What is the farthest anyone has taken their trawler?

Been thinking about cruising down to south america from seattle... Anyone ever done a big trip like this? Any routes to avoid?

No, but taking two years for the one-way voyage would be wise.

I dunno about 2 years... I was thinking 9 months. Any opinions on why 2 years?

Are you in a race or do you want to enjoy the ports/cultures and pick your weather windows on the voyage?

No race... Just want to be safe lol. Would you stay close to shore or hit the deep open seas?

Depends. What are the particulars of your boat?

Single lehman open flybridge;however i am thinking about fully enclosing the fly.

We're 700 miles into a 2,000 mile run from SC to Lake Powell. But you meant on the water didn't you?

Shown here just after crossing (over) the Mississippi.

We were debating hauling her to the gulf of mexico...

Glenn...I bought my boat in San Francisco and cruised it up to Vancouver. You definitely want to pick weather windows going down the West Coast. We went in July. For about a third of the trip we had 25-35knot steady winds. There are a few points to go around....Point Reyes, Point Arena and Cape Mendocino. Cape Mendocino for example has very interesting underwater topography, strong local currents, prevalent wind and gets a lot of fog during the year. When we crossed this cape, we had large beam seas so decided to try and take refuge in Ft. Bragg. After about 20 minutes of surfing down large swell, we opted to continue to slog towards the cape. We knew once we crossed the cape, things would settle down....you could actually see it in the distance.

Another problem with the West coast is that most ports are on river bars and can be dangerous or impassable, depending on the tide and wind. So if you are stuck in bad weather, you may need to ride it out. So the key is definitely picking favorable weather windows and port hopping or making longer runs if the weather permits.

As for distance we were probably 6-20 miles offshore as you want to be in deeper water. Closer to shore can be a minefield of traps. Also, at certain points you will be wanting to transit a straight line. The California coast curves inward. We did the trip in 8 days. Could have been six, but got held up in Port Garibaldi Oregon with some technical issues. We also stayed one night and refueled in Eureka, CA.

Anyways, that is all I can tell you......but there is still a lot of boating south of San Francisco to get to the canal. Would be a fantastic trip, but take your time, be safe and enjoy.

Thats the response i was looking for! Thanks bud yes weather and tides will be all planned in advance and will not rush the seas once we are
On them. Refuge maybe our only choice depending on what the weather does.

With basically an inshore boat you would do best to avoid genuine heavy weather offshore.

Your boat would not like even one comber crashing on deck or sweeping from stem to stern.

"Ocean Passages for the World " is the book you need to plan a route.

Here is one of just 20 (on average) weather systems that occur during June to Nov in the pacific:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19384371

Or what about the Caribbean:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19386362

It can be done , but not quickly as some weather windows may be seasons apart.

saintglenn said:

Been thinking about cruising down to south america from seattle... Anyone ever done a big trip like this? Any routes to avoid?

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We left Seattle in 2008 and are in Trinidad now. Make lots of stops along the way is all we can suggest and don't rush. You can pretty much day hop all the way down. The only route to avoid would be the coast of Venezuela. Right now it's unsafe due to piracy. The outer islands are fine but it's a heck of slog to weather with contrary current. Columbia is great particularly if you speak some Spanish.

Some people will say to stay out of Mexico. IMHO it is still one of the best cruising areas. It's a good place to see if the cruising life style fits you/the admiral. You also still have easy access to the US. You can be as remote as you want or if like to stay in US type marinas, you can.

With basically an inshore boat you would do best to avoid genuine heavy weather offshore...

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With any boat, you would do best avoid genuine heavy weather offshore.

Larry M said:

We left Seattle in 2008 and are in Trinidad now. Make lots of stops along the way is all we can suggest and don't rush. You can pretty much day hop all the way down. The only route to avoid would be the coast of Venezuela. Right now it's unsafe due to piracy. The outer islands are fine but it's a heck of slog to weather with contrary current. Columbia is great particularly if you speak some Spanish.

Some people will say to stay out of Mexico. IMHO it is still one of the best cruising areas. It's a good place to see if the cruising life style fits you/the admiral. You also still have easy access to the US. You can be as remote as you want or if like to stay in US type marinas, you can.

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In making your voyage, what is the farthest you've needed to go between fuel stops? My boat carries 440 gallons of fuel. I am comfortable with 400-500 NM right now, and could possibly stretch that a bit by throttling back some. Is that enough range?

Thanks!

I have 300 and previous owner says 1.5 an hour at 2000rpm. I have not gone on a trip far enough to measure. I will be going to port angeles on sept 22 and will try then to see.

saintglenn said:

I have 300 and previous owner says 1.5 an hour at 2000rpm. I have not gone on a trip far enough to measure. I will be going to port angeles on sept 22 and will try then to see.

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I think you previous owner was like mine.....

If you have a 120 or 135 Lehman...I would expect quite a bit over 2.0 gal/hr.

My 135 chart (which I have right in front of me) says almost 3 gal/hr and I know that to be trus as I ran the boat to NJ from Ft Lauderdales at around 8 knots (2000-2200) as the PO said 8 knot cruise and I was getting very poor milage compared to what I thought. After some fuel ups I knew that the consumption was 3-4 gal/hr. So my chart is in lockstep with my engine...and a 120 can't be that much different.

Here's another guys experience and I would say he's high on the curve (poor eng performance maybe?)

34' marine trader 1973 120hp ford lehman 2.3-2.6gph at 8 mph @1650 rpm


Here's another close to my curve...

1978 49 DeFever RPH 68,000lbs wet, twin 120 lehmans nap, @1700 rpm 7.3 kts fuel burn 4 gal/hr

He's close to my chart at 2gal/hr at 1700 RPM, my chart for the 135 says he should be slight;y under 2.0 gal/hr per engine

I think it is all how you drive them... I like the way she feels in the water at 15-1800 rpms and from the sound of the engine i dont see it burning a whole lot of fuel. Regardless i give her 900 nm on full tanks...

ksanders said:

In making your voyage, what is the farthest you've needed to go between fuel stops? My boat carries 440 gallons of fuel. I am comfortable with 400-500 NM right now, and could possibly stretch that a bit by throttling back some. Is that enough range?

Thanks!

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400-500 miles between fuel stops wouldn't be a problem. San Diego to Turtle Bay, MX to Cabo San Lucas. Those would be the 2 longest stretches in MX. Then no problem all the way to Panama. After Panama on the Caribbean side it's not a problem with some planning. Capt. Pat Rains has a cruising guide for this area that was just updated:

Captains Pat & John Rains

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I hear a lot of people talking about staying close to shore.

It won't save you.

Any trip that requires time spent in the ocean needs to be taken as if you were crossing an ocean.

You gotta watch the weather.

Sd

Larry M said:

400-500 miles between fuel stops wouldn't be a problem. San Diego to Turtle Bay, MX to Cabo San Lucas. Those would be the 2 longest stretches in MX. Then no problem all the way to Panama. After Panama on the Caribbean side it's not a problem with some planning. Capt. Pat Rains has a cruising guide for this area that was just updated:

Captains Pat & John Rains

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Thanks very much!

I have the boat, now I need to get retired so I have the time.

psneeld said:

I think you previous owner was like mine.....

If you have a 120 or 135 Lehman...I would expect quite a bit over 2.0 gal/hr.

My 135 chart (which I have right in front of me) says almost 3 gal/hr and I know that to be trus as I ran the boat to NJ from Ft Lauderdales at around 8 knots (2000-2200) as the PO said 8 knot cruise and I was getting very poor milage compared to what I thought. After some fuel ups I knew that the consumption was 3-4 gal/hr. So my chart is in lockstep with my engine...and a 120 can't be that much different.

Here's another guys experience and I would say he's high on the curve (poor eng performance maybe?)

34' marine trader 1973 120hp ford lehman 2.3-2.6gph at 8 mph @1650 rpm


Here's another close to my curve...

1978 49 DeFever RPH 68,000lbs wet, twin 120 lehmans nap, @1700 rpm 7.3 kts fuel burn 4 gal/hr

He's close to my chart at 2gal/hr at 1700 RPM, my chart for the 135 says he should be slight;y under 2.0 gal/hr per engine

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We have the SP135 and cruise 400 plus hours per year. I calculated our annual average speed which is anchor to anchor and gallons per hour (plus a bunch of other meaningless numbers). I have a 4 year average of 6.3 knots at 1.7 gallons per hour. We displace 44,000 lbs with a 37 foot water line and run with paravanes which cost us between 1/2 and 3/4 of a knot. Our sweet spot on the engine is 1600 to 1800 rpms and adjust the rpms for sea conditions.

"With any boat, you would do best avoid genuine heavy weather offshore. "

Unquestionably , but the perhaps 300% premium for a blue water boat will probably keep you alive.

On most sailboats its simply a matter of going hove to.

Harder to do in a motor boat with huge windage and huge thin windows, and a deck house that is of unknown robustness.

YRMV

FWIW, when we bought our boat our friend who until his recent retirement was the head of the engineering department of Alaska Diesel Electric (today's Northern Lights/Lugger) gave me a formula for estimating the fuel consumption based on engine horsepower. He said that the Lehman 120 develops about 60 hp at 1600 rpm. Therefore---

Fuel Consumption Formula
1 gallon per hour per 20 horsepower.
1600 rpm = 60 hp
60 hp = 3 gallons
2 engines @ 3 gph each = 6 gph total @ 1600 rpm

My lehman does burn 2.3 at 1800 but backed down to 1500 and burnt 1.7 gph Slowing down helps a ton

"1 gallon per hour per 20 horsepower."

Perhaps a bit optomistic with such an old design and light loads , 16-18 may be closer.

motion30 said:

My lehman does burn 2.3 at 1800 but backed down to 1500 and burnt 1.7 gph Slowing down helps a ton

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Actual measurements?

If you don't mind me asking how you did the measurements?

Your numbers seem close to the performance charts I have but about 0.3 gal/hr higher...which model? Age/hrs??

Thank you.

Back to the time issue. The 2 year time frame that was suggested is a pretty good estimate for a round trip. I would give myself at least 9 to 12 months to get from Seattle to the Canal. We took a month to leisurely transit from San Francisco to San Diego and then a little over a week getting from San Diego to Cabo with stops in Ensenada (fuel available), Turtle Bay (fuel available), Bahia Santa Maria (no fuel) and then on to Cabo, and then a couple of days getting from Cabo to La Paz.

The Sea of Cortez is a must and I would give it at least a month, preferably two to explore and enjoy. You can easily spend 4 or 5 months cruising down through Mexico and then into Central America. The nice thing is that (especially in Mexico) you can find nice Marinas where you can leave your boat and return home for a while.

Being in Seattle you can easily get on a Dockwise ship in Nanimo and have you boat shipped to La Paz if you want to save time but it's not cheap. We got a quote of just under $25,000 for a 50 Ft. Trawler for the trip from La Paz to Namimo - I believe they also ship to Costa Rica and then proceed on to Ft. Lauderdale but you'd be missing the Sea of Cortez and the west coast of Mexico which in my opinion is the best part of the trip.

Im thinking im gonna get the boat to
Texas and jump in the gulf... Seen most the westcoast already so no need to waste time! I want tropical! Belize big blue hole