Im beginning to wonder about sailboats

[rebel heart]

Go hang out in a tropical port (Hiva Oa, for example), and go ahead and tell me how many power boats are coming and going. Hell, even go down to the temporary moorings or guest dock in your habor and see how many power boats come in or out compared to sailboats.

You're in a marina dude; not exactly a hub of boats coming and going.

My dad always told me that power boats were for children and old people.

[NoTies]

I love a good sh*t stirrer. Yachties are taking their boats out less and less because they are concerned about their safety being jeopardised by beer bellied, faux tanned, potential heart attack victims in their lookalike plastic stinkpots who have no knowledge of collision prevention rules or common courtesy out on the water.
PS, most marinas ban sailing within the marina or approaches as most of the marina management are stinkpot owners who can't stand seeing real sailors showing they have far more skills than them.
Nyah Nyah Nyah

[Capct]

The narrows around here see the tides run between 7 and 12 knots seasonally... and some narrows further north run over 12 knots.Rag boats and slower stink potters are always waiting for the turn of the tide or the 20 minutes of slack so they can sneak through.The irony on this coast is it can be extremely challenging to 'just' sail these goergeous waters.Vancouver Island is the graveyard of the Pacific.

In all seriousness I can only speak for what the water does around here.But Im sure it is the nature of the water and currents and tidal occurances ...sailboats though ...probably spend half of their time on the water.... under power....
When they navigate the faster narrows they almost always go through under engine power.More control.
From that perspective....
Your better off in a big gasser or a stink potter in the tides and currents with no keel for trillions of tons of water to grab
It does cost exponentially more than ragboats.But none of us got into boating to be tightwads.

I want the power to get through surging currents or shoot through with the current and not be tossed and jolted by the dead water at the end.I also want the power to outrun the weather and get OFF the water if I need too , a nice safety feature.The power to run into the current and not risk getting yarded over 85 degrees because Im going to slow into the current.Vancouver is 2.5 hours from the backside of Saltspring to N Vancouver at cruising speeds.... or.... all day with the perfect wind for a sailboat.

[Inthewind]

I doubt very seriously that you can run those twin 318's very far without dumping a wad of cash into your old boats fuel tanks. You will never see the far away places that the cruising sailboat people see because you couln't afford it and you couldn't carry enough fuel. I don't think this is the right forum for you, You belong to the one titled... Let's see how much money I can dump down the drain today.

[Capct]

Sure I can!!!
I carry a few hundred gallons which is more than adequate to run up and down the Pacific coast here ...Ive gone as far north as Prince Rupert BC to as far south as Seattle WA I have no inclination to go more than 150 or so miles offshore into the blue water [for fishing occassionally] but Bluewater doesn't attract me.Therefor I am only limited by available fuel along the West coast of North America,the weather and by the speed I travel at.
It takes decades to adequately explore this area

People who fly airplanes will pay hundreds of dollars an hour in AV gas and countless hours tinkering with their engines in order to enjoy their pastime.Power boating is much the same thing If I wanted to glide I would buy a glider. fuel is just part of the price to run 7.5 ton's at 38 knots.

Yachting is not for the faint of the financial heart... if you own a boat you are used to spending money.Look into the price of a new diesel for a 35 foot sailboat...that's a lot of fuel and sparkplugs amigo's

[knottybuoyz]

I don't tow sailboats off the rocks anymore.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Capct

Yachting is not for the faint of the financial heart... if you own a boat you are used to spending money.Look into the price of a new diesel for a 35 foot sailboat...that's a lot of fuel and sparkplugs amigo's

I suspect you would buy fuel and sparkplugs more often than the sailboat owner buys a new engine though.........

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by S/V Elusive

PV - 4108 probably - 52 hp diesel .. probably burns a little less than 3/4 gal/hr. and makes 5.5 kns. Not bad... WHEN you have to use it.

\

See I guess that is my problem. I have a 20 gallon tank. I refuel it with 5 or ten gallons yearly. It's a small boat and tiny diesel. But how do I keep that fuel from going bad? I guess I could sail more than a couple of days a week or pick a time to sail against what little tidal current we have.

To save fuel I could sail from Clear Lake into Galveston Bay, but that is such bad form, especially on Sunday when the channel is clogged with speedboats trying to stay in front of Landry's to show off their strippers. We used to sail out of the Houston Yacht club because it was easier than starting the motor. Boy those were the days. There is nothing like crossing the 146 bridge and watching all of the sails across the bay. I especially like watching the kids racing dingys, a new generation of sailors.

I guess to each his own.

[Benny]

Aha - the old ragbag versus stinkpotter debate. I knew I would see this sooner or later on this site Arghhhh!

Well- I'm both and have been all my life and enjoy both and the people who own them.

I think the main difference in powerboating and sailing is stinkpots are mostly - I say MOSTLY not always - used to get or go somewhere or enjoy a watersport like fishing, skiing etc. whereas to sailors it is not so much arriving at your destination as the getting to it that counts and the enjoying the voyage. The experiences in the harbour afterwards are usually an enjoying of the sail and port well made.

In my observations I would say it is about even as to sailors or powerboaters who don't leave the dock very often. The reasons for this are many but I think mostly come down to the boat being a floating cottage more than lack of knowledge. I have met both sail and power idiots on the water and at dock so neither has a proprietry claim to being more knowledgable or capable. In Canada, the Power Boating and sail squadron has a more extensive education program than does the Canadian Sailing Associtation which mostly focuses on navigation. Some would say this is because sailors have a higher self taught level of knowledge than power boaters to begin with - don't know. I do know that there are many capable power boaters out there as well as sailors.

Perhaps the one thing that helps one choose sailing over power boating is the dream of going 'out there' for long periods which is mostly only accomplished by sailing or in a trawler - which is what alot of older sailors switch to anyhow.

One thing that I think both sides of the debate can agree on is the dislike of noisy and sometime dangerous personal water craft handled by unknowledgable and inconsiderate operators - notice they are called operators - not boaters or sailors.

[Tnflakbait]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Go hang out in a tropical port (Hiva Oa, for example), and go ahead and tell me how many power boats are coming and going. Hell, even go down to the temporary moorings or guest dock in your habor and see how many power boats come in or out compared to sailboats.

You're in a marina dude; not exactly a hub of boats coming and going.

My dad always told me that power boats were for children and old people.

Good point! In the South Pacific it is VERY rare to see a powerboat cruising. And I mean very rare. I never saw one in a year and a half.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Benny

Aha - the old ragbag versus stinkpotter debate. I knew I would see this sooner or later on this site Arghhhh!

Well- I'm both and have been all my life and enjoy both and the people who own them.

Like the current heavy vs light and cat vs mono debates, this has come up before and will come up again. In the end we all are both power and sail in some ways. Even those of us who would prefer to take shots at a Jet Ski than a pirate would ride a Jet Ski if opportunity arose.

[Alan Wheeler]

7.5T, 38kts? Mate that must be burning some fuel. 200Gal is not going to take you far. OK, so you are going to get there faster than me. IF the sea state is calm enough to do 38kts that is. But I am going to cruise right on past you and travel 10x the distance on the same fuel load. Then I have the option of at anypoint, raising the sails and cruise right on past you as far as I want to go.
I doubt it the average sailboat would use their engines for more than 200hrs/year. We don't have to worry about changing plugs at all. And at 200hrs/yr, some would not even ahve to worry about replacing the engine over the life of owning the boat.
Sorry dude, power boats have there place, but so to sailboats. It depends on what you want to do and how and why. Saying one is better than the other is just plain rediculouse and show's a certain level of ignorance.

[s/v 'Faith']

I am sure that most of you are aware of the growing trend of power boaters looking into sail due to rising fuel costs.

Of course fuel costs typically represent a small percentage of the
overall cost of operation of a power vessel.

The cost of selling a power boat, with the brokerage costs and all
makes the transition painfull for some.

Some have experimented with other options;



Good luck to all my powerboating friends...

[Knottygirlz]

Originally Posted by Inthewind

I doubt very seriously that you can run those twin 318's very far without dumping a wad of cash into your old boats fuel tanks. You will never see the far away places that the cruising sailboat people see because you couln't afford it and you couldn't carry enough fuel. I don't think this is the right forum for you, You belong to the one titled... Let's see how much money I can dump down the drain today.

I really don't understand how the decision to spend money on fuel (or not!), or what amount of money to spend on fuel makes a difference in terms of being a member of the cruising community. We all budget for our own individual lifestyle and if a large chunk of our budget during the summer goes to fuel then, so what? It is not coming out of your pocket or budget.
Some people do not want to see all the far away places - just being on the water in their own neck of the wood is fine for them. This may be different from your point of view, but that doesn't make it wrong - just different.

Lori

[Knottygirlz]

Originally Posted by Benny

Aha - the old ragbag versus stinkpotter debate. I knew I would see this sooner or later on this site Arghhhh!

Well- I'm both and have been all my life and enjoy both and the people who own them.

I think the main difference in powerboating and sailing is stinkpots are mostly - I say MOSTLY not always - used to get or go somewhere or enjoy a watersport like fishing, skiing etc. whereas to sailors it is not so much arriving at your destination as the getting to it that counts and the enjoying the voyage. The experiences in the harbour afterwards are usually an enjoying of the sail and port well made.

In my observations I would say it is about even as to sailors or powerboaters who don't leave the dock very often. The reasons for this are many but I think mostly come down to the boat being a floating cottage more than lack of knowledge. I have met both sail and power idiots on the water and at dock so neither has a proprietry claim to being more knowledgable or capable. In Canada, the Power Boating and sail squadron has a more extensive education program than does the Canadian Sailing Associtation which mostly focuses on navigation. Some would say this is because sailors have a higher self taught level of knowledge than power boaters to begin with - don't know. I do know that there are many capable power boaters out there as well as sailors.

Perhaps the one thing that helps one choose sailing over power boating is the dream of going 'out there' for long periods which is mostly only accomplished by sailing or in a trawler - which is what alot of older sailors switch to anyhow.

One thing that I think both sides of the debate can agree on is the dislike of noisy and sometime dangerous personal water craft handled by unknowledgable and inconsiderate operators - notice they are called operators - not boaters or sailors.

Thank you, Benny. That was very well said.

Lori