It's amazing to me how many apparently otherwise intelligent boaters get suckered in by this marketing BS. I guess it just goes to prove that you can always fool some of the people all of the time.
Like others I could care less what people call my boat.
Well, I think you've effectively proven them wrong on more than one occasion.Where I have a challenge, and where I will forever prove them wrong every time is when people try to directly or indirectly say that [my boat is] not suitable, within its fuel range, of open ocean travel.
Your boat cruises, it has a cabin. It's a cabin cruiser. You can certainly call it something more accurate if you like but it does NOT have trawl gear on board. So it's definitely NOT a trawler.
You can dick around with the language all you want but that doesn't make using a commercial fishing term to describe a recreational boat correct. It just makes it ignorant. It doesn't matter one iota what the cabin cruiser cost, it's not a fishing boat by any stretch of the imagination.
It's amazing to me how many apparently otherwise intelligent boaters get suckered in by this marketing BS. I guess it just goes to prove that you can always fool some of the people all of the time.
Not everybody wants to go slow
Not everybody wants to cross oceans............
This thread was started to point out that sometimes large engines and the ability to go faster than displacement speeds have an advantage. No more No less.
Some friends of mine just took advantage of a "Tiger Cruise"....where parents of seamen are allowed to go along for a cruise. I do not know the name of the Carrier they were on. But they cruised from Hawaii to the West coast. They had unfettered access to the bridge at all times.....except when they were going over 33 knots!!!! So they go at least 33 knots and anything over that is classified. They definitely move on out.
Going back to Kevin's original post about big engines and how it enabled him to cross a body of water more quickly...
This thread has touched on some of the tradeoffs - fuel consumption, fuel capacity, engine room crowding, maintenance, et cetera.
But here's one more factor - water capacity. The Bayliner 4778 has two water tanks forward - 140 and 60 gallons (figures differ, but this is the gist of it). If Bayliner installed a bow thruster at the factory they relocated the 60 gallon tank, but if they didn't then adding a thruster eliminates that tank and owners are down to 140 gallons (plus the 18 in the water heater, though since you can't drain it you can't count that).
I posted yesterday about the water shortage in the Gulf Islands, and my wife just mentioned that email again this morning which made me think to add it to this thread.
So...planing boat, big twin diesels, every cubic inch utilized (4788 owners do crazy stuff like relocate holding tanks to get enough room to install another small piece of equipment - like a much needed watermaker!), and a water capacity that is - at best - 200 gallons. For a 3 stateroom boat. OK, an owner can install a watermaker (performing significant surgery in the process) but I dunno, watermakers are finicky and it seems like the vast majority of watermakers are "out of service".
Notwithstanding the need / desire to be able to go fast to cross larger bodies, time a tide change, outrun the other boats to the anchorage, whatever...the accumulated tradeoffs of the planing style boat are - collectively - not my preference. I get that some folks want to run fast to get to the destination, but - again, for me - I like the "getting there" as much if not more than the "being there". I'm quite content to putter along at 7.5 knots, working with current charts to pick a route that give me an extra .5 knots, not being overly worried about hitting anything, keeping the noise / vibration / fuel consumption / et cetera to moderate levels, watching to world go by and - if it gets a little boring - heck, I can read a book and look up every couple of minutes.
Then again, here in the PNW the boating is interesting. The topography is stunning. There are lots of other vessels on the water. The tides and currents and other challenges are engaging. I see vessels making long straight runs in areas with flat horizons (like the Gulf of Mexico) and I suppose that might be tedious. But I actually enjoy the journey and if I were to run faster (clearly an impossibility with my boat!) that wouldn't significantly improve my overall enjoyment.
On the other hand, my wife would prefer a Star Trek transporter...
i get a real kick out of this thread as over the years i've had (and most others have had) all kinds of boats. Big, little, big-fast, little fast, slow, mono & multi hull, etc. If you are a boat "nut" as am i, you realized that almost all were designed for a specific mission and the majority of them did it well! Big engines, little engines, no engines, etc. I loved them all. With me it wasn't about the particular type of boat i was on, but rather it was all about being on the water! Whether it was a surf board, jet ski, kayak or a 70 footer, if it
was on the water, i loved it. (and still do!)
amen brutha!!!!!
I have loved every boat of mine as well. I guess the one I loved the least was a Cape Dory 25 sailboat. Pretty little thing. And nothing wrong with it. Just too small. ANd when you get your ass kicked in a 25 foot boat...you get it kicked...Properly!!!
Sorry, Don but I had to set the record straight!
Seems odd to me that a triple screw boat would make sooo much sense here but ..... never heard of one.
I get a real kick out of this thread as over the years I've had (and most others have had) all kinds of boats. Big, little, big-fast, little fast, slow, mono & multi hull, etc. If you are a boat "nut" as am I, you realized that almost all were designed for a specific mission and the majority of them did it well! Big engines, little engines, no engines, etc. I loved them all. With me it wasn't about the particular type of boat I was on, but rather it was ALL about being on the water! Whether it was a surf board, jet ski, kayak or a 70 footer, if it
was on the water, I loved it. (and still do!)