6000miles to Rio in 2 months

I intend to leave from Fort Lauderdale in December to Go to the Carnival in Rio.
I have an Hi Star 55 and I need some help about the North of South America.

We'll depart next Jan 20 cruising to Bahamas, Caribean, North of South America, North of Brazil, Northeast BrZil and finally , home in Rio . Somebody wants to join us?

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

not doing 100 miles a day straight for 2 months!!!!

that's too much like work!!!!!

unless you were in the sportfish that pulled in the other day behind me that cruised at 35, had been to Bemuda and was headed for Mexico! That baby covered some miles every day...

You are right, maybe 3 months, maybe more in two times.

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

That's a trip I would take a year or two to make, spending time in and around each island and port and cove and bay. Side trips would drag it out maybe longer. And there might be stretches where I'd skip over some locales, but make plans to catch them on the way back.

Rambler, until San Juan, I have crew, after that I have 2. For the North of South America I need crew. Come with us and we'll learn together.

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

If I were to do your trip and only had 60 days, I would consider Florida to Puerto Rico, ~875 miles/4.5 days (200 mile days), since you just left the US and haven't stopped, easy check in/out and good fuel. Puerto Rico to Port of Spain, Trinidad, ~700 miles/4 days. Again easy check in/out, good fuel and lots of marine services. Port of Spain to Fortaleza, 1628 miles/9-10 days. You'll have contrary current for a good part of this leg. You can stop in Frech Guiana but there isn't much for services and the officials are slow. Fortaleza to Salvador, 800 miles/4 days. Salvador to Rio, 750 miles/4 days.

That's about 27/24 hour days of travel. You add weather and mechanical delays, ie: waiting on parts, check in/out with government officials and stops you want to make, I bet you are at your 60 days if not longer.

To help plan your trip I would get Visual Passage Planner.

Digital Wave - Products

Lena and I did the reverse trip in 2004/2005 from Salvador to the US. We took 7 plus months but we weren't doing a delivery which it seems you are doing. It still, should be a great trip for you and your crew.

I had planned to do the same trip but everyone I have talked with said it took about two years round trip. No fun if you can't stop and smell the roses. I'm heading out from Florida in April to the Bahamas and south. I haven't decided if we are going to try Rio or the Panama canal and to the Galapago Islands.

From Trinidad to Fortaleza, we must fuel in all 3 guianas and close Belem (Salinopolis) . We have counter flow (3knots) but if we go close the coast the current can be zero but we must take care with wood logs floating, fisher boats, ...
I bought a cage tank (275gal) because I just have 550 gals in our 3 tanks.
I saw that we can cruise 8/8.5 knots burning 6/7 gal

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

Khhayes, if you decide to go to Rio, call me and I'll show you nice places, we'll go together to Angra dos Reis that has 365 islands.
Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa
(305) 515-3571 or
Rio 8899-3613

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

psneeld said:

not doing 100 miles a day straight for 2 months!!!!

that's too much like work!!!!!

unless you were in the sportfish that pulled in the other day behind me that cruised at 35, had been to Bemuda and was headed for Mexico! That baby covered some miles every day...

Click to expand...

I love fast heavy boats but can you imagine what her fuel bill would be for a dash to Brazil?

Alemao said:

From Trinidad to Fortaleza, we must fuel in all 3 guianas and close Belem (Salinopolis) . We have counter flow (3knots) but if we go close the coast the current can be zero but we must take care with wood logs floating, fisher boats, ...
I bought a cage tank (275gal) because I just have 550 gals in our 3 tanks.
I saw that we can cruise 8/8.5 knots burning 6/7 gal

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

Click to expand...

Wow! what a trip. You could do what that guy did on a GB42. He removed one prop to reduce drag then carried several 55 gallon drums of fuel and left hawaii for the states. At the halfway point he jumped in and took the prop off the other engine and reproping the other so as to keep engine hours the same.

you currently have a 1000 mile range. right?

One of my engines got hot and I had to stop it. The boat with just one engine made 6.5/7 knot burning about 3 gal/h.
Is it possible to cruise with just one engine each time?

Alemao said:

One of my engines got hot and I had to stop it. The boat with just one engine made 6.5/7 knot burning about 3 gal/h.
Is it possible to cruise with just one engine each time?

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well according to this forum for displacement vessels one engine is always more economical. What the guy did in my example was remove the prop from the engine he wasnt using to reduce drag. I don't think at 7-8kts the drag is enough to matter much but he removed it anyway. I have talked to others that run on oneengine for a bit and then the other to keep the hours the same on both engines. I found out many of the commercial fishermen in my area have single engined vessels just because it saves money. Post a thread and ask how many owners of twin engine trawlers use one engine. The way i understand it is it dosent take much horsepower to attain hull speed and after hull speed is attained tripling the horsepower wont gain you hardly anymore speed. I thgink the calculation is the sqaure root of your waterline length times 1.30 to find your hull speed.

I have 2 Cat 3208 turbo (375HP). I asked to my mechanic if we can take of the Turbo, that the engines develop 210HP. Its enough for us and better consume but we can't do that.
To cruise at 7/8knots I could have 1 engine with 210hp. I know that 2 engines is safely but burn more (

Alemao said:

One of my engines got hot and I had to stop it. The boat with just one engine made 6.5/7 knot burning about 3 gal/h.
Is it possible to cruise with just one engine each time?

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Alemao I would recommend to search through this forum on running one engine on a twin screw and ask your mechanic about it too.

I lost one of mine one time and an old fisherman non-licenced diesel mechanic on board strapped the shaft of the dead engine to keep it from rotating while underway.

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Alemao said:

I have 2 Cat 3208 turbo (375HP). I asked to my mechanic if we can take of the Turbo, that the engines develop 210HP. Its enough for us and better consume but we can't do that.
To cruise at 7/8knots I could have 1 engine with 210hp. I know that 2 engines is safely but burn more (

Click to expand...

I think you would have to change more than the turbos. The injectors are sized for the quantity of air supplied. In other words, a turboed engine with have injectors that spray more fuel than without a turbo. There is more involved than just a turbo. I have a 3208 with turbo, and wouldn't do it. Others will have more knowledge of this than me.

OK, I'll run the 2 engines but maybe slow to burn a little less fuel.
I'll have a lot of miles to try and to the learn.
Thank you guys

Alemao said:

OK, I'll run the 2 engines but maybe slow to burn a little less fuel.
I'll have a lot of miles to try and to the learn.
Thank you guys

Click to expand...

Whether you can run with one engine only...depends on your transmissions. I have Velvet Drives hooked to my Perkins 6.354's...and while it is ok to travel a short distance with the one engine's prop turning in neutral while the other does all the work....it is not good to do it for long...unless you seize the prop shaft. It has to do with the circulation of the lubricant in the transmission, or lack of it.....

Alemao said:

I have 2 Cat 3208 turbo (375HP). I asked to my mechanic if we can take of the Turbo, that the engines develop 210HP. Its enough for us and better consume but we can't do that.
To cruise at 7/8knots I could have 1 engine with 210hp. I know that 2 engines is safely but burn more (

Click to expand...

no, won't work. You would have to recalibrate your injectors so that your air fuel ratio will be correct for your engine size. This will get expensive. Ask a mechanic but i believe just useing one engine with the turbo is the best course of action for you if your goal is fuel economy. < in my opinion and i am not an expert>>My diesel truck is turbo and the turbo actually increases fuel eficiency because the computer can change air fuel ratios based upon engine load. With a boat the load dosent change as much as with a truck but i would think it would still be better than no turbo except at very low rpm's.

O have an Schooner in Brazil , a 44' that has an old Yanmar BT 33, a small engine that burns 1,3gal/hr cruising at almost 7 knots.I think that if you cruise at the ideal hull speed , you can use low HP and low fuel burn.

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

I would look into taking the turbos off...even if you had to change injectors...the fuel savings over 6000 miles may come back pretty quick ...especially if you sold working tubos...my 375hp Cat turbos were several thousand a piece used.

One engine operations are no big deal if you take the proper precautions on the dead engine gearbox.

The phone of my mechanic is 3208, I heard about him for one year and finaly I asked him to see my engines.
He found a manifold leaking and I have to change it. The cost is $ 2,400 as a new part and he found an used for $ 1,600.
He really knows everithing about those engines and teache us about that
I forgot the idea to work with one engine each time.

"The way i understand it is it dosent take much horsepower to attain hull speed and after hull speed is attained tripling the horsepower wont gain you hardly anymore speed. I thgink the calculation is the sqaure root of your waterline length times 1.30 to find your hull speed."

" I'll run the 2 engines but maybe slow to burn a little less fuel"

The square RT of the underway length on the waterline ( SL) times .9 to 1.1 will give the most economical speed.

Run at "hull speed" where the SL is multiplied by 1.34 or so and it will usually double the fuel burn , and most folks wont gain but 1 12 or 2K

IF your 55 ft boat is 49 on the waterline 7K would be first choice for cruise , ryn to hull speed at perhaps 9K it will cost 2X the fuel per hour.

Attempt to travel faster than hull speed requires a full plaining boat , and yes sometimes the fuel burn at speed goes down a bit , but at 25+K and perhaps 25GPH , who cares?

Most marine transmissions (and some stuffing box systems) will have a lubrication.problem with a prop freewheeling.

Its crude but a big pipe wrench , put in place while stopped will hold fine.

A shot of reverse will usually drop the wrench if the second engine is required.

Removing the prop is one solution as the drag of a prop locked is the same as towing a pail behind of the same diameter, the drag from a spinning not locked prop will be 50% to 100% HIGHER!

Good cruising. 7K takes getting used to , but usually will result in 150+nm per day , even as you will be against the wind and prevailing current going to PR.

FF. O agree with you, my idle is 6,7knots and I'll cruise at 7/8 knots. It will burn about 6/7 gal/hr. I think it's good be oust I have small tanks. Twice 200 plus a bladder tank with 150, I intend to put 2 drums with 55 each one.

Sergio "Alemao" Sztancsa, Sent from my iPhone using Trawler

JAT said:

It has to do with the circulation of the lubricant in the transmission, or lack of it.....

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It also has to do with the lubrication and cooling of the shaft logs. If they require a raw water feed from the engine's cooling system--- as ours do-- the shafts cannot be freewheeled even if the transmissions can. Without the cooling feed from the engine the shaft log will get extremely hot in a very short period of time and severe damage to the log and even the shaft will most likely occur.

This is why we have to tie the unpowered shaft off in our boat in the event of an engine shut-down. And a locked prop creates a lot more turbulence in the water--- which is drag--- than a freewheeling prop. So if you have to lock the shaft to protect the transmission or shaft log or both, the drag from that locked prop may well negate the fuel savings from running on just one engine.

And a locked prop creates a lot more turbulence in the water--- which is drag--- than a freewheeling prop.

Not so, sail boat testing does not show this ,and after all an aircraft with a stopped but not feathered prop has tiny drag compared to a windmilling prop.

Props are built to be very effective , so spinning , being spun can cause huge drag.

AS a mental exercise IF the prop spins at 50% of the speed of the operating engine, look up the HP required to spin the shaft at that 1/2 speed.

It is a remarkably large number .

FF said:

Not so, sail boat testing does not show this ,and after all an aircraft with a stopped but not feathered prop has tiny drag compared to a windmilling prop.
.

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I think FF is correct but I'd sure like to see other pilots input.

Attched is an aticle on freewheeling vs locked shaft that says, "lock the shaft".

Body

Great, a lot of GURUs talking about my fuel consumption ) I`m reading and learning