[PUP] $100 per barrel oil

[John Marshall]

I'm of the understanding that the total cost of cruising (once you
consider a long enough period to include sail replacements) is no
higher on a reasonable sized trawler. At least it wasn't a couple of
years ago.

I wonder at what oil price that turns around?

John Marshall
Serendipity-N5520


Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 27, 2008, at 8:31 PM, Peter Pisciotta <peter at seaskills.com>
wrote:

>> What are the thoughts of oil-powered-voyagers?
>>
>> Scale down trips?  More time at anchor? Better
>> efficiency aboard present vessels? Resort back
>> to sail power, or a motorsailor?  On
>> perhaps a more efficient hullform?
>
> A few months ago, our fearless host Georgs posted a
> link to an Australian couple cruising in SE Asia.
>
> http://cruisingunderpower.fastmail.net/
>
> Even on a very modest budget of $25K Australian
> dollars ($14KUSD in 2002), fuel was #3 on their list
> of expenses, at only 13% of their budget.
>
> For convenience, here are cruising tips from
> "Lifeline's" website. They have some ideas that would
> easily offset high diesel costs.
>
> Peter (Willard 36)
> ==================================
> TIPS FOR FRUGAL CRUISING:
>
> "The first secret is that fuel is not necessarily your
> biggest cost. In 2002, I kept track of every penny we
> spent. I was surprised to find that the biggest
> proportion of our expenditure was taken up not by fuel
> but by Spares, equipment, haulout, materials etc,
> 18% of our expenditure. The next biggest, at 17%, was
> food/groceries. Fuel was 13%.
>
>
> "Travel distance less  stay in places more. On a
> motorboat, the more distance you travel, the more fuel
> you use. The more fuel you use, the more money you
> spend.  Set your travel horizons to meet your budget.
>
> "We always take our time cruising an area, often
> spending weeks at a time exploring. We do this because
> we like to travel slowly (but it also helps the
> budget). Last year was an exception. We journeyed
> 5,000 miles in 8 months. But this year we have cruised
> less than 1,200. We are still on last years diesel.
>
> "Dont stay in marinas often. I found that marina
> costs made up a large proportion (8%) of our average
> weekly costs, even though we only stayed in them very
> occasionally. Even in Asia where costs are generally
> lower, a marina berth for a 49 ft boat costs a minimum
> of $150 ($US115) per week. And when you are there you
> live a different lifestyle, eating out more and
> shopping, for instance. I cant overstate the
> potential to inflate your expenditure that this
> (variable) cost has.
>
> "In our previous boat we discovered that what drove us
> into a marina most was needing water, being
> uncomfortable at anchor or getting wet in our dinghy
> every time we went ashore. Consequently, we designed
> Lifeline so we are self sufficient: able to anchor out
> comfortably, catch our own water and store lots of it;
> have a good efficient electrical supply; and we have a
> large, fast, robust dinghy.
>
> "Have the simplest systems you can live with: where
> possible, that you can fix yourself. These days all
> boats, power and sail, are full of sophisticated
> equipment. But particularly motor cruisers. Once you
> start looking, youll be amazed at the gadgets that
> are considered essential. Remember, the more equipment
> you have and the more complicated it is, the more
> likely it is that something will break. Then, if you
> cant fix it you have to pay for someone else to do
> it. The double whammy is that if you can find someone
> to fix it, youll have to wait around, paying extra
> living costs at somewhere you dont want to be. So if
> you can lessen the things that can go wrong, the
> better for your budget.
>
> "Lifeline, for instance has no generator (we have
> solar panels instead), no watermaker, no chain
> counter, no washing machine, no air conditioner, no
> electric davit, one (household) toilet above the water
> line, no ice machine and flopper stoppers instead of
> stabilisers.
>
> "Slow down to your most economical speed. Even if you
> have selected an easily driven displacement hull
> matched with an economical engine, you can still drive
> it at a range of revs. It is possible to draw graphs
> to work out the most efficient speed for your boat. Or
> you can do it through trial and error. If you go above
> your most economical speed, your fuel usage goes up
> exponentially. On a displacement boat of 40  50 ft
> your best fuel economy will most likely be a bit under
> hull speed, or about 6 - 8 knots. On Lifeline we
> travel at 7 knots at 1150RPM, which gives us fuel
> economy of 8 litres (2 US gallons) per hour or about 3
> tenths of a gallon to go 1 nautical mile.
> Hang out with other cruisers on a budget, who enjoy
> beach barbecues, sundowners on the aft deck and eating
> local food rather than finding the trendiest
> restaurant in each new port.
>
> "So, all things being equal, would it cost more for a
> couple to cruise under power rather than sail?
> Probably - but not by as much as you might think.
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