BEST POWER BOAT FOR THE THORNY PATH

[SCOUTVI]

We live on St. Thomas and would like to buy a power boat to cruise back and forth between STT and FL once a year. We are hoping to find something locally or in PR.

Outboards are more popular here, and seem to be a better option for cruising around the USVI and BVI the rest of the year. We have a small outboard skiff right now. There is a 37' Intrepid and 37' Grady White Express that we are going to look at this weekend.

I am much more familiar with outboard boats. But would an inboard Sea Ray or Horizon or something like that make for a more comfortable ride over the longer distances? It will be me and my husband and our two boys (6 and 12).

We plan on bringing a very experienced friend or family member with us the first time, at least to PR or Punta Cana.

Thanks!

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, ScoutVI.

Let's look at fuel cost. Consider three ways to travel in a power boat. The first is planing. Your skift does that. It's fast, but high fuel cost, and is not likely in a boat you would want to take back and forth to the mainland. The second is plowing. That's what the boats you are looking at largely do. It's not as fast as planing, but uses even more fuel, bunches in fact, as long as the boat is climbing its bow wave. You can spot a boat that is plowing - the bow is up and it makes a huge wake. Plowing is what your skift does just before it gets up on a plane. The third is hull speed. That's what trawlers do. Hull speed is as fast as the boat can travel while its stern is still supported by the first wave off the bow. The boat is not climbing its bow wave as in plowing. Hull speed is computed (for your purposes) in knots at 1.34 times the square root of the waterline length of the boat in feet. A 45 foot boat might have 40 feet at the waterline and a hull speed of 8,5 knots. That's very economical of fuel.

Unless you are quite willing to pay a bunch for fuel each trip in order to get there faster, consider finding a small trawler or similar boat for crossing, and enjoy the trip each time.

[ranger58sb]

I briefly shopped on a boat in Fajardo, PR.... with the idea of doing the delivery to FL (and then eventually to Annapolis) myself. So... I plotted out a likely route based on an older blog I read... and eventually decided the mileage from Fajardo to Hillsboro Inlet was too much. Partly because I'm not already familiar with the engines on that target boat.

Folks in that blog made it approx 1057 NM from Hillsboro to STT, so from Fajardo maybe only 35 NM shorter IIRC. 10 stops from Hillsboro to STT.

That blog is here: Captain's Blog Stardate 2009: Captain's Blog

-Chris

[SCOUTVI]

Thanks so much, very helpful.

@tkeithlu What would be some examples of a small trawler?

[ranger58sb]

If you decide to look at trawlers, there's a sister site at trawlerforum.com.

"Small" is a relative term, but can include names like Ranger Tug and Rosborough (sorta) and some of those can be outboard powered. Larger versions more often have inboard diesels.

-Chris

[MicHughV]

I helped doing a delivery on a trawler once. Made it to DR, but were rolling so bad, it was impossible to stand, sit, sleep, or do anything. Owner finally said to hell with it and turned around.

[rslifkin]

Going that far out, I'd probably want something on the sturdier end of the powerboat spectrum and for comfort's sake, probably something stabilized. You don't need a big Nordhavn to do that trip, but you're probably going to end up with something sturdy and slow. A Kadey-Krogen 42 would certainly be suitable, as would a bunch of other options.

The slower, more capable boats will also have a longer fuel range, so you'll have less need to island hop from gas dock to gas dock the whole way and can have more routing flexibility.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I helped doing a delivery on a trawler once. Made it to DR, but were rolling so bad, it was impossible to stand, sit, sleep, or do anything. Owner finally said to hell with it and turned around.

That can happen. On any boat, not just a generic "trawler." (Been there, done that.) Then too, there are trawlers... and then there are trawlers. Some stabilized, some not, some with friendlier hull forms, some not, etc.

IOW, the critique can be too broad brush... and potentially could have applied to any kind of powerboat in that particular situation, with those particular sea states.

-Chris

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by ranger58sb

I briefly shopped on a boat in Fajardo, PR.... with the idea of doing the delivery to FL (and then eventually to Annapolis) myself. So... I plotted out a likely route based on an older blog I read... and eventually decided the mileage from Fajardo to Hillsboro Inlet was too much. Partly because I'm not already familiar with the engines on that target boat.

I didn't think to mention it before, but the blog boat was a 42' flybridge sportfish with twin 450-hp diesels. My target boat when I was shopping was a 50' flybridge sportfish with twin 715-hp diesels.

Both capable of the trip, although the blog folks didn't seem to have done wonderful weather planning.

I had no prior experience with the engines on the target boat, wasn't sure I could easily arrange a full set of tools aboard, didn't know if I could hire engine-experienced crew for the trip, etc... much (all?) of which may have eventually been solvable... but it turned out to be easier to shop on nearer boats.

I wouldn't be interested in making that transit on a relatively small center console or cuddy cabin boat with outboards. Or even a relatively small "express cruiser" with inboards (e.g., smaller Sea Ray Sundancers), especially gas inboards. But then maybe that's just me, not that it couldn't be done.

-Chris

[skipmac]

Before you can even start this process, what's the budget for buying the boat?

Second, what are you willing to spend for fuel to get back and forth?

Based on 1 and 2 start narrowing the options. Then look at the range plus at least a 1/3 margin of the boat. Years ago I thought about cruising the Bahamas to VI in a small, planing power boat and did some research. If I recall the longest stretch between fuel was 150 miles or so but this was 40 years ago so I would check that out.

If 150 is correct then I would want a boat with a conservative 200 mile range and carry a few jerry jugs along with it for spare.

Then you would have to consider the time. A small planing boat would not do well in rough conditions so you might have to sit somewhere for days or even a week or three waiting for a calm day for the next leg.

Bottom line, it is doable but has some challenges and would require careful planning. By the way, when I was thinking about this it was after a read about a dive operation in the Caymans that bought a couple of new outboard powered dive boats in FL and drove them to the Cayman Islands. Also met a couple of guys in Clarencetown Long Island in a 25' Forumula years ago. So it can be done.

[valhalla360]

I would look at a sail catamaran. If you don't put the sails up, it magically becomes a power boat.

They are a comfortable platform and finding one with decent range shouldn't be hard. Only downside is you won't be running at 25kts...but you probably aren't doing that in most traditional power boats anyway.

[MicHughV]

I don't think outboards are the way to go.

In addition to all my other toys, I also run a twin engined fishing boat....twin 150 Yammies. My fuel burn at cruise is about 15 gals/hr.. a bit more in big seas....about 20 gal/hr..as you have to throttle up and down..going into the waves is rough....on the boat and people in the boat....you'll be holding on the whole time...

I have a fuel flow meter, so have a pretty good idea on this consumption.

Stabilizers is probably mandatory for a trip like this...otherwise it will roll your brains out.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I don't think outboards are the way to go.

In addition to all my other toys, I also run a twin engined fishing boat....twin 150 Yammies. My fuel burn at cruise is about 15 gals/hr.. a bit more in big seas....about 20 gal/hr..as you have to throttle up and down..going into the waves is rough....on the boat and people in the boat....you'll be holding on the whole time...

I have a fuel flow meter, so have a pretty good idea on this consumption.

Stabilizers is probably mandatory for a trip like this...otherwise it will roll your brains out.

You probably want a go fast boat around the islands. Stabilizers are not needed on a go fast boat. You will have to plan on fuel stops, which means checking into and out of each country.

[MicHughV]

I did come across a guy one time in a big trawler that was towing a center console fishing boat. The trawler was quite big.....50 plus feet...his tow line was quite long as I recall and quite substantial.

I don't know whether he made it to wherever he was going though.....if you have enough horse power, it's doable I guess..

[Rumrace]

I’ve had several Sea Rays. Most I would not recommend for long ocean runs.
My last one was a 400 Sedan with 2 V 6 diesel. It’s a great long range cruiser and it’s deep V make it a solid performer in big water.
Ocean , Hatteras, Donzi, and don’t count them out Cigarette.
You Cigarette is about to launch a Yacht.
They just launched a personal electric watercraft and it’s sold out on ore orders.
It might have been 1989 30 some odd boats ran from Miami to Bimini. Some fun stuff. 5-6 boatssank several including Scarab suffered deck separation.
Cigarette a 38’ called Cover Girl nailed it in 45 minutes.
Donzi Cigarettes peer in big water did make some big boats 3 owners back. They may be to big for you.
Don’t forget Hinkley. They are kinda the Riva of USA. Their boats are very fast and well built. . They still make a 50’ sailboat