[PCW] Chrysalis Across the Atlantic

[Mike Petersen]

Just got back on the internet after our run down to Sicily from Rome, and 
noticed a fair amount of interest in the whole fuel efficiency/range/speed 
capabilities of Cats vs. Monohulls especially as it relates to Ocean 
Crossing.

As we contemplated heading across the Atlantic with the Nordhavn 
group(safety in numbers and all that) the deciding factor for us was 8 days 
vs. 13.  As we watched the progress of Highs across the Atlantic, it became 
apparent that in the summer months, there are usually at least 3--5 day 
weather windows/month.(a weather window to us is < 12 knot winds, and < 3' 
swells(ocean swell not waves))  As the Highs travel West to East at 15 to 20 
knots, once you are in it, you can just ride it over to the Azores.  If your 
trip will take 13 days then you have to leave as the latest low is just 
leaving and hope to arrive before the next one catches up.  But the odds are 
that you will find yourself in uncomfortable weather at some point on the 
journey.

This past summer, the Azores High didn't develop as usual, and we ended up 
waiting in Bermuda for about 3 weeks before a 5 day window opened up.(not a 
bad place to be stranded)  We left right behind a low, and allowed the high 
to catch up to us and then followed in it all the way to the 
Azores.(although its only a 5 day window, you are travelling with it so you 
could end up riding it for 10 days)  Our worst weather, if you can call it 
that, was max winds of 15 knots on the stern and swells of 6', 9 second 
period, also on the stern.  I had planned on bumping up our speed to so that 
we could arrive at the 8 day mark, but the weather was so good why bother. 
I then had to slow down a bit on the second to last day so that we would 
arrive as the sun was rising over Pico.  Left Bermuda around 5 pm(GMT-4) on 
the 25th of June and pulled into the Azores at 7 am(GMT-1) on the 4th of 
July.  By keeping my average speed around 9 knots, I was able to get about 2 
mpg.  The bad news was that I still had 400 gallons of fuel in the tanks at 
Horta so could not take on the required amout for duty free fuel.  The good 
news was that it didn't matter as I just went on to Madeira without taking 
on fuel in Horta.  Two days after arriving in Horta, the next low came 
through.  As we sat in the cockpit watching the storm build, the whole 
debate about how many dollars we had spent on fuel paled in comparison to 
the immence joy we felt at being tied up at the dock and not 400 miles 
offshore.  I like getting 2 mpg as much as the next guy, but when you're out 
in the middle of the ocean, the ability to bump your speed up and knock a 
day off the trip is priceless.

There is another aspect of fuel range/efficiency that hasn't been touched 
upon here.  That is the ability to play the jurisdiction game.  As all those 
little stickers show us on the pumps, a large percentage of the fuel price 
is tax.  Therefore we can save money by building/buying more efficient boats 
and/or using our range to only fill up in beneficial jurisdictions.

I bought 1000 gal. in Florida last May(tax free as I was leaving the 
country) and paid about $2.3US/gal.  In Bermuda, I topped up tax and duty 
free at about $2.6US/gal.(that gave me 1400 galUS to cross to the Azores) 
Once in the Azores, I hadn't used enough of my fuel to meet the minimum fill 
requirements for tax and duty free(4000 litres) so continued on to Madeira 
without taking on fuel.  I couldn't get a decent price in Madeira so just 
took on 1000 litres at 1 Euro/l.  This got me to Gib and a better price of 
.50 Euro/l.  From Gib, I took on enough fuel to take us to the Balerics, 
Barcelona, Genoa, Rome, Sicily and now Malta in a couple of weeks.  And 
although Malta has now joined the EU, it looks like I should be able to 
purchase duty free fuel for approx. .61 Euro/l, duty free but VAT included.

We've met several sailboaters on our trip across the Atlantic.  One of the 
interesting side notes, at least for myself, is that we have spent less on 
fuel/mile traveled since arriving in the Med, than the sailboaters have.  I 
didn't think that would be possible either since wind is free.  But it turns 
out that these guys spend most of the time motoring in the winter and at 
1.3Euro/litre ....

I don't know if you could put that in your promotional literature "spend 
less in fuel than a sailboat..."  but it makes paying 1.5 X Length for
berthing a little more palatable.

Mike Petersen
chrysalisvoyage.com