"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:15:58 GMT, "Gordon Wedman"
wrote:

Watched "The Perfect Storm" a couple weeks ago and kept thinking how
they'd
be dead in a minute if the engine quit. Certainly cured me of any desire
to
be out in serious weather in a power boat, at least a single engine unit.
Seems like drogues and sea anchors are even more important on power boats.
Don't read those magazines so I wonder what they say?

===============================================

What you say is true in my opinion but you are less likely to be
"caught out" in a power boat unless you have a true long range cruiser
like a Nordhaven, Willard or similar.

Power boats have the advantage of speed which gets you back into port
quicker if need be, and they also have a finite range which usually
limits time at sea to a more predictable weather window.


Yes, I would agree. I was just commenting that if you do get caught out you
really are dependant on that engine (and your mechanic).

This discussion reminds me of another story I read once. This fellow in
Florida had a Cigarette-type boat that he used to zip over to the Bahamas
frequently. At normal cruising speed he got decent fuel mileage and got
there pretty quickly. One day a storm blew up when he was half way back.
He had to reduce speed a lot. His fuel consumption went way up. As the
waves got higher and higher he was sweating bullets wondering if he was
going to make it back before his fuel ran out. I think he had his family
along. He made it back and decided to pay closer attention to weather
reports in the future.