Officially completed our Great Loop cruise today

http://dnkcruising.blogspot.com/

We still have to cruise the rest of the way home, of course. But we
bought the boat in a marina about 300 yards further up the San
Sebastian River, so this morning when we entered the San Sebastian
River, we crossed our wake.

For reasons I'm not going to explain here, we are in somewhat of a
hurry to get back home to NC and so will continue "wrong way" cruising
(headed north in the winter) for a few more weeks.

Wishing you all successful cruises and a Happy New Year
Doug King

wrote in news:9b62de67-29ba-4c6f-8b9d-
:

Officially completed our Great Loop cruise today

http://dnkcruising.blogspot.com/

We still have to cruise the rest of the way home, of course. But we
bought the boat in a marina about 300 yards further up the San
Sebastian River, so this morning when we entered the San Sebastian
River, we crossed our wake.

For reasons I'm not going to explain here, we are in somewhat of a
hurry to get back home to NC and so will continue "wrong way" cruising
(headed north in the winter) for a few more weeks.

Wishing you all successful cruises and a Happy New Year
Doug King


Congratulations! That must feel good. However, it looks like you did the
entire 5000-7000 mile trip in 7+ months...Amazing! That's 700-1000 miles a
month. Did you ever stop?

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Geoff Schultz wrote:
Congratulations! That must feel good. However, it looks like you did the
entire 5000-7000 mile trip in 7+ months...Amazing! That's 700-1000 miles a
month. Did you ever stop?


Well, yeah... we anchored or docked every night except one

Actually we took many 2 or 3 day stops in enjoyable places; waited 4
days for weather and 4 days for a flood; took a couple weeks off to
rent a car & drive back home (once for Thanksgiving, once for another
family event)... When underway we usually made 40 to 60 miles a day;
early in the cruise we pushed harder and made a number of ~80 mile
days.

We also observed first-hand the sharp divide between slow cruising and
fast cruising. Many people make the Loop in boats that make 80+ mile
days with a much shorter time commitment; this reduces their need for
weather windows and influences them to skip a lot of potentially nice
spots in between major ports... it also increases their expense for
fuel dramatically!

Best Wishes for a Great 2008!

Doug King

wrote in news:d4c46c85-a2fc-4031-b937-c12e6cff2403
@l32g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

Best Wishes for a Great 2008!

Doug King



What was the total fuel bill, Doug?.....(c;

Larry
--
http://kitco.com/charts/livegold.html
9-11-2001 gold was $270/oz
TODAY its $838/oz, up $40 since Christmas, up $11 just TODAY!
1yearchg +204.60 +32.26%
When does a "slide" become a "crash"?

Larry wrote:
What was the total fuel bill, Doug?.....(c;


Around $3700

less than the cost of a set of sails for a sailboat our size

less than the cost of insurance for the boat for a year


When does a "slide" become a "crash"?

Easy... if it happens to your friends, neighbors, or co-workers, it's
a "market correction" or a "predictable down-turn" or even a "burst
bubble." When it happens to YOU it becomes a "crash."

DSK

wrote in news:f7d64ee3-be74-4485-a8ad-4c4ca7c8aab1
@w47g2000hsa.googlegroups.com:

Around $3700



Hmm...much less than I was expecting....good fuel management!

Larry
--
Do remember to put 2008 on your checks!...(c;

Around $3700

Larry wrote:
Hmm...much less than I was expecting....good fuel management!


Fuel efficiency was a priority of ours when we were shopping for the
boat, and it remains a priority when cruising despite it not being our
biggest cost... it's still a significant cost. I believe that rather
few powerboat/trawler cruisers genuinely understand the trade-off
between speed & fuel efficiency.

Our boat has a range of 1200nm, which allows us to buy where it's
cheapest; and the internet allows us to dig for info on fuel prices in
the areas we are traveling.

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!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

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

On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:36:11 -0800 (PST), wrote:

most people think that 135 hp is kinda wimpy
for a 36' boat!

Everything's a compromise. We could certainly get by with a lot less
power than our twin DD6-71s but every once in awhile it is nice to
have that reserve available.

I really think you'd enjoy having a fast RIB dinghy. That's my "fun"
boat when we are cruising.

Wayne.B wrote:

On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:36:11 -0800 (PST), wrote:


most people think that 135 hp is kinda wimpy
for a 36' boat!


Everything's a compromise. We could certainly get by with a lot less
power than our twin DD6-71s but every once in awhile it is nice to
have that reserve available.

I really think you'd enjoy having a fast RIB dinghy. That's my "fun"
boat when we are cruising.



Crude Oil price broke $100 per barrel today - for the first time.