduce the failure risk of a single to zero.There may be other disadvantages, but never an engine failure!

 

[Insequent]

If 2 engines have twice the failure rate of a single (rubbish IMO), it follows that a single has half the failure rate of twins. From that it follows that having no engine will reduce the failure risk of a single to zero.There may be other disadvantages, but never an engine failure!

Dont overlook the advantages! Permanently at the dock means no fuel bills. No need for stabilisers. No hard decisions on which anchor to buy, you wont need one.

 

[eyschulman]

While two engines may have twice the # of break downs as a single, those problems not likely to happen at the same time. So the twin would have a fairly large safety(redundancy) factor regarding functional propulsion should murphy strike. Even with fuel problems a twin with separate tanks has a much greater margin of redundancy safety factor. As I see it the significant arguments against twins is related to stern gear protection-cost to install maintain and run, and engine placement- engine room area allotment. For many boats and owners the difference in fuel burn provided the twins are same total HP as a single is not significant in the overall coast of the boating budget. The twins would be called on to put out close to the same HP as a single for a given speed with a small lose of efficiency. To compare single engine boats in FD hulls against twins in SD is a apples and oranges situation. I think using SD twin and single same boasts would be more reasonable.

 

[Xsbank]

What is the "rate of failure" of a large clam-crusher? Is a failure a stoppage or a catastrophic? Let's guess and say one stoppage every 2000 hours. For most of us dedicated cruisers, that could be once in 20 years. Does the failure happen at the first 100 hours or at the 2100th? It's logical that if we assume that the "rate of failure" is largely meaningless, it's also reasonable to assume 2 engines have twice that rate, which is also meaningless.

I like singles, there are definitely maneuvering challenges, but that just makes it interesting instead of just driving your Toyota on narrow streets.

 

[BruceK]

... As I see it the significant arguments against twins is related to stern gear protection-cost to install maintain and run, and engine placement- engine room area allotment....

There was a pic of a GH on another thread, showing a great job of protecting prop and rudder, reproducing the set up seen on protected singles. For other builders, cost may be factor, could be other reasons.

 

[windmill29130]

Ok, y'all have convinced me to look for a four engine trawler, a backup for each main. Now who makes and sells one?

 

[eyschulman]

An engine break down in an inconvenient place and time can be trivialized if it has not happened to you and is not very common. It is a little like a cancer that only affects 50 out of a thousand until you or some one close has a lab test comes back positive. From that point on you and those around you no longer trivialize that body break down. I suspect a lot of the bravado regarding things like engine break down and weathering hurricanes at sea would get more respect from people who experienced it.

 

[Codger2]

[QUOTE "But this notion of both engines in a twin (or the one engine in a single) experiencing a shutdown because of fuel is, in my opinion, more of an armchair theory than something that happens in reality, certainly in a region like the PNW/BC coast where the fuel from the suppliers seems universally clean."[/QUOTE]

Maybe in the protected waters of the PNW it's not a problem but in my experience of cruising the Sea of Cortez where a Baja Filter was in most boat's inventory, it was. Also, cruddy, mucky fuel tanks are not only possible but more prevalent than one would think. You have to experience some rough water, however, before you get a clue that your tanks bottoms may be suspect. No, fuel starvation because of contaminants is not a myth.

 

[Britannia]

Anchor somewhere safe and out of the way first, then Plan A would be #2 (fix it myself). Plan B would be get towed to where I could get the engine fixed. Plan C would be to break out the blue poly tarps and plywood and become a squatter where-is.

For me, a lot of the time, the approach of anchoring and/or calling for a tow would be fine. There will be occasions when I'm on parts of the Pacific Coast where neither is an option. Those times would be my bigger concern. Still, I'm not ruling out a single engine.

Richard

 

[JDCAVE]

Ok, y'all have convinced me to look for a four engine trawler, a backup for each main. Now who makes and sells one?

Here you go...

Short Sunderland


Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

 

[Pura Vida]

eyschulman I agree with you! If i had a single I would want a get home of some kind. I think that Great Harbour Trawlers has it right.

 

[Art]

Twins = Complete set spare parts for the one that did not breakdown.

Unless, of course... same part fails on the still running engine!

Kidding aside... I had singles, they are OK too. But, I love having twins!

In our Tolly (planing hull - another thing I love):

Used correctly -

Twins can deliver good speeds [16/17 knots] at mid range rpm with a relatively reasonable 1 gph. And, we can do 21+ knots if need be

They can cruise us slowly [6.5 to 7 knots] at lower rpm for a pretty good 2 mpg.

And, to go even slower with darn good mpg one can being shut down... as we putts along at 5 +/- knots on the other = 2.75 to 3 mpg

Similar to singles... If you keep the twins in good repair there is not much breakdown that occurs, so major-repair expense can be pretty much avoided. Of course; oil changes, new impellers and things like that are double up cost. But how much we talking about here... a couple hundred bucks extra per year to service twins. Well worth what twins offer in capabilities... with a planning hull that is!!

Happy Motor-Boat Daze - Art