Fuel Expense

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

How to cut your fuel costs in half? Spend twice as long in each anchorage.
I have worked about month a year, since 1976, for all the money I need, something which would be impossible living on land . In living costs, my boat has paid for itself many times over, drastically reducing my environmental impact in the process.

I met a fella in Victoria who had spent a lot of his life sailing but now late in life found himself working a lot with little time off. Clearly he made good money and he owned a very fast boat since he only had a couple of weeks a year to go anywhere, In those two weeks he'd spend more then I spent in a year of cruising on fuel. I can afford to not spend money on fuel in some ways because I'm not busting my behind trying to make the money. Here's to enjoying the journey

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by rourkeh

I find it interesting the way some people will vehemently defend their personal choices when it comes to their vessel.

Defending one's own choice makes sense.

Indicting someone else's choice makes no sense.

CF welcomes everyone. If the guy with the 200 foot Megayacht ever chose to wallow around with us mere mortals and post here, I would heartily welcome him, hope to befriend him and at some point weasel a week's free stay -

The argument on Sail vs. Power - see link above. Is a pretty good thread and IIR stayed pretty civil.

My personal opinion was that the "answer" required too many assumptions on both sides to ever be conclusive.

I have met several folks on long cruises in diesel displacement boats. They state their experience as above - about 10% of the total costs is fuel. The question begs is total cost higher?

In any case I can really see the argument for cruising in a displacement hull. I saw a great looking little trawler up in Kuala Lumpur a month or so ago. It had stabilizing outriggers and had a sailplan. I bet it was fun to cruise around in.

When I can't handle sails any more, it's a real option in order to stay afloat and mobile...

[kb79]

wow, that's a cool lookin' boat

[zeehag]

nice looking trawler.

my uncle single handed a 36 ft no engine antique gaff rigged sloop until he was 95yrs old. at what age is it one is no longer able to handle sails?? just curious.

[markpierce]

That boat looks like one of the Seahorse Marine models.

http://www.seahorseyachts.com/core/l...seahorsemarine&

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by zeehag

nice looking trawler.

my uncle single handed a 36 ft no engine antique gaff rigged sloop until he was 95yrs old. at what age is it one is no longer able to handle sails?? just curious.

Hopefully never, but a gaff rig is a good sail plan for the aging, wouldn't you think? The older sail plans involved smaller sails so easier to hois. Less tension on the standing rigging too. I'm sticking with my boat for sometime to come but I do thin there is a lot to admire in the older boats that didn't require the heavy weight gear we use now. But I'm still learning ...

[fishwife]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Snip..

I have met several folks on long cruises in diesel displacement boats. They state their experience as above - about 10% of the total costs is fuel. The question begs is total cost higher?. snip..

I imagine most if not everyone, before they buy a boat is worried about the cost of ownership. It occupies many pages of this forum, in one guise or another. Before I bought my boat I tried to research this and was given answers that ranged from 10% to 25% per year of the purchase price. The wide range was accounted for by how much maintenance you did or had done for you and how much you spent on 'wanted' items like the latest electronics.
Doing all the maintenance myself and resisting the temptation to buy bigger monitors and the new dinghy and the latest navigation programs etc, it seems to be working out at slightly less than 10% of the purchase price. I've talked to many sail boat owners who I consider serious sailors that find they spend a similar percentage on their boats.
To clarify the figures a little, I'm talking about everything you spend on the boat: food, booze, moorings, maintenance, entertainment. Day sailors may spend less but I don't think it's going to be a lot less. If you have a $30,000 boat, the percentage is going to be much higher, just because of the amount you spend on your own needs.

P.

[Brent Swain]

To clarify the figures a little, I'm talking about everything you spend on the boat: food, booze, moorings, maintenance, entertainment. Day sailors may spend less but I don't think it's going to be a lot less. If you have a $30,000 boat, the percentage is going to be much higher, just because of the amount you spend on your own needs.

P.[/QUOTE]
Food, you'd have to buy anyway, boat or no boat.
I have no need to buy booze. Not exactly a boat expense.
Nor is entertainment.
I don't pay moorage . That is what anchors are for.
I do all my own maintenance, which is under $50 a year for my 31 footer.

[sailorboy1]

The percentage of costs for fuel don't mean much to me. It's like ROI and margins when you pay with profits (you'll know if this conversion comes up in your line of work what I mean). I already point to trawlers and tell my wife that's us later when we are tied to the dock because we can not handle the sails anymore.

But really I wasn't thinking of power boat cruisers when I first started this. I was more thinking of the power boats that spend $600 in fuel in a weekend (to go catch a fish....maybe if lucky).

[anglooff]

I was in Florida earlier this year on a golf tour and a friend of mine invited me out for a day on his cruiser. I arrived just as he was topping up his tanks at the marina and his bill was over a $1000USD. He told me that last year on one occassion he had spent nearly $3k on a fill up. He is quite well off, but as a Scot it would dull my pleasure a little to pay those recurring costs.

I was afraid to ask what his annual fuel bill was. I know that even in Curacao terms that would cover ten years of my needs. In Venezuela I'd be long dead.

Regards

Alan

[Pblais]

I have many good friends that were die hard sailors for 30+ years only to go to a power boat and have just as much fun. If you own a boat and are not having fun you need to have a chat with someone close that can set you straight.

When rafting up nothing beats a nice 50 trawler. You don't have to own one to have fun.

[Brent Swain]

I spent 11months a year of the last 34 years cruising, instead of having to work, and cruise only three weeks a year; because I didn't have to pay high fuel bills. I had more fun than I would have if I could only afford to cruise three weeks a year , due to fuel expenses.

[Brent Swain]

They have to have the huge engines to go fast to get back to work to pay for the huge engines to go fast to get back to work pay for the fuel , and the huge engines, etc etc etc.
Expensive cars have as similar circular logic.

[Mav]

Having just purchased a twin engined sports cruiser I am going to know all about fuel prices. However I have never been interested in sailing, I like the look of yatchs but for me power is my first love.

The new to me sports cruiser has a fuel capacity of 1082 litres, fuel currently costs around AU$1.70 per litre. Does not take an einstien to work out my fuel bill when filling up. There will not be much change from AU$2000.00

[bill brown]

My former boss was invited by a Wall Street tycoon for a Saturday outing on the Long Island Sound. According to my former boss "It was a big boat with all the amenities you might expect at the Plaza Hotel." He boarded this yacht (best I can figure 70' plus twin engine vessel) at about 10 AM. It was a beautiful day. The owner said that this first stop was the fuel dock. My former boss said "I'll take care of it." The owner said "You sure?"

The bill: touch over $10,000 - 2000 gallons to fill her up - - only $2.00/gallon - - them were the days! bb