wrote:
... 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.

This depends to an extent on how one defines sailing, or cruising, or both.
I suspect the majority of sailboat owners are weekenders whose calendar is
not their own. This means getting back to work on Monday, etc., and that
means diesel. The same constraints apply to ICW travelers who want to make
the requisite 50 miles each day to keep on "schedule" and get where it's
warm.

On an offshore trip things change, and if you are heading over to Bermuda or
beyond, you get more concerned with comfort, safety, and other creature
comforts, and "flopping along" in light air doesn't seem much of a hardship.
I cannot power all the way to Bermuda, but my little boat has sailed there
several times with no ill effects. This isn't an either or thing. If you
are running from Charleston down to Saint Mary's Entrance offshore, I don't
think you will want to sit around and wait for wind when things go light

I must say that the only time I remember motoring past a boat under sail in
light air is when daysailing in protected waters. Make no mistake about it:
that diesel is what makes sailing possible for the vast majority of cruising
sailors.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

Larry W4CSC wrote:
I know someone who bought a 40' dismasted sloop really cheap. The yard
tore off all the sailing equipment left and cut down the keel by about
half, increasing their load capacity by a lot! He installed a 4 cylinder
Yanmar in his new "trawler" and off they went in their shallow-draft
trawler. They still have it many years later.....(c;

He always tells everyone diesel fuel and engines are LOTS cheaper than new
sails and rigging!


I think I know that guy... are his initials MR and the boat named after
a popular children's storybook character? If so, that's a great
conversion.... a better looking & more practical boat as a trawler than
it was as a sailboat!

People ask us if it's much more expensive cruising in a trawler
(actually I prefer to call ours a "tugboat") buying all that fuel... the
truth is that it's one of our lowest line-item budget entries. Insurance
and dockage are much much more, and would cost just as much (or more)
for a sailboat.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 20:38:09 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:


Motor 2/3 of the way across tha Atlantic !?!
Very few cruising sailboats could carry enough fuel to even get
remotely close to being able to do that! I don't know what kind of
articles and books you al have been reading, but most books about
cruising and long ocean passages reveal that you sail most of the time
because there isn't enough fuel to power very far if you wanted to. I
have done 3 round trips to Bermuda from Annapolis and most of that was
done under sail. Now if you are talking about weekend and week long
cruises in the summer done by people with jobs, it is quite likley
that the days you are out may be very light air and you either motor
or don't get far. I figure some years we are lucky and can sail over
2/3s of time and some years the weather just sucks for our cruises and
we get under 1/3 sailing.

A friend of mine has done several Atlantic crossings. He says that
you can plan on motoring about 2/3s of the way across if you hope
to get across in a reasonable amount of time. Sailing is not as
much of a panacea as some think.

Doug

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 07:33:28 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

wrote:
... 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.

This depends to an extent on how one defines sailing, or cruising, or both.
I suspect the majority of sailboat owners are weekenders whose calendar is
not their own. This means getting back to work on Monday, etc., and that
means diesel. The same constraints apply to ICW travelers who want to make
the requisite 50 miles each day to keep on "schedule" and get where it's
warm.

On an offshore trip things change, and if you are heading over to Bermuda or
beyond, you get more concerned with comfort, safety, and other creature
comforts, and "flopping along" in light air doesn't seem much of a hardship.
I cannot power all the way to Bermuda, but my little boat has sailed there
several times with no ill effects. This isn't an either or thing. If you
are running from Charleston down to Saint Mary's Entrance offshore, I don't
think you will want to sit around and wait for wind when things go light

I must say that the only time I remember motoring past a boat under sail in
light air is when daysailing in protected waters. Make no mistake about it:
that diesel is what makes sailing possible for the vast majority of cruising
sailors.

Good point. One thing we do to maximize sailing is avoid choosing our
destination as long as possible. Then, when we have chosen, we
calculate the motoring radii to it for 1, 2, 3 hours in case the wind
dies. That way we can go on sailing in light air as long as possible.

How to choose the time we would like to arrive? If we aren't trying to
make distance, it might be to allow cocktails and picture taking in
daylight.

We can follow this procedure most of the time because we normally
cruise off season. The coming season will be different, since we will
be on the New England coast during July and August. There may be
problems of crowds.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Curse thee, thou quadrant. No longer will I guide my earthly way by thee." Capt. Ahab

You are dead right on this.

These are the folks who never really learned to sail (on small boats)
Got the idea of buying a BIG boat because the interior looked better
than the Winnabago they were looking at .........

Very sad.


In article , Larry W4CSC
wrote:

wrote in
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?



It's so saddening to see a beautiful sailboat waiting for the Wappoo Cut
bridge to open so it can be dragged, kicking and screaming for help, down
that awful ditch towards Florida......especially when offshore conditions
are 15-20 knots on a great broad reach in 2-3' seas...damned near perfect.
Can't be the Gulf Stream as you gotta go offshore a long ways here to get
into that going north....

How sad, indeed.

Most of them shoulda bought a MOTORHOME! They're in WAY too much of a
hurry for ANY kinda boat!

I think it was a joke.


"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 07:59:18 -0800, said:

better knots per gallon

That pretty much says it all about the credibility of this poster.

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:32:53 -0500, Rodney Myrvaagnes
wrote:

The coming season will be different, since we will
be on the New England coast during July and August. There may be
problems of crowds.

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

If you want to avoid crowds anywhere, but especially in New England,
check your charts for harbors and coves that look uncharted or
impossible to get in. Scout them out with your dinghy or local
knowledge, and you can have the whole place to yourself on many
nights.

Please don't ask for specifics, my lips are sealed. :-)

I thought this was a sailing forum, not a grammer forum. Of course I meant the distance,
not the speed.

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 01:31:25 GMT, "Falky foo" wrote:

I think it was a joke.


"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 07:59:18 -0800, said:

better knots per gallon

That pretty much says it all about the credibility of this poster.

DSK wrote in
:

I think I know that guy... are his initials MR and the boat named after
a popular children's storybook character? If so, that's a great
conversion.... a better looking & more practical boat as a trawler than
it was as a sailboat!


Nope....JD and the boat's named after a computer part....(c;