Under way, eventually (a 1200+ Nm cruise around Italy)

[BartW]

I’m really impressed with your consumption P, 7l/nm is our consumption at slow speed 10kn, at 11kn, itwill quickly go up to 8.5l/ nm, so i think you’re very good there !


Last year we passed along Aeolian, moored in perfectly flat condition in a bay south of Lipary, there is a cave where your DP will fit in (BA almost)

We left the archipel at midnight towards Salerno, and sailed along stromboli during the night , we saw the eruptions of the vulcan, impressive memory’s

Enjoy!

 

[MapisM]

I’m really impressed with your consumption P, 7l/nm is our consumption at slow speed 10kn, at 11kn, it will quickly go up to 8.5l/ nm, so i think you’re very good there !

Yup, I know.
Back in their days, DP yard developed a remarkable reputation for hull efficiency, and as far as I can tell so far, they deserved it.
Last year, I posted the table below, taken from the old DP56 brochure. And from some researches I made, those fuel burn numbers are indeed a bit better than most similar boats (in terms of weight and size) of the same vintage, like the Fer 57, Prin 57, Sq 58, 'Hattan 56 just to name the more popular ones - and which btw are all a tad lighter and less beamy than the DP.

Now, after 800+ Nm, I can begin to do some decent math even with no electronic controls, and I can confirm that real world numbers are remarkably close to those of the old brochure.
And that's with a 14yo boat, pretty loaded atm with all sort of junk that we had to bring to CF!
Actually, it's fair to say that through the whole range of P cruising speed (i.e. 1600 to 2000rpm), the fuel burn numbers are spot on, if we just consider 1 less knot of actual speed, vs. the brochure.
Still, burning a tad less than 7 L/Nm while cruising at 22 knots is a result I can't complain about.

All that said, of course the comparison with BA would be totally unfair.
B, you must feed 50% more cylinders and cubic inches, and the overall difference in boat weight is even more. No free lunch, obviously.
BUT, if you enjoy slow cruising (and I can see why, with your small ship!), you might get MUCH better fuel burn numbers by slowing down just a bit.
I appreciate that it's extremely hard for you (as it is for myself) to test this without real time fuel burn displays, but imho at 10kts BA is already a bit above her hull speed, and my guess is that you would have a huge improvement by slowing down just one knot.
In your boots, I would give that a try upon a longish passage where you can top up before and after.
Of course you would never go anywhere near the 2 (yes, two, not a typo!) L/Nm that I used to burn with the old lady, but to me 7 sounds like BA is a bit above her max "pure" D speed, at 10kts...

 

[MapisM]

Oh, and just in case anyone is keen on reality TV, here's a pic taken from the webcam of the marina where we are docked.
No prizes for guessing from where truly yours is typing right now...

 

[BartW]

We sail a lot at 10kn, this seems a speed that BA behaves very nice, and produced not much waves, yes just above her d speed, last year I’ve sailed a lot at 11.5kn, but the engines produce noticeably more soot at that speed, so stopped that, I have to admid that we use her only very ocasionally on P speed, I became a bit worryed since these major engine rebuilds, and quite a few but small issues consequently..so avoid punishing them too hard ?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: A short progress report

One thing worth mentioning of today leg - aside from crossing Messina Strait, which is always a nice sight (pics to follow!) - is the bit of math I just did:
After cruising in the low 20s for 9 hours, burning around 7L/Nm, we wasted in one day the equivalent of what used to be our fuel budget for a whole season.

To be honest P I dont understand why you did that. It is perfectly possible to cruise a P boat at D speeds and use 3 times less fuel doing it. Yes I know a P boat at D speed doesnt feel as stable as a D boat at D speed but its not as if its dangerous!

 

[MapisM]

Re: A short progress report

To be honest P I dont understand why you did that. It is perfectly possible to cruise a P boat at D speeds and use 3 times less fuel doing it. Yes I know a P boat at D speed doesnt feel as stable as a D boat at D speed but its not as if its dangerous!

Very good point, M.
I don't have a scientific answer to your question, but pretty sure the reason why I'd rather burn more fuel than cruise at 8/9 kts with the DP has a lot to see with the fact that I'm spoiled by 17 years of cruising at D speed with a stabilized trawler specifically designed for that purpose.

In fact, if there's a suggestion I can safely give to anyone who is considering to buy a P boat and use her extensively at D speed, it's this one: DO NOT make any comparison with a true trawler of similar size. If you do, you'll be hard pressed to accept the difference with a lighter boat designed to "fly over" rather than "cut through" the waves, because it really is like night and day.
Zillion of professional fishermen can't be wrong, after all: pretty sure they would love to have boats allowing them to make 20+ kts to reach the fishing areas and come back from there, if it were that easy...

The only caveat is that in my experience this gap tends to become a bit more acceptable as the vessel size gets larger.
So, cruising at D speed with an 80 feet stabilized P boat might be an acceptable compromise for many boaters.
Not because an 80' Nordhavn or whatever wouldn't be much better anyway (after all, we are talking of some 150 vs. 60 odd tons, and that's bound to make a difference!) but because an 80' stabilized P boat is good enough also at D speed, in most conditions.
Otoh, for anything up to 60' or so, I have zero doubts that the only way to enjoy a long passage with a P boat is with the pedal to the metal...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Oh, and just in case anyone is keen on reality TV, here's a pic taken from the webcam of the marina where we are docked.
No prizes for guessing from where truly yours is typing right now...

Pah its no hotter than the UK. Why is it empty?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: A short progress report

In fact, if there's a suggestion I can safely give to anyone who is considering to buy a P boat and use her extensively at D speed, it's this one: DO NOT make any comparison with a true trawler of similar size. If you do, you'll be hard pressed to accept the difference with a lighter boat designed to "fly over" rather than "cut through" the waves, because it really is like night and day.
Zillion of professional fishermen can't be wrong, after all: pretty sure they would love to have boats allowing them to make 20+ kts to reach the fishing areas and come back from there, if it were that easy...

I dont think that any experienced boater would dream of making the comparison, stabilisers or not. Its just that you do get used to the way a P boat moves at D speed. Its not anywhere near as comfortable as a stabilised D boat but the motion becomes acceptable after a few passages and certainly a fair trade off for a significantly reduced fuel consumption. For me the big advantage of a P boat is that you get the choice of whether to run at D or P speed which a D boat does not give you

 

[Portofino]

We somtimes run at D ( believe it or not ) but for a slightly different reason = to cool down .
If it’s stinking hot rarther than hang about at an anchorage there’s only so much swimming / sunbathing you can do .
Once that threshold is reached by say 3 pm we will deliberately take a slow and long route back to the home berth - to enjoy the apparent breeze and poss run the geny and Aircon to chill below decks .
Ok we add more hrs ,but so what it’s to be enjoyed and for us a seasonal hobby .
Boats hibernating mid Oct - May anyhow .

But then again other times it’s nice to opt to gun it .
Recently we covered 70 miles in less than 2 hrs .
Been away for a few days , anchoring 6 pm having a meal “ what / where shall we go tomorrow? “
“Dunno “
“ head back “
“ what time are England playing ? “
“ KO 8 pm “
“Damm no reception or tinternet sig “

“ let’s go back now “

Ten past 8 sat in our marina bar watching with a beer .
Set cruse at 32 knots.
Wife cleared up meal while I up anchored and blasted off .

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Set cruse at 32 knots.
Wife cleared up meal while I up anchored and blasted off .

Wow thats a helluva wife who can do the washing up at 32kts

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

Pah its no hotter than the UK. Why is it empty?

It is new and not small (500+ of berths), and PortoRosa is still the most famous marina of the area followed by Milazzo.

 

[MapisM]

Why is it empty?

Short answer is I don't know M, but my guess is that PYB is correct.
The marina is in fact brand new, and we came here only because suggested by a friend of ours.
Otoh, I see no reason why its popularity shouldn't grow rapidly, because it's hands down the best marina of the whole island in terms of infrastructure and services - better than Portorosa, in fact, which was right at the top when it was built, but over the years maintenance left something to be desired.
Not to mention Milazzo, which is the main base for day tour boats going to the Aeolian archipelago, hence a bit of a mess.

Btw, we are likely to be stuck here for a while, due to some Mistral predicted for the next days.
Making two legs in a row (the first of about 100Nm to Trapani, and the second to the final destination, which is almost double) crushing against 2m waves on the nose ain't exactly my idea of boating for pleasure.
We can't complain though, 'cause the place is very nice, as is the surrounding area.
In fact, I always thought that Sicily has the potential for becoming the most attractive touristic destination of the whole Med, in many ways - and this last visit is positively reconfirming the impression.

As an aside, I edited the previous post linked directly to the dynamic webcam of the marina, because while opening the thread I noticed that the cam catched the electric scooter which we rented right in front of our boat, together with myself on the passerelle, while I was unloading some bottles of Sicilian finest wines, which we couldn't resist to buy...
So, I thought it was an appropriate image to leave in this thread for future memory!

If anyone is interested in more details about the place, this is their website, and this is the real time webcam, for those interested to spy our movements...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Btw, we are likely to be stuck here for a while, due to some Mistral predicted for the next days.

Its lovely here. 33degC when I went out at lunchtime. Not a breath of wind. Have you ever considered basing yourself in the UK?

 

[MapisM]

Re: A short progress report

For me the big advantage of a P boat is that you get the choice of whether to run at D or P speed which a D boat does not give you

Yup, no doubt about that.
Though there's a bit of a paradox in that principle: the moment when fuel saving would be most relevant is obviously in long passages.
And by definition, it's in long passages that onboard comfort is more crucial.

Let's take the open sea passage from Sicily to Sardinia for instance: when we did it with the old lady, we pointed straight to Cape Teulada from Lipari, the main Aeolian island. 33 hours overall, obviously including one night. We cooked pasta onboard, had showers and naps - all without ever having to grab anything while walking around the boat, in spite of the fact that we had some 3 to 4 feet waves on our beam for the last dozen of hours.

With the DP, I'm not even considering to do the same, and not just because she ain't stabilized - I simply couldn't stand such a long ride at D speed with her. So, I'm rather waiting for some decent weather, then stick her in the low 20s starting in the early(ish) morning, and reach CF in time for an apero - job done.
Once arrived, I'm sure I'll enjoy a lot of short day cruises at 8 kts or so, because as you know there's plenty of nice spots just round the corner. But that's not going to be such a relevant saving anyhow, because it'll take me decades before I'll clock as many miles as I'm doing this year for the delivery trip.
Not that this comes as a surprise, mind. It was all somewhat considered and "unavoidable", when we decided to buy a boat which was in the N Adriatic.
Btw, the Fer 175 which was our very close second choice was also moored in the same area... And with her 12V MTUs, fuel burn was bound to be even worse!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: A short progress report

With the DP, I'm not even considering to do the same, and not just because she ain't stabilized - I simply couldn't stand such a long ride at D speed with her. So, I'm rather waiting for some decent weather, then stick her in the low 20s starting in the early(ish) morning, and reach CF in time for an apero - job done.

Fair enuff but its not as if the DP could not have done the same trip at 8kts but of course you wouldn't be cooking pasta on board! Of course if you were British you would have made up sandwiches and flasks of tea before the trip so there wouldnt have been any need for boiling pasta en route!

 

[MapisM]

Have you ever considered basing yourself in the UK?

Well, if that can help reducing the fears of an immigrant invasion in view of a new Brexit referendum, whose consensus as I understand is growing, I can formally promise that for myself, S and our boat such danger does not exist!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Well, if that can help reducing the fears of an immigrant invasion in view of a new Brexit referendum, whose consensus as I understand is growing, I can formally promise that for myself, S and our boat such danger does not exist!

Good point. No of course if the nutters running the country have their way, you wouldnt be allowed in. My mistake

 

[MapisM]

We somtimes run at D ( believe it or not ) but for a slightly different reason = to cool down

You mean cool down yourself and your crew, if I understand correctly?

I'm asking because, just for the records, I've seen that in my boat the e/r temperature gets actually higher, at D speed.
I never bothered checking the exact temperature, but I'm sure of that because there is a double thermostatic control of blowers: one is set at 45 deg, and is active while the engines are running, and the second is set at 50 deg, and becomes active after the engines are turned off. The logic is that obviously after turning the engines off, the air exchange inside the e/r becomes close to nothing.

Now, the interesting thing is that while cruising at 1700/1800 rpm, the e/r temp never reached 45 deg so far, because I've never seen the blower going on automatically. But in a few occasions when I cruised for a while at D speed, the blower did start automatically...

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

In fact, I always thought that Sicily has the potential for becoming the most attractive touristic destination of the whole Med, in many ways - and this last visit is positively reconfirming the impression.

Sicily has a lot of potential. Though anchorage spots do let a bit to be desired. Marina D'Orlando is an exception to this rule with Eolian islands in front of it, and Capo MIlazzo and Tindari a few miles away.
But the area from Milazzo to Marsala do have a few good spots.
Still Sicily is growing in marinas (Marina di Ragusa (800 berths) , and Licata (1200 or 1500) are some huge marinas which opened recently) and a couple of others are upcoming.
A few airports will help to make her grow in popularity as a spot.
For example a client of myn got a good deal for a 17 meter (Sunseeker 53 Portofino) for a three years berth at 13000 EUROS berth in Ragusa.
Which is a pretty good deal.

 

[MapisM]

Yup, the whole southern coast of Sicily is stunning.
If that client of yours is based in Ragusa, chances are that he's already aware of the chef Ciccio Sultano, in the very center of the town.
But if not, tell him that it's an absolute must.
If his restaurant were based in France, they would have given him 4 instead of 2 Michelin stars!