On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:14:34 -0500, wrote:

giving some thought to either a trawler or cruiser for galveston
bay/gulf of mexico. purpose would be just to tool around while not
paying huge bux for gas.

trawler seems to have an advantage with a smaller, generally diesel
engine. one trawler i have an eye on is a 27' boat with 165 hp engine.
does 7 kts at 2 gph (according to the literature)

cruiser would be nice in that you'd have power if you wanted it...but
you pay for those twin 350's! if you're not gonna use 'em alot, why
buy 'em. but it's possible to cut down on gas use by loafing along at
7 kts in a cruiser, too.

any thoughts?

I've been trying to choose a cruising-type boat myself, and don't care
about speed, even less about burning gas.
I think it was Wayne that gave me this link.
http://www.rosboroughboats.com/sedan_cruiser.html

In reading the testimonials, one guy with a 246 mentioned:
"The 140 hp Suzuki outboard has worked out well. We burn a little less
than two gal/hr at a cruising speed of 12 knots when loaded with
provisions and fuel for an extended run. When we drop to hull speed,
she burns very little fuel."

Lots of choices out there, and configurations to play with.
For instance what if you put two 50's on the above boat?
Now you have engine redundancy.
Cruising speed? Fuel consumption?
Don't know but it would be fun to find out.

--Vic