Murv's European cruise

[oldgit]

From our natter in the clubhouse,confirmation of some more very good reasons to avoid the smaller VP supercharged/turbocharged range of diesels. At least both boats could all be fixed en route after the tow.

Have always thought them an overstressed racket producing nightmare ,the only reliable thing about them is the amount of belt dust they produce,
Those big old 306 HP simple lumps in your boat will trundle on forever.

Thats three club boats this year with those engines needing major expensive repairs to important components, esp. those chocolate teapot clutches which in one case required a new ECU installed as well.
An engine to avoid, unless you have deep pockets ?

 

[Mr Googler]

Great report murv! A nice adventure.

Your fuel burn figures, is that per engine? I'm trying to figure mine out roughly.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Very enjoyable read and some great pics. Thanks for posting.

 

[Bigplumbs]

From our natter in the clubhouse,confirmation of some more very good reasons to avoid the smaller VP supercharged/turbocharged range of diesels. At least both boats could all be fixed en route after the tow.

Have always thought them an overstressed racket producing nightmare ,the only reliable thing about them is the amount of belt dust they produce,
Those big old 306 HP simple lumps in your boat will trundle on forever.

Thats three club boats this year with those engines needing major expensive repairs to important components, esp. those chocolate teapot clutches which in one case required a new ECU installed as well.
An engine to avoid, unless you have deep pockets ?

So what are the engines you don't like and should be avoided ?

Dennis

 

[Murv]

Thanks again all From such a disastrous start with the last boat, it's nice to be able to post cruise reports!

Hopefully you found the Dutch to be very hospitable and friendly. My step grandfather was a Master on the Holland America Line so my mother had a little Dutch that she liked to try out in the markets (although they seemed to prefer we spoke English!)

The Dutch were fantastic. It's been many Years since I last visited but seemed to remember them being lovely people and this was certainly confirmed.
I don't know if we were especially singled out as being waved to, but it was either that, or the boats passing our huge procession leaving the lock at Vlissingen were waving to every single passing boat!

Useful information - thank's.
What charges such as mooring fees , charges at locks , inland waterways license were payable in the Netherlands.

Nothing at all, which I found quite staggering!

Didn't you start off in Europe?
Seriously though, great report.
Your boat is a lot more economical than my Azi 37 with the same engines. I get just over 1mpg at cruise.

I was future proofing the report
Re fuel burn, we are on a tight budget so keeping the figure as low as possible was certainly a consideration! I think that at "proper" cruise speed, we would have been a lot closer to 1 mpg instead of the 1.26 for a planing run. But, kept the revs as low as possible to maintain planing speed and these engines are also pushing 30 Years old so I try to treat them kindly!

Great report murv! A nice adventure.

Your fuel burn figures, is that per engine? I'm trying to figure mine out roughly.

Those figures are for both engines. I have a spreadsheet where I log every hour run, the trip and every drop of fuel added so I can let you have some more figures if it's of any interest to you.
I also have the official fuel burn figures plotted for the revs of each engine when the boat was commissioned, so just shout if they are any use to you.


The engines in question were, I believe, the KAD range where a supercharger gives the initial thrust to plane before it disengages and the turbo takes over.
I'm sure that they're great for their intended application and are efficient, clean burning etc but for my kind of boating, I really don't want any unnecessary complications sitting down there in the heat and the damp!
And, as OG pointed out last night, the cost of those replacement components buys an awful lot of fuel.

OG, just had a quick look, since buying the boat on 5/1/16 we've totted up 230.1 hours

 

[oldgit]

So what are the engines you don't like and should be avoided ?

Perhaps a just little bit of exaggeration....but not much

Anything green with 3.6 L block originally putting out around 120 HP now producing three times that by way of additional valves,which are awkward to adjust,take extra time, therefore money to get serviced.
Then add a plethora of extra clutches/solenoids/belts and relays to get the entire thing to function.
Listen with dismay as the supercharger clunks into whining action , then drops out again as the turbo thuds in with another power lurch..
Apparently there is a big market for special sprays to stop the belts slipping/screeching/disintergrating and for aftermarket pulleys not made of plastic.
ECUs are very expensive and getting the folks from VP to sort it can be eyewatering apparently.

Ps. The supercharger is frequently disconnected on non tidal bits of water to make the thing usable.
Any ancient six litre Cummings or Perkins does virtually the same job with fraction of the complications and at much lower RPM.

All IMHO of course.