Probably lol
I don’t know, we’ve had quite a few dream days out last year.
I’ve also spent a lot more time in the engine bay than anticipated! Like my boatie neighbour said, the trouble when you go looking for problems is that you invariably find them!
Still we’ve done a huge amount of work already this year between updating, maintenance and pre emptive maintenance and we bought a good one by all accounts. I’m just glad we bought the best we could. We’re fortunate in that we can do most of the work ourselves. Had we had to pay someone for their time it would have been a fortune. I didn’t anticipate it would take up quite so much of my time but hopefully year 1 will be the hardest as you get to a good baseline which you maintain from there.
We are Marina based, I don’t think launching a boat would have worked for us. We did many days out with different friends, even if we only went 30-40 mins each way and settled in a nice bay for 2-3 hours and chilled while the kids got their paddle boards out! We also did a couple of longer journeys around the coast including a 9 hour trip around the coast to get her home.
ps. We have done 30 engine hours at sea which is bang on what we were anticipating. it doesn’t sound a lot and I guess our average trip is between 3-4 hours. We are governed by the tide/gates in our Marina but it doesn’t restrict us too much unless passengers are late to arrive!!
We have also spent a lot of time in the Marina, meeting friends on board and having lunch down there etc.
The life isn’t for everybody, it demands a lot and takes a lot of commitment, it wouldn’t surprise me if many boats go back on the market after the first year or two and goodness knows what state they may be in, but equally it is bringing a lot more people in to the hobby and some will undoubtedly stay the course.
You either have to have deep pockets and can pay someone or be mechanically minded because there is always something to stay on top of! Fuel costs which is something that freaked me out when looking have not been anywhere near as bad as anticipated because we are not hammering around the coast all day at fast cruise or top whack, rather enjoying life bobbing on the water.
Dream days every weekend. You????
while the kids paddle about on SUPs!
In our case, the first boat we seriously looked at, was a San Remo 33 on Twin AD41’s with outdrives. Owner quoted 60-70L/hr at 22knots cruise.
The boat we ended up with owner quoted 70-80L/hr at 22-24 knot cruise. These Cat engines were nearly twice the size and more than double the power output of the VP’s and on shafts on a 40ft vessel.
On our homeward journey, 9hr cruise around the coast upon which we brimmed the tank which had only really had the sea trial put on it since its last fill so we were able to accurately compute the fuel burn. It averaged 79.48L/hr at a cruise of between 22-24knots which was around 2200rpm which was bang on what the owner had said. We did the odd excursion to 30+ but not for any length of time.
We did a shorter trip around the coast, (51nm) where we actually consumed average 64.6L/hr. our outward speed was quite slow at around 15knots and homeward at around 24knots.
To our local bay, we often potter out at 13knots (there is a sweet spot at around 1600rpm) it gives the passengers a nice ride and we’ll burn an average of 33L/hr total, this includes a faster spurt of 24-30knots on the way home to give the engines a chance to clear out. Since we either anchor up or slowly drift and then reposition, this being our typical journey means we’ll burn about 40L for half a day spent on the water!!
I do keep a spreadsheet, and I had previously calculated fuel burn from Cat’s own data and that gathered from posts of other owners and it all came together quite accurately in our case. If we were to hammer around the coast at 2800rpm 30-32knots we would be burning 165L/hr combined. I don’t have much appetite for that, it’s nice to take it to that for a short period in calm seas but the thing about being on the water is how relaxing it is, so we cruise at a more relaxed speed and take in the sights.
Most Interesting for me was that I would have thought the bigger boat and more powerful engines would have meant a lot more fuel burn but counterintuitively, that wasn’t really the case.
I guess it really comes down to the owners use, the cruise figures give one side of the story, but how much time will they spend at that speed is the other side of it I guess. That trip around our local coast probably used 210 litres and took about 3.5hrs. Our similar trip to the bay to chill will be 3-4 hours and we’ll use around 40L. That is less than a fifth of the consumption. Of course it is nice to do a longer run, but I couldn’t justify the cost every time out whereas our local trip is so much more sustainable and everyone gets to relax with music and tapas
Too many Numbers and Maths...... New Years Resolution for you.... Delete that spreadsheet
!! But delete my spreadsheet…you must be joking!! It’s the only thing that lets me keep track of what I have and haven’t done!! (I ignore the cost columns!!) Anyway, I grew up with Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek and the Captains always keep a log!?
I've always said (with experience) if you have two boats, you always wish you were on the other one!!
great post - you describe the reality of boating. I used to work out the fuel cost but in reality it's far from the biggest cost.In our case, the first boat we seriously looked at, was a San Remo 33 on Twin AD41’s with outdrives. Owner quoted 60-70L/hr at 22knots cruise.
The boat we ended up with owner quoted 70-80L/hr at 22-24 knot cruise. These Cat engines were nearly twice the size and more than double the power output of the VP’s and on shafts on a 40ft vessel.
On our homeward journey, 9hr cruise around the coast upon which we brimmed the tank which had only really had the sea trial put on it since its last fill so we were able to accurately compute the fuel burn. It averaged 79.48L/hr at a cruise of between 22-24knots which was around 2200rpm which was bang on what the owner had said. We did the odd excursion to 30+ but not for any length of time.
We did a shorter trip around the coast, (51nm) where we actually consumed average 64.6L/hr. our outward speed was quite slow at around 15knots and homeward at around 24knots.
To our local bay, we often potter out at 13knots (there is a sweet spot at around 1600rpm) it gives the passengers a nice ride and we’ll burn an average of 33L/hr total, this includes a faster spurt of 24-30knots on the way home to give the engines a chance to clear out. Since we either anchor up or slowly drift and then reposition, this being our typical journey means we’ll burn about 40L for half a day spent on the water!!
I do keep a spreadsheet, and I had previously calculated fuel burn from Cat’s own data and that gathered from posts of other owners and it all came together quite accurately in our case. If we were to hammer around the coast at 2800rpm 30-32knots we would be burning 165L/hr combined. I don’t have much appetite for that, it’s nice to take it to that for a short period in calm seas but the thing about being on the water is how relaxing it is, so we cruise at a more relaxed speed and take in the sights.
Most Interesting for me was that I would have thought the bigger boat and more powerful engines would have meant a lot more fuel burn but counterintuitively, that wasn’t really the case.
I guess it really comes down to the owners use, the cruise figures give one side of the story, but how much time will they spend at that speed is the other side of it I guess. That trip around our local coast probably used 210 litres and took about 3.5hrs. Our similar trip to the bay to chill will be 3-4 hours and we’ll use around 40L. That is less than a fifth of the consumption. Of course it is nice to do a longer run, but I couldn’t justify the cost every time out whereas our local trip is so much more sustainable and everyone gets to relax with music and tapas