Most cruising boats just don't sail well in the often light winds that cover
waters a lot of the time. They start out heavy and then get loaded down with
more gear. Many people spend a lot of effort on dealing with how they will
handle heavy storm conditions, but little attention on dealing with light
air - hence the motoring. Here's a boat web site where they went from San
Francisco to Hawaii, through the SP and onto to New Zealand and used
something like 44 gals of diesel for the entire trip. It was on comfortable,
modern, performance design.. http://www.ditzen.com/

Paul
wrote in message
oups.com...
After reading hundreds of cruising logs, in-, near- and offshore, on
the net over the past several months, I have been struck by how often
and for how long cruising sailors report they are under engine power.
From what I have read, it would appear that sailors are under engine
power for something in the 80-90% range.

Why, then, have a sailboat? For the little time under sail and quiet?
Or is it a need to prove hardiness to oneself and to others?