Cruisers: How Much Fuel?

[barnakiel]

13hp engine 40 liters tank.

Jerry cans only on one occasion (Panama to the Gambiers).

So, roughly, a gallon per hp.

More if your area is predominantly light or if your boat is a tub.

Much more if both.

b.

[Pelagic]

The logical answer is totally dependent on the Length of the passage, anticipated sailing conditions and the option to load additional fuel if desired to provide a more accurate Port eta on landfall.

There is no "one fits all" answer.

[Neptune's Gear]

As others have said, it depends where you are going.
For example, crossing the Tasman, 1300 NM, New Plymouth (NZ) to Mooloolabah (Ausy). Full fuel tank (120ltrs) and 2 spare 20 ltr containers. Arrived with nearly all of it left.
Through Indonesia, where there is very little wind, 10 20ltr containers on deck as well. (I hate that, and said I'd never do it, but needs must!) Used virtually all of it.

Longest distance motored non stop 1300nm. Finished with less than 10ltrs. Best economy 0.75ltr/hour at 4.7 knots in flat sea and no wind. If there was wind, I'd Sail!!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Duckwheat

I am running this by those folks that have done ocean crossings and cruised. How much fuel?


My boat carries 50 gallons and I am going to carry 10 gallons in cans. Total of 60 gal. I burn about 3/4 gal and hour.



DW

Hi DW,

I have circumnavigated on a 39 foot Beneteau so I can chuck in my litre...

50 gallons is FINE!!!

My boat holds 36 gallons and I could have done the Pacific on the one tank full but refuled in Tonga to be safe.

I have 5 gerry cans at the moment after my last Atlantic Crossing but they are empty. I am going from the Caribbean to New York city direct in a few weeks so will have them full for that just to be able to avoid Hatteras if needs be.

One can normally workout how much fuel you will need in advance... When going thru the Gulf of Aden with a convoy we knew we would be motring for 5 days straight and then, without refuling, heading straight to Egypt non-stop.
So I had 13 gerry cans on board for that.

The only bad bit was between Thailand and Oman when I didnt want to use fuel unless necessary and we were becalmed for SEVEN DAYS in 9 Degree Channel off India. We read a few books and tried to fish for some following dorado.after 7 days my GF got the shits and so I turned on the engine and 6 hours later the breeze came in

So dont put in extra fuel tanks, instead just use the white floppy things up your poley-bit. You can always chuck on another gerry can or two if a particular passage need it.

As Neptunes gear says, Indonesia it lightens off a bit and Malaysians call thier country "the land above the wind" and it is. Their aint none. But fuel is cheap.


Mark

[scuba0_1]

Just have spot or something so we can watch you cross the Atlantic in 2 weeks with your 60 gal. If you make it you'll be hailed as a great captain with amazing foresight And aptitude if you don't well we'll still be talking about you either way go for it.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Hi DW,

.....As Neptunes gear says, Indonesia it lightens off a bit and Malaysians call thier country "the land above the wind" and it is. Their aint none. But fuel is cheap.


Mark

Hi Mark
Not pedantic but curious.....
I have always heard it promoted as .....Land BELOW the wind....
But being on the equator have you ever read it the other way?..... or is that just an Aussie bias?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabah

[chuckr]

I can only tell you what worked for us. We sail a 40' Jeanneau that came with a 35 gal tank and we carried 4 5 gal cans in cockpit lockers. We sailed the east coast of the USA and Bahamas for 2 years and knew what we needed before moving farther afield. We added a custom make 50 gal fuel tank, a watermaker and another solar panel (had 2 135 and should have added 2 more). We still carry 4 fuel cans but nothing on deck.
We sailed the west coast of the Caribbean across to Jamaica and down to Trinidad. Back up to Antigua before we crossed the Atlantic and now year 3 in the Med. We used maybe 20 gals in our crossing as we sailed most of the way until a day out of Horta when we had no wind.
Oh our Katyadyn watermaker makes 3.5 gal per hour and pulls 8 amps and when we need it we run it everyday for an hour or so.
BUT we did a couple of years figuring out what our boat needed for us to be comfortable and what would work for us.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Hi Mark
Not pedantic but curious.....
I have always heard it promoted as .....Land BELOW the wind....
But being on the equator have you ever read it the other way?..... or is that just an Aussie bias?

How rude of them to change it without notifying me!!

"the "Land Below The Wind", a phrase used by seafarers in the past to describe lands south of the typhoon belt". The area 5 deg either side of the equator where the wind drops.

Everything is fairly close so a bit of motoring is OK

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by redsky49

Or maybe a bladder tank? Vetus makes them, as do others.

Shouldn't be difficult to pipe into the system.

I don't think a bladder should be considered as a long-term solution, and can even be problematic as a temporary fix...

For example, a Beneteau named SANCTUARY was abandoned a few years ago enroute from the NE to Bermuda and beyond, the crew rescued by the cruise ship NORWEGIAN GEM... There is a lengthy thread about it here:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...hip-70768.html

Deep into the thread, the skipper eventually shared his account of the incident... One of the major factors leading to their decision to abandon, was the fact that a bladder carrying extra diesel below was leaking, and making life below extremely difficult. The smell was contributing to the debilitating seasickness experienced by some of the crew, and once the fuel had become mixed with seawater that had entered the boat and was sloshing around everywhere, it made any sort of movement about the boat extremely difficult and dangerous...

Lots of chatter around here lately about what constitutes "Bluewater Boats", one of the characteristics foremost IMHO is tankage sufficient to complete the intended passage... I think having to carry additional fuel on deck is generally a poor practice, I've done it myself on occasion, but always hate having to do so. If you do it as a matter of routine, chances are you will eventually have a problem, and anyone who's had diesel spilled on deck or in the cockpit in sporty weather knows there are few things more hazardous to a crew...

Certainly, there are certain types of trips where doing so might be unavoidable... A cruise down the Chilean canales might be one, and certainly a NW Passage attempt will require supplementing the standard tankage built into most boats... But to have to line your decks like this, to make the Caribbean 1500 passage from Hampton to Tortola, well... something's wrong with that picture :-)

[SVGlory]

Timely topic for me....We just set out from Honolulu to Los Angeles on May 25 under two lows that, theoretically, should have acted as a conveyor belt to LA...We got out about 225 miles then......nothing....not a breeze, nor swell....nothing...Just hot, miserable heat...not "throw out a fishing line, or read a book while you await better conditions heat"...miserable...We had enough fuel to motor half way...Grib files for the next three days showed we could have, given the equipment, water skied to LA....We motored to Kawahae, looking for fuel bladder. Called 8 other places...we would have had to wait at least 2 weeks there for something other than 55 gal drums, which we determined unacceptable...More NOAA gribs...more lake-like forecasts...It was a difficult decision, but we motored back to Honolulu...sigh...We'll wait until a more blustery July or August...and probably take a fuel bladder or two...Three years prior we had sailed the same boat from Honolulu to San Francisco and had 70 gallons to spare with no bladder....I am concerned that there are climate changes afoot that make pilot charts less informative....Weather reports beyond three days out are dubious...Idealistic discussions of "don't worry, be happy" and "slow down, you move to fast" wear thin in the sweltering heat...In my humble opinion, for a three to four week trip, until the climate becomes more predictable, and NOAA issues accurate one month forecasts, prudence dictates bringing along enough fuel to make the voyage.

[mikereed100]

Duckwheat,

Count me among those who think that 50 gallons on a 35' boat is plenty, particularly if you are sailing in the trades, as it sounds like you will be. We used about 80 gallons over a 5 week, 4000 mile crossing of the N. Pacific, but we were getting tired of the fog, running low on popcorn and would motor when our speed dropped below 4 knots.

I think it's a little odd that many seem to think it is irresponsible or poor seamanship not to carry enough fuel to motor for more than a few days. Consider that there have been, and continue to be, plenty of boats who have done these passages without an engine, whether by design or not.

[Boatguy30]

In general, the more fuel you carry the worse your boat will sail. Of course their is a sweet spot of sorts id say perhaps 80 gals total on your boat would do it. Also I personally find accurate weather forecasts can alleviate some of the anxiousness to motor and simply waiting a day or two in port can make a big difference.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

...I think it's a little odd that many seem to think it is irresponsible or poor seamanship not to carry enough fuel to motor for more than a few days...

You may recall the boat that was abandoned by her owners, partly because there wasn't enough fuel to get an ill child to medical help?

[Boatguy30]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

As others have said, it depends where you are going.
For example, crossing the Tasman, 1300 NM, New Plymouth (NZ) to Mooloolabah (Ausy). Full fuel tank (120ltrs) and 2 spare 20 ltr containers. Arrived with nearly all of it left.
Through Indonesia, where there is very little wind, 10 20ltr containers on deck as well. (I hate that, and said I'd never do it, but needs must!) Used virtually all of it.

Longest distance motored non stop 1300nm. Finished with less than 10ltrs. Best economy 0.75ltr/hour at 4.7 knots in flat sea and no wind. If there was wind, I'd Sail!!

so you were able to drive a 12.8m yacht at 4.7 knots on .75 litres per hour?

That seems extremely hard to believe. Double that consumption and it would be impressive and believable, but that simply seems impossible.

[Boatguy30]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

You may recall the boat that was abandoned by her owners, partly because there wasn't enough fuel to get an ill child to medical help?

is that the final excuse/spin? Like they were really going to motor 800 miles upwind regardless of how much fuel they had!