Best live aboard power flybridge cruiser

[John Holbrook]

Get a 50' sailboat with a decent engine and tanks. You can motor ecomically and 120k will get you something decent.

A 40' powerboat at 20kn will burn circa 100 liters an hour and won't be as seaworthy as the sailboat when the going gets tough.

[AJ-SeaChange]

Originally Posted by John Holbrook

Get a 50' sailboat with a decent engine and tanks. You can motor economically and 120k will get you something decent.

A 40' powerboat at 20kn will burn circa 100 liters an hour and won't be as seaworthy as the sailboat when the going gets tough.

Thanks John, I hear you - and also downunder's original suggestion.

We're now looking at sailboats again after discussing how quickly we may eat through our savings if we do buy a power boat. It seems the most economical engines we've seen seem to go through 20L/hr fuel. So after working out how much realistically it will cost to travel around the Oz coast, we are now looking at sailboats again. Although at this stage, we are still comparing both sail and power.

Not being experienced sailors (well, not even real sailors yet ... One step at a time... ) ... we are thinking a cat may be a better choice rather than mono hull, and there is one on the market close by us (a Simpson Cloud 10 built 1989 by Mayne Engineering) that we thought we'd look at. It's a 36 foot cat and asking reduced price of $130,000. We aren't ready to buy quite yet, but want to get on board as many as we can now, so when we can buy and know what we're looking for, it will be so much easier to spot the right vessel.

Having said that, I will now look into 50' Sailboats too.

Boy, it's hard not to get decision fatigue at this stage though, LOL!

[downunder]

Originally Posted by AJ-SeaChange

Boy, it's hard not to get decision fatigue at this stage though, LOL!

and you are only just getting started.

[AJ-SeaChange]

LOL, I know, but we're a determined couple

[handcrafter]

So far so good with a 1977 40' Viking Sportfish with twin 671N Detroit diesels. Cruising at 18 knots results in about 1 mile/gallon fuel consumption and that's with the generator going as well. 7 knots results in a nice improvement in fuel consumption so that seems like the speed to keep unless running from weather. Livability is excellent though it would be nice to have room for a washer/dryer. 40' seems to be the maximum length for docking availability and reasonable cost. There's room in the engine compartment and the other below deck spaces to access mechanicals and work on them. If you're a larger sized old guy that counts for something, especially if you want to do your own work. If you've got what you want and need in a 40' boat where's the necessity to go larger?

OK, it's a 40 year old boat but well maintained and quite the sturdy hull. Oddly enough, any improvements/upgrades I do at this point are only increasing boat value. Aside from a climb up to the flybridge there aren't a lot of stairs to negotiate and it has elbow room. I looked at a number of trawlers until this one caught my eye. Think trawler with get up and go if you want it.

[AJ-SeaChange]

Originally Posted by handcrafter

So far so good with a 1977 40' Viking Sportfish with twin 671N Detroit diesels. Cruising at 18 knots results in about 1 mile/gallon fuel consumption and that's with the generator going as well. 7 knots results in a nice improvement in fuel consumption so that seems like the speed to keep unless running from weather. Livability is excellent though it would be nice to have room for a washer/dryer. 40' seems to be the maximum length for docking availability and reasonable cost. There's room in the engine compartment and the other below deck spaces to access mechanicals and work on them. If you're a larger sized old guy that counts for something, especially if you want to do your own work. If you've got what you want and need in a 40' boat where's the necessity to go larger?

OK, it's a 40 year old boat but well maintained and quite the sturdy hull. Oddly enough, any improvements/upgrades I do at this point are only increasing boat value. Aside from a climb up to the flybridge there aren't a lot of stairs to negotiate and it has elbow room. I looked at a number of trawlers until this one caught my eye. Think trawler with get up and go if you want it.

Thanks, nice pic! I'm in Australia, and wonder what 1 mile/gallon fuel consumption converts to in Km/Litre?

[downunder]

4.36 litres/nm. At over $ 1.30/litre in Aus = $5.68 per NM.

A good benchmark for efficient power craft operation is 1L/nm. Sailing cats will do better.

Plenty of converters on web.

[AJ-SeaChange]

Oh righto, I forgot about auntie google

[AJ-SeaChange]

For future reference 1 MPG = 282.5 litres per 100 kms

[downunder]

a mariner at sea navigating uses nautical miles not kilometers.

[AJ-SeaChange]

Originally Posted by downunder

a mariner at sea navigating uses nautical miles not kilometers.

Okay thanks, something to get my head around. The conversion I wrote above, is for my own reference as it is what I'm familiar with.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by AJ-SeaChange

We're now looking at sailboats again after discussing how quickly we may eat through our savings if we do buy a power boat. It seems the most economical engines we've seen seem to go through 20L/hr fuel. So after working out how much realistically it will cost to travel around the Oz coast, we are now looking at sailboats again. Although at this stage, we are still comparing both sail and power.

Not intended to influence...

But FWIW, if you scavenge the 'net for factoids about powerboats, you'll often see that fuel isn't usually the largest -- or even in the top 5 -- expense factors.

Our "cruising" usually averages between 150-200 (engine) hours/year, usually hub-and-spoke float plans, yet we still usually only go through about 3 full tankfuls of diesel per year.

-Chris

[John Holbrook]

Yes that's true with limited use but AJ mentioned wanting to cruise up and down the east coast of Australia which is 1000s of miles.

Say 3000nm at 4L per nm would be 12,000L. Refill every 200-250nm. Sailboat at 6-7kn would use a quarter of that and two or three times the range assuming you motored and did put the sails up.

That's fuel and then there is what you can actual get for $120k sail vs power. Seaworthiness etc etc.

My last boat was a Riviera 39 and I love boat power and sail but unless you are splashing $1m on a Nordhavn I think sail is better for long distance and offshore.

AJ have a look here.

Used Boats & Used Yachts For Sale | Yachthub

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Not intended to influence...

But FWIW, if you scavenge the 'net for factoids about powerboats, you'll often see that fuel isn't usually the largest -- or even in the top 5 -- expense factors.

Our "cruising" usually averages between 150-200 (engine) hours/year, usually hub-and-spoke float plans, yet we still usually only go through about 3 full tankfuls of diesel per year.

-Chris

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by John Holbrook

Yes that's true with limited use but AJ mentioned wanting to cruise up and down the east coast of Australia which is 1000s of miles.

Say 3000nm at 4L per nm would be 12,000L. Refill every 200-250nm. Sailboat at 6-7kn would use a quarter of that and two or three times the range assuming you motored and did put the sails up.

That's fuel and then there is what you can actual get for $120k sail vs power. Seaworthiness etc etc.

Sure... but I'd guess most folks don't typically do that in one swell foop. Stop and smell the sea salt along the way, so to speak. No matter whether power or sail.

When we brought our last (power) boat up from FL -- about 1100 NM -- the fuel bill didn't break the bank... wasn't really near the top of expenses... and had we done that at "cruising" speed (compared to near-delivery speed) even that would have been spread over several months.

Like I said, not intending to influence... just an observation for consideration.

-Chris

[rwidman]

I am "metric impaired" so I lost you a long time ago.

It's not hard to find a diesel powered trawler that burns under 2 gallons of fuel per hour at six or seven knots. The key is to keep the speed down to below "hull speed". Any time you try to go faster than hull speed, fuel burn gets much higher.

If you're going to actually live on this boat, interior finish and layout will be very important. Many boats sacrifice utility for "show".

The best advice I can give you is to go to boat shows and visit as many boats as you can. You may even want to consider finding a buyer's broker to locate something suitable.