I can spend hours reading interesting stories by SAILors but good Power cruising stories are few and far between. Seems like they are all the same ie. pictures of old houses etc. I would like to find stories with nav info, foul weather and stuff like that.
Power Cruising stories
- Thread starter Gerry
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I suspect part of the reason for that is that the boats most commonly used for long-range cruising, which is when one is most likely to encounter "adventures," are sailboats. Most powerboats don't have the range for this kind of cruising. So you're not likely to get good stories about surviving storms and running low on rations and complex navigation from the average "my weekend cruise" powerboater.
There are a handful of books I'm familiar with about long trips in powerboats, but they are mostly connected with the fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest, BC, and SE Alaska. Books like "Alaska Blues," "Low Man on a Gillnetter," "Fishing with John," and "The Curve of Time" are some titles that come to mind that I have read.
There are a handful of books I'm familiar with about long trips in powerboats, but they are mostly connected with the fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest, BC, and SE Alaska. Books like "Alaska Blues," "Low Man on a Gillnetter," "Fishing with John," and "The Curve of Time" are some titles that come to mind that I have read.
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Another thing to note about power cruising is that shyt usually doesn't go wrong. I used to be a SAILor and there is a lot more that can go wrong on a sailboat than on a powerboat. So when my friends and I go on a trip, we sure don't have any war stories to tell to our buddies at the bar when we get back. Sailors can talk all day about "the time when their backstay broke that sent the rig into the water with a lot of lines in the water that got wrapped around the prop and killed the motor while they were trying to claw off of a lee shore...." Guess what? If that rig does not exist in the first place, we have no story!!!!!
Sailors also have a guilty conscience about doing stuff the easy way. So they do it the most difficult way possible so they can get involved with all of the gadgetry and gear "required" to run a boat. Heaven forbid if they run a generator to be comfortable(they have 10s of thousands of dollars invested in solar panels and wind generators and regualtor and modulators when a generator would actually be cheaper and more effective and easier to maintain) or use a chartplotter solely for their main navigation tool. No generators allowed(and serious guilt if they actually have to start it) and it is paper charts and sextants only. And guess what? All this anachronistic minimalism leads to......MORE STORIES!!!!
Power cruisers usually have boats that float and engines that work. Stick a good nav system on that thing and guess what???.....NO STORIES!!!!
Sailors also have a guilty conscience about doing stuff the easy way. So they do it the most difficult way possible so they can get involved with all of the gadgetry and gear "required" to run a boat. Heaven forbid if they run a generator to be comfortable(they have 10s of thousands of dollars invested in solar panels and wind generators and regualtor and modulators when a generator would actually be cheaper and more effective and easier to maintain) or use a chartplotter solely for their main navigation tool. No generators allowed(and serious guilt if they actually have to start it) and it is paper charts and sextants only. And guess what? All this anachronistic minimalism leads to......MORE STORIES!!!!
Power cruisers usually have boats that float and engines that work. Stick a good nav system on that thing and guess what???.....NO STORIES!!!!
Codger2
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Thank god this is a trawler site!
Ten years ago I was cruising the Sea Of Cortez with my brother on my 54' sportfisher. We anchored in a cove just north of Isla Verde where we were joined by another boat. A sail boat. It was hotter than hell so we had the genny running* to facilitate using the AC throughout the night. About 11:00 PM, the owner of the rag boat came over in his dinghy and ask us if we would turn off the genny. Since I had layed out a substantial amount of cash for this boat and all it's gear, I wasn't about to. Remember, we were the first boat in the cove. This pissed the rag boat skipper off and he could be heard muttering profanities on his way back to his boat. The next morning he came over to see if we could spare some gas as he had burned most of his going back and forth in the tender, (bitching to people.) I obliged and gave him a couple of gallons and he responded with soliciting me for some fresh water too. Again, I filled his gerry cans* with as much as he wanted. (My boat had a 1000 GPD watermaker.) My brother and I conversed as to the size of his cajones as he sure had changed from the previous night. Still wanting some kind of revenge, but in a diplomatic way, I began to wash my boat down with fresh water. Again, he came over and pointed out that it was such a waste to wash the boat with watermaker water.
What the hell is wrong with these guys? You do them 2 pretty good deeds and they spit in your face!
Ten years ago I was cruising the Sea Of Cortez with my brother on my 54' sportfisher. We anchored in a cove just north of Isla Verde where we were joined by another boat. A sail boat. It was hotter than hell so we had the genny running* to facilitate using the AC throughout the night. About 11:00 PM, the owner of the rag boat came over in his dinghy and ask us if we would turn off the genny. Since I had layed out a substantial amount of cash for this boat and all it's gear, I wasn't about to. Remember, we were the first boat in the cove. This pissed the rag boat skipper off and he could be heard muttering profanities on his way back to his boat. The next morning he came over to see if we could spare some gas as he had burned most of his going back and forth in the tender, (bitching to people.) I obliged and gave him a couple of gallons and he responded with soliciting me for some fresh water too. Again, I filled his gerry cans* with as much as he wanted. (My boat had a 1000 GPD watermaker.) My brother and I conversed as to the size of his cajones as he sure had changed from the previous night. Still wanting some kind of revenge, but in a diplomatic way, I began to wash my boat down with fresh water. Again, he came over and pointed out that it was such a waste to wash the boat with watermaker water.
What the hell is wrong with these guys? You do them 2 pretty good deeds and they spit in your face!
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Hey Gerry....I don't want you to feel like you have wandered into a hornets nest. One of the main reasons we cruise on power boats is to be comfortable and not have to worry about all "that other crap"!!!! It is quite amusing(ironic) that we cruise power boats to make things simpler while sailors cruise sailboats to make thing more difficult. I am in no way taking sides here. We all just choose our way of doing things!!!!
And Walt, I love ya man!!!!!!
-- Edited by Baker at 23:47, 2008-07-19
And Walt, I love ya man!!!!!!
-- Edited by Baker at 23:47, 2008-07-19
I bought a new CC 410 Commander in 1981 and lived on Lake Texoma (Texas) for several years. The sailboats in the marina all had metal masts that clanged in the wind 24/7. Finall started anchoring out most nights. I am now waiting for my much younger wife to retire so we can resume that lifestyle. Next year I hope. While I am waiting I spend several hours a day researching the internet, hence my original question. I enjoy this forum very much.
Thanks
Gerry
Thanks
Gerry
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Hey Gerry, we have a close friend that hails from Texoma(Brent). He still goes back and forth every now and then but has slowly started to spend more time down here(Tx Gulf Coast). Would you happen to know anyone that fits that description?
John
I sold the boat and stopped going to the lake in the late '80s. Don't remember Brent. One funny thing about those times. Texoma is a very large lake and great parties. about 200 miles west is another great lake "Possum Kingdom" with the best Independance Day fireworks and parties. I was rich and single in those days so hauling the 410 Commander (hired a boat mover) back and forth for the various parties was just a minor inconvenience (albeit expensive) . I paid the mover extra to move it at night so the flybridge would not have to come off. He pulled every cable tv line down in every small, back roads town between the two lakes, and I and my boat were "legends in our own time."
I sold the boat and stopped going to the lake in the late '80s. Don't remember Brent. One funny thing about those times. Texoma is a very large lake and great parties. about 200 miles west is another great lake "Possum Kingdom" with the best Independance Day fireworks and parties. I was rich and single in those days so hauling the 410 Commander (hired a boat mover) back and forth for the various parties was just a minor inconvenience (albeit expensive) . I paid the mover extra to move it at night so the flybridge would not have to come off. He pulled every cable tv line down in every small, back roads town between the two lakes, and I and my boat were "legends in our own time."
FF
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Power cruising stories by planning will be UNEVENTFULL, if done well.
FF
FF
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To further my point, they make a "chartplotter" that uses GPS input to depict your position MANUALLY ON A PAPER CHART!!!!!! Called the Yoeman's something or other. From a strictly curious standpoint, it is kinda cool. But a practical use on a boat? The only way I know this is some sailing friends down the dock from me had one. They spent thousands and thousands on their boat and about 4 years to get it ready to go cruising and now the boat is for sale and they are too old and have lost the loving feeling. Their boat was equipped with every gadget known to mankind except generator and an air conditioner.
