T&T: Common sense applications (was: Not Again! )

[Faure, Marin]

>Doesn't that beg the question of "why install such a large
over-powering engine in the first place?"

I suppose it would if one were building a new boat today.  But a lot of
boats with larger engines, my friend's lobsterboat included, were built
when fuel prices were not the consideration they are now.  A lot of
boaters wanted to run their trawlers at almost-planing speeds, so large
diesels became the norm.  In the case of lobsterboats, they have a
fast-boat heritage to begin with.  But the GB42, which started out in
the late 1960s with one or two 120 hp diesels and was considered an 8-9
knot boat, was being built with pairs of 420 hp or more engines by the
1990s and was considered a 9-16 knot boat.  Same with a lot of other
brands.

Many of these high-horsepower boats are still great boats, but to a
growing number of owners or potential owners, the fuel cost to run them
at the speeds that were demanded when the boats were new is not
acceptable.    Of course repowering is one option--- Lugger, for
example, makes a great 6-cylinder, non-turbo, 150 hp (I think) engine
that's the modern equivalent of the old Ford Lehman 120.  But the cost
to repower a diesel boat, particularly a twin-diesel boat, is pretty
staggering.  Hence the growing interest in running high-powered (or
over-powered if you prefer that view) trawlers at lower speeds for less
expensive fuel burn.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington