Are these boats really that noisy??? I travel at 17 knots. I can barely hear the engines....just enough to manually sync them. I would say traveling at planing speeds does have its limit. I could easily do 12....14 hour days at 6.5 knots. You just don't have to pay that much attention so your mental awareness is not taxed as heavily. At higher speeds you have to pay attention. **** can go wrong...equipment can get destroyed...and people can get hurt. So you end up feeling tired at about the 6 hour point. In the end, I travel the same distance at 17 knots as I did at 7. I just do it more quickly and I sleep in and "take my time".
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As to the noise, I think it varies widely by boat and engine combination. Some might surprise as well. I have found sound to be a real factor in enjoyment and the most overlooked attribute at time of purchase. Sometimes you can do some additional soundproofing. When we were looking, we were shocked at some of the differences and how loud some boats that you didn't expect to be were. Also, the huge variations in engines with the worst being CAT.
As to traveling at the higher speed, you just made our point of speed. Ultimately, we arrive sooner and less tired. As to the effort and attention required at higher speed, we travel outside most of our long runs so it's not really a factor. Also, it's a matter of what one is use to. Now, traveling at speed in the ICW does have all the factors you described. The other side though is traveling at 7 knots tends to lull some to sleep (not literally) and into mistakes of inattention.
Now, we're in the Erie canal at the moment and not so into speed but still comfortable at a bit faster. (We're in one of the last sections without a limit). Still it was fun getting in the RIB yesterday and sightseeing then coming back from our far point at 40 knots.
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