From reading the posts, it appears as if the day sailors
are the ones saying they seldom use their motors. The
cruising sailors have a better grip on cruising realities.

dudley
..

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

"dudley" wrote in message
ups.com...
From reading the posts, it appears as if the day sailors
are the ones saying they seldom use their motors. The
cruising sailors have a better grip on cruising realities.

dudley
.

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 23 Feb 2005 14:56:40 -0800, "dudley"
wrote:

From reading the posts, it appears as if the day sailors
are the ones saying they seldom use their motors. The
cruising sailors have a better grip on cruising realities.

dudley
."
Probably so, but it depends on the boat and general orientation of the
cruiser as well. We don't use the engine anywhere near that much, but
our boat is easier to sail in light air than most pure cruising boats,
and goes much faster to windward.

Also, our habits started long ago as day racers. My wife and I raced
505s for our first 7 seasons together (1965-1972).

The cruisers who motor sail make their own "cruising realities" and
why shouldn't they? If they want to spend more time sailing, they may
need a different boat, or perhaps they should leave a lot of gear
ashore, or spring for new sails.

Our habits entail a sail budget that I hate to think about. It would
be cheaper to have a trawler yacht.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


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

A few years ago, my wife and I spent two years cruising the East Coast from
the Keys to Maine in an Island Packet 37. The IP is a strong, heavy and slow
cruising sailboat. We were on no particular schedule, so we had no
get-there-itis. But we motored a lot- easily 80% of our sea miles were under
power. But when the wind was right, it was glorious. We fondly remember an
overnight passage from Marco Island, Fl to Key West in almost perfect
conditions - 12 kts beam reach, clear night, full moon and dolphins swimming
alongside throughout the night. My wife still thinks that this experience
borders on the mystical/religious.

Today, we daysail and weekend cruise on a J/32-a pretty serious performance
cruiser. I refuse to motor to an overnight destination (Catalina Island
typically as we now live and work in the LA area) because I really like to
sail. So, we wait for the right conditions to sail to Catalina. With the
J/32 we can usually sail in as little as 8 kts true windspeed and enjoy it
and get there in a reasonable time.

So, if you want to sail, get a performance cruiser- a J or Saga or whatever
and load it lightly. But most long term cruisers have heavy, comfortable
boats and load them up. In that case, you probably will be doing a lot of
motoring. But enjoy the sailing when you can.

David

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/

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

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. :-)