MB fuel costs?

O

Orange

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Greetings, I'm a newbie so please be gentle!

Wifey & I have a plan shortly to be enacted of selling-up to be liveaboards. I will ask about boats for that on the Liveaboard forum. Part of our Liveaboard plan is to spend a year or two in the Mediterranean. So that I can gauge costs, can anyone please suggest a very rough fuel cost of getting from (say) Southampton to Gibraltar? According to my calculations, that is a distance of 1145nm, say at a speed of 10kn. Assume a 50' semi-displacement trawler-type boat (Fleming, Trader etc), with twin Caterpillar diesel engines of say 435bhp each.

Thanks.
 
Assuming you go via the Channel Islands and take on the best part of a full tank of low tax fuel in Guernsey, around £4,500 would have done it last year. We did 1568nm at an average speed of 7.33 kts and burnt 5600 litres of fuel. That was in a Trader 54 with CAT 3126Bs of 450 hp. Fuel costs are somewhat higher now and, of course, you need to allow for the lower value of the pound against the Euro. If you don't get the tank full in the CI the cost will be considerably more - add at least an additional £1000.
 
You mention that you have a Trader 54, I am considering a Trader 50. How do you feel your Trader dealt with the sea conditions & the trip in general?
 
Orange said:
You mention that you have a Trader 54, I am considering a Trader 50. How do you feel your Trader dealt with the sea conditions & the trip in general?
Click to expand...

Superbly but we chose our moments and she is fitted with ABT Trac fin stabilisers which make a massive difference. The Trader 50 is essentially a very similar hull so should be very competent. Our route was to Porto via the west France and North Spanish coasts so mainly relatively short hops - longest was 120 miles. If/when we do the return trip we shall most likely go straight across the Bay of Biscay which will massively reduce the total distance.
 
Orange said:
Thanks

I just watched a video of the effect of the ABT Trac fin stabilisers, they seem very good indeed. What sort of cost are they to fit?

https://vimeo.com/67352636
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Sorry I don't have any accurate numbers as I bought the boat second hand and they were already fitted. Any retrofit would depend upon the boat concerned and the space available for the actuators,etc. A pure guess but I think you would have to allow north of £50k to supply and fit. The UK dealer is Golden Arrow Marine. If you know the make and model boat they should be able to give you a rough cost. Others more knowledgeable may be along soon to add their three pence worth!

This is the first boat I have had with stabilisers. In future, I wouldn't consider a displacement or semi displacement boat without them.
 
Red Ensign Yacht Brokers, Falmouth have a Trader 50 for sale and it is fitted with Trac Stabilisers. The first owner was a friend of mine and I know that he maintained it in immaculate condition. I can't, however, confirm that subsequent owners were as fastidious. I do know that it has been little used recently. Red Ensign claim that it is in excellent condition. It might be worth a look if you are in the market at the moment. As ever the asking price is probably a bit flamboyant for a 1996 boat! BTW I have no connection with Red Ensign.
 
I just watched the video you linked in post #6. You probably know this but the technology installed in my boat (2003) and in the one you may be interested in (1996) will not have any appreciable effect at anchor. The effect when on passage will be very similar to that indicated in the video. I do not know if it is possible to upgrade the older technology stabilisers but I rather suspect not.
 
"Flopper stoppers" are sometimes fitted to long range passage makers but they are very rarely seen on boats in European waters. They were at one time quite often fitted to Nordhavns but I think they have been overtaken by Fin and Gyro stabilisers in recent years. They would certainly be cheaper than automatic stabilisers but less effective, less convenient and they don't do anything for the look of the boat.

Good luck with your search and with the live aboard life style. We have spent at least eight months of the year living aboard for the last 11 years and it's a great life. We thought it might last a maximum of three years but here we are........
 
Thank you

We are working with a shortlist of boats, but it's difficult to move too quickly as we cannot buy until our house is sold. If we sold tomorrow, our preferred marina doesn't currently have a suitable berth for us. Therefore we will probably aim to move into rented accommodation which will give us some time to find a boat & get the mooring we want.
 
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