A Monk where angels might fear to tread

[oscar]

BS? Tough to argue the experience of Steve Dashew who has logged 250k nms aboard both sail and power and includes several circumnavigation aboard both beginning with a Columbia 50 in 1980 or so. He's a detail guy who seems to keep records. If he says a sail is ready to be replaced at 2200 hours (call it 12k-14k nms, or one-third to halfway around the world) , I'm guessing he's got the data to back it up and is roughly right at the least - far from BS zone unless your idea of a useless sail is when it when the threads are rotted and its totally blown out. He had no comment on standing /running rigging but I assume ever second or third sail swap is probably about right, but just a guess.

OK I missed that it was his number and yes he is credible. So what I should have said is that HE gets 2200 hours out of them, but others may or probably may not, just like the engines. I know of commercial fishermen that get 15-20 or more thousand hours out of their engines. I know tons of people that rebuilt their yachtie diesels at 5, 4, 3000 or less hours.

Longevity for any component is dependent on (ab)use and care. There are more people that don't care than people that care. Putting a hard number on it for most is, well, BS.

 

[slowgoesit]

My first "big" boat was a 34' Monk. 1959 vintage, which, if I do say so myself, was a GOOD year. Bought it at a King County Sheriffs auction in 1979. Had it until I joined the Army in 1985, then my Dad took it over. Nordberg Knight flat heat gasoline straight 6, Oak frames, 1" Alaskan Yellow Cedar planks, 1 1/4" Honduras Mahogany superstructure. Ahhh, that was a nice boat for cruising Puget Sound and San Juan Islands . . .

2nd boat was a woodie GB36 . . . but that's another story

 

[mvweebles]

OK I missed that it was his number and yes he is credible. So what I should have said is that HE gets 2200 hours out of them, but others may or probably may not, just like the engines. I know of commercial fishermen that get 15-20 or more thousand hours out of their engines. I know tons of people that rebuilt their yachtie diesels at 5, 4, 3000 or less hours.

Longevity for any component is dependent on (ab)use and care. There are more people that don't care than people that care. Putting a hard number on it for most is, well, BS.

I'll hazard a guess that devout Sailors will never agree that sail and Trawler coats are roughly equal for the majority of cruisers (80%? Those not circumnavigation and those not on a bare bones budget). But in the end, there are offsetting costs - trawlers look expensive because fuel costs are very visible. Sail rig costs are difficult to amortize over a multi-year horizon.

But for those who have actually done both, well , they tell us the long term costs are similar. Just comes down to personal preference of how you want to spend your time afloat. And if course if you're one of the 80% of cruisers such as those who sail (or trawler) between Maine and Alaska, including the Great Loop and Bahamas.