Switch to full time power?

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Then get an RV . (and PLEASE know that I am joking with you)

They don't work very well on the water but I guess it could be said we have the ocean going version of.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Being pedantic seems your forté. Bye.

If the correct usage of the English language annoys you so much then to you, a pedant I may be.

[Cadence]

Matt, I made friends that had a 36' Endeavor power cat. They did the loop with a couple of small diesels. I think a couple of 60 OBs is overkill.

[patrickbarbary]

It depends on the size. I owned a PDQ with 2 Yamaha 10 HP, and it was fine.

[contrail]

I did the ICW, from the Chesapeake to Ft. Lauderdale (including the Dismal Swamp) on my 1999 Leopard 45 sailing cat, with the mast down, and it was a perfect boat for the job. We cruised on the diesels, sometimes one and sometimes two, and our air draft, normally 72', was reduced to 10'. In other words, just lower than the lowest of all the bridges, when closed. (At the time, there were two floating bridges, so we were not lower than those). Bottom line is that everyone else, from console boats, to trawlers, to sailboats had to deal with bridge closings and schedules, whilst we just powered along, never having the slightest delay. Sometimes, we had only a foot of clearance, but we always had that....the benefit of no flybridge, no fishing rigs, etc.



She was the ideal ICW boat, and the diesels were fine.

[Bean Counter]

Similar to above post we motored a Lagoon 450 from Florida to Cape May up the ICW with 65ft mast lying above the port hull. We usually ran just one motor at a time doing 6 knots at around 70% throttle. Very fuel efficient. The fly bridge was fantastic for this trip with a large Bimini.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Matt, I made friends that had a 36' Endeavor power cat. They did the loop with a couple of small diesels. I think a couple of 60 OBs is overkill.

I agree, 30-40 hp outboards would be plenty, especially on the river portions. Probably using one engine a lot of the time. Pretty inexpensive cruising.

[SteveSadler]

I think it's a great idea if you don't plan on long passages where range is a problem. With displacement hulls as all sailboats are, and no rig, you'll enjoy less pitching, but a quicker roll, still a vast improvement from similar sized mono, and far better fuel consumption if you stay at lower, displacement speeds. If you plan to extend your range downwind, maybe a big kite can be flown from a short mast. I've seen videos of a 20m kite secured to a mast at the leading edge and 2 sheets at the clues, marketed as emergency equipment. A small spinnaker could do the same to extend range with a taller mast.
Some cruising areas are better for power boats than others, like Pacific NW. Not a lot of trade wind sailing there, or the ICW.

[Rennsail]

Prestige made a few "motor sailer" cats. Big (60'+) sailing cats with big turbo diesel motors. Cruise at 11 knots and could easily hit 20 under power. Though the beam might not work for the Great Loop.


And speaking of diesels and outboards...why not the best of BOTH worlds?



https://www.coxmarine.com/

[Chili Palmer]

I've read quite a bit about boats on the great loop (as most here have, I'm sure) and it seems like sailboats are a pretty good alternative with masts down given the draft isn't too deep.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by MaddMatt

What is the big difference between part time motoring with sails and full time without?

I have no interest in sailing but love the catamaran look, layout, efficiency and handling. If i remove all the sailing bits, can i use a 30-40' cat with a couple of outboard 60hp engines?

Thanks. I appreciate the wealth of knowledge present here!

Matt

I would almost guess a pair of Honda four strokes 15s with the 28" leg would be adequate. They allow swinging a larger dia. prop.. You are only going to achieve hull speed. I had one pushing an SR31 at 7.5 knots at .75 gal per hour.
That's at about 2/3 throttle. More throttle would be folly. I would think two on a 30-40 cat would be more than sufficient.

[MaddMatt]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the responses..... now to find an affordable used cat!

Matt

[Tin Tin]

Here you go, take the mast off and good to go on TGL (having fixed the starboard sail drive too)

https://au.yachtworld.com/boats/1985...c-10m-3680871/

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by MaddMatt

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the responses..... now to find an affordable used cat!

Matt

Why does it have to be a cat?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

Here you go, take the mast off and good to go on TGL (having fixed the starboard sail drive too)

https://au.yachtworld.com/boats/1985...c-10m-3680871/

That boat would be ideal for the OP. Those Yanmars are newish and well maintained. I would know. This is my old boat!! Glad to see she’s still kicking.

Forget the outboards and just run Felix without a mast. Store the mast for later.

Rudders are well protected, the galley is huge for a boat that size, diesels are newish and solid, it has lots of space for that size boat too. Feels like a decent 2 bedroom apartment on the water.

I’ve had her in a gale and she handled it.

Price is looking good too, considering the quality of what you get.

She’s a very slow catamaran (monohull speeds under sail), but a great little efficient power boat. I used to run her on one engine at a time at about 2200 RPM I think? 30hp yanmars sipped fuel.