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Wayne.B

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:29:10 -0500, wrote:

Obviously my opinion as an owner and user of an outboard on a sailboat
is different than yours.

My question is whether or not you do any long range cruising - several
hundred miles outside of Long Island Sound for example - or if you
live on the boat away from a dock for two or three weeks at a time?

The few times that I've done that sort of thing on an outboard powered
sail boat were totally unsatisfactory for all the reasons mentioned.

You mentioned 1/2 gph fuel consumption. Using a standard 6 gallon
outboard tank that gives you a range under power of less than 75
nautical miles, not even enough to return from Martha's Vineyard or
Nantucket. Our first cruising boat had a 10 gallon diesel tank. It
could go non-stop from Stamford to Block Island or Martha's Vineyard
with plenty of fuel left over, burning about 1 quart per hour. When
you've got to be back at work on Monday morning a good engine is a
nice thing to have.