[PUP] comparisons: speed & GPH

[bill]

John Marshall and I share some common requirements while cruising;  quiet,
comfort, and let the autopilot do the steering.  I like his 'trawler under
way' noise analogy to a sailboat underway.  Some here are not familiar with
that, but it's quiet power pushing your boat/home toward a destination. 
 
The comfort comes from the seaworthiness of the boat, and a robust and
dependable autopilot, to me, is a necessity.
 
When he says 7 - 8 knots is plenty fast to go anywhere in comfort, we part. 
Can 10 knots be quiet and comfortable?  Can 15?  Remember, this is 'not about
conserving fuel'.
 
Anyone remember a glorious day when the gulf stream was behind you, the wind
was from the south and you were headed to New England from Florida and your
normally 7 knot trawler logged a whopping 200+ mile 24 hour run?  Was it a
delight to make all those miles in a single day?   There's no reason this
performance cannot be the norm.  Comfortably, safely, quietly.
 
When John mentions 50 - 70 mile daily runs as being sufficient, we part
again.  This list is about passagemaking under power.  A day's run at 7 will
make 168 miles offshore.  A day's run at 10 nets 240.  In 3 days there's a 210
mile difference in miles traveled.  From east coast US, for instance, enroute
to Bermuda, the slower speed adds 30 hours to the "passage".  You could have
beaten the next front by a day or got caught out in it.  On a transatlantic
passage you could easily eliminate 5 to 6 full days from your transit.
 
Speed lengthens your weather window. 
 
As for fatigue; 10 knots is a conservative speed for a cruising multihull and
near top cruising speed for a performance cruising monohull such as Steve and
Linda Dashew's latest marvel.  In either case, the reports of fatigue at speed
are inconsequential on a properly oufitted cruising boat.

regards,
Bill
wcz4399 at yahoo.com

--- On Thu, 10/30/08, John Marshall <johnamar1101 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: John Marshall <johnamar1101 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PUP] comparisons: speed & GPH
To: "Passagemaking Under Power List"
<passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com>
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7:30 PM

To your point below, you can't compare speed in a car to speed in a
trawler. In a car, you are more or less fixed in place, you are mixing
with other traffic moving at high speeds and very close to you.

It's also not about saving fuel.

In a trawler, you own the ocean, more or less, you can sleep, eat,
watch TV or do anything else you want to while traveling. Unless the
waves are really up, it can be as comfortable as being at home. Maybe
more comfortable. This is your home at sea. As long as you have at
least two people who can competently stand watch, 7 to 8 knots is
plenty fast to go anywhere in comfort.

Plus, slower is quieter, and that's a big deal for me. In my book, a
sailboat under sail is still the reference standard for noise. Closer
I get to that, the happier I am.

Also, at low speeds, you don't have to be peering out the windscreen,
holding onto the wheel, steering the waves, etc. Let the autopilot
drive, and bend an eye toward the radar and chart plotter every few
minutes (could be much longer on open ocean) and enjoy your book or
the scenery or whatever.

Even in Inside Passage cruising in the PNW, we can put 12 to 14 hours
on the boat and arrive as fresh as we left. Often, the cruising day
seems to be over too soon. Daily runs of 50 to 70 miles are plenty.

Completely the opposite of driving a car, where the longer distance
you go, the more fatigued you get -- so speed is of the essence, with
all the tradeoffs that come with that.

With a boat, the lower the speed, the less fatigue for a given
distance traveled. Or so I see it.

(Of course, this is all predicated on being retired and being able to
set your own schedules. I'm not sure any trawler makes much lot of
sense to own if you only have your weekends free.)

John Marshall
Serendipity - Nordhavn 55
Sequim Bay, WA



>> This is impressive -- but, whereas we cruising yachtsmen have
>> widely varying bank accounts and budgets, we ALL cruise with
>> approximately the same life-span available to us. So, time has a
>> very real value. As such, moving at just 7-to-9 knots is considered
>> by some to be a too-costly endeavor, especially if the primary
>> reason is "saving fuel."  (If you could get 100 MPG in a
particular
>> model car...but could travel no faster than 25 MPH ... are there
>> any of us who would not opt for a "mere" 20 MPG, but 60-70
MPH
>> speeds?)
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