Getting her convinced to go slow...

My wife and I currently have a Sea Ray 420AC that we greatly enjoy.

Recently though, a Marine Trader 50' Widebody caught my eye. It has the ability to walk all the way around the boat (perfect for the dogs) as well as a full sized fridge and three staterooms.

The wife is all in except for a few "minor" items. First, we would have to build some type of stair system to reach the swim platform. Second, my wife REALLY likes the ability to travel at 16-17kts. if needed.

We have been able to pick up from 8 knots to full cruise to outrun a storm and the ability to run from FL to the Abacos in daylight is a plus.

How do I get over the concern about not going fast?

Offer to spend your first year's fuel savings on jewelry!!!

We already put along at 8 kts most of the time so the fuel savings is already there.

She just really likes the "ability" to go fast if needed.

I told her on a bigger boat like that, you would be less apt to feel the seas...

You'll adapt and learn to look further into the future before decisions need to be made, so will become a bit more cautious. We used to sea kayak and made decisions based on about 3.5 knots average speed with no 'get out quick' option

Sorry I cannot offer any help .... I agree with your wife.

smitty477 said:

Sorry I cannot offer any help .... I agree with your wife.

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Yep... Same here.

Greetings,
Mr. K9. Just ONE of the problems with living with a fast woman...

Definitely a first world problem you have there.

Your wife is correct.

Make her start paying for the fuel.
My wife does and she is always on me to slow down from 1300 rpm @ 8.5 knots to the more economical 1150 rpm @ 7.5 knots

MurrayM said:

You'll adapt and learn to look further into the future before decisions need to be made, so will become a bit more cautious. We used to sea kayak and made decisions based on about 3.5 knots average speed with no 'get out quick' option

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Yep, sailing background always has us looking a few days to a week in advance as we could only average 6 knots.
Managed to log about 70,000 sea miles including several ocean crossings without incident.

K9, Probably not much of an issue for you in Florida, but up here in the PNW there's a lot a debris in the water, logs that come out of the rivers and off the beachs. Slow speed betters your odds of avoiding it, or of having less damage if you smack something. Worst case is hitting a 'deadhead', a partially submerged log that's very hard to see. Slow speed doesn't get you off the hook with these in many cases.

Simi 60 said:

Yep, sailing background always has us looking a few days to a week in advance as we could only average 6 knots.
Managed to log about 70,000 sea miles including several ocean crossings without incident.

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Going 7 knots is fast now and 8 knots would be flying. Our longest passage was 24 days and averaged just under 6 knots. You have to relax.

What engines does it have? Will they propel it to something above hull speed operation, albeit with horrendous fuel use for the extra knots? Would that satisfy the occasional need for speed?

IMHO... if when needed you can't go fast... then, depending on conditions... you might not last!

I have to agree with your wife. We prefer to have the speed when we want it.

Art said:

IMHO... if when needed you can't go fast... then, depending on conditions... you might not last!

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Countless world cruisers who cross oceans would disagree.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Art
IMHO... if when needed you can't go fast... then, depending on conditions... you might not last!

Simi 60 said:

Countless world cruisers who cross oceans would disagree.

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Qualifiers - LOL

How fast is your dinghy?

NewbieFromNJ said:

How fast is your dinghy?

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Our tow behind 4 seater "dink"!
Slack tide...39.6 knots at WOT on GPS with just me driving.

What's her idea of fast? Assuming she can come down from 16 knots.

Ted

Our President 41 with SP225 Lehmans will do 17 knots wide open. We would never cruise at that speed, but it would cruise at 13. We usually cruise at about 8 to 9 knots. At that speed we are probably much more comfortable than in you planing hull when it does kick up. She has to have trust in you that you will not put her in situations that she is not comfortable with.

Wifey B: You're already going slow. Now you want her to go almost stop.

I thought 20-25 knots was like super slow.

Warning: One convinced against their will, remains unconvinced still. There are plenty of boats with decks and all you want that will cruise at 16-17 knots easily. Find the right compromise and work on finding it together. You'll both be happier.

Re: post #23. Re-read post #7...

RT Firefly said:

Re: post #23. Re-read post #7...

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Wifey B: Fast woman and proud of it.

Here is a great example that she uses -

We cruised to the Abacos a couple of years ago. We crossed the stream at 17kts and when we got to the Bahama banks off Memory Rock we slowed to 7-8Kts until Great Sale where we stayed the night.

On the return trip we wanted to spend an extra day in GTC so we made the decision to run fast all the way back from CTC to Stuart. We left out at 0700 and pulled into the fuel dock at 1800. 11 hours for a 160nm trip which included us stopping for a bit to fix a dinghy davit.

In her mind, we got an extra day in the Bahamas. In my mind we burned an extra 175 gallons of fuel (about $700 worth.)



This all reminds me of a time I was at an airport walking out on the ramp with the line guy. We both saw a very dressed up woman walking towards a Falcon 50 jet.

I said to him, man that thing is fast. He replied expensive too. I then asked if he was talking about the jet or the woman. He said "both."

Few people can afford to go fast in a 50' boat, especially a trawler. It takes a lot of energy to move that much boat that fast.

It's your wife so you are going to have to do the convincing. The only thing I have to offer is, with that 50' wide body boat, you won't have to outrun the weather.

We travel at 7 knots. We can go 11 or 12 at a greatly increased fuel cost and a decrease in comfort so we almost never do.

Wifey B: Well, the best example I can give is our Great Loop trip. We saw at least twice as much as the typical looper because of speed. We were able to cruise as fast as 26-28 knots, averaged 15-16 knots with locks and everything. We had twice the time for sightseeing.

BandB said:

Wifey B: Well, the best example I can give is our Great Loop trip. We saw at least twice as much as the typical looper because of speed. We were able to cruise as fast as 26-28 knots, averaged 15-16 knots with locks and everything. We had twice the time for sightseeing.

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Depends on what you consider "sights" to be seen (as you were blowing by them at 26 knots.....)

There are LOTS more sights to see at a leisurely 7 knots if that is what you are after.

Different strokes.....

boathealer said:

Depends on what you consider "sights" to be seen (as you were blowing by them at 26 knots.....)

There are LOTS more sights to see at a leisurely 7 knots if that is what you are after.

Different strokes.....

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Wifey B: My eyes still work at 26 knots.

As to sights, I'm talking areas of the lakes not normally seen and sights on land not normally seen. Like the entirety of Lake Ontario, both sides of Erie, Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, both sides of Lake Michigan.

Simple case last week as people were talking about crossing the Gulf between Carabelle and Clearwater. One day crossing vs two days and one night. Open water. You don't see more at 7 knots, you see the same water slower. You arrive more tired. Same thing to the Bahamas. You turn an easy day run into two days and a night. Oh, and let's add one more argument. You increase the chance of bad conditions and less comfortable and safe conditions.