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Larry

wrote in news:7da309bd-1803-4285-94fe-
:

One of my pet peeves is mankind's foolish infatuation with horsepower.
Our boat has a 135hp diesel, which theory suggests could burn about 12
gph. In practice, we generally burn between 1 and 1.5 gph at speeds
between 6 and 7.5 knots; that's between 1,000 and 1,600 RPM on an
engine that redlines at 2350. We've run it up to full throttle a
number of times and the boat seems to top out at about 8.5 knots,
which makes a heck of a lot of foam & splash & wake.... have no idea
what our fuel burn is at that throttle. But we could get along JUST
FINE with 75 or even 50 hp however nobody in his right mind is going
to market a boat like that... at least, not until fuel prices get a
heck of a lot higher. And most people think that 135 hp is kinda wimpy
for a 36' boat!

Oh, you just have to see the displacement hulled, twin engined trawlers
headed down the ICW trying to make Florida like they were on the
interstate...(c;

The bow waves are MOST impressive! All the power turned into FOAM.

Why would anyone buy a Nordic Tug with TWO big engines?? It's crazy!

I watched an Australian movie a couple of weeks ago and there was a scene
where this open boat was ferrying passengers across quite open waters to
some island. (Sorry I've already forgotten the movie's name). The boat
held about 12 people and was powered by what sounded like a 2-cyl Lister
diesel running hard at...at....at....200 RPM?! What a beautiful,
rhythmic thumping sounds they make that just go on and on....probably for
40 years. Too bad the movie was about the plot and didn't let us have a
tour of the engine "room" under that wooden box in the middle...(c;

Thump...Thump...Thump...

"Don't spin that crank too fast or she'll OVERREV!"

Larry
--
Next time some broker tells you what a great investment he's selling,
ask him about Rhodium, a shiny metal used in Catalytic Converters.
Jan 1st 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Rhodium $452 $1341 $3006 $5339 $6775 PER OUNCE!
How much longer can we pay for new cars at this rate?
Feb '97 it was $182/oz