Hi all....

This past summer I got to use a friends inflatable avon with a 4 hp
motor....and I really had a blast spending all day cruising around at about 4
knots in relative peace and quite and only using a few gallons of gas doing
it...of course that thing was about as hydrodynamic as cinder block....

It sure was the opposite of when I was a kid when and my Dad would take us on a
planing powered fishing boat, where we got beat to hell, went nearly deaf, got
soaked always, and burned gas/money like the Rockefellers.....

So, from my recent "cruising" experience, I've realized that slow and easy
could be pretty darn fun....and I could actually stand going so slow....so I
could cruise just for the sake of cruising on a nice day....or if I wanted to
dive or fish I could stand taking ALL day doing it (because of the slow
speed)...might as well since after a half day of fishing or diving Im so wiped
out anyway I spend the rest of day just vegging out.....so might as well vegg
out putting back to port in the boat....

Now, lets say I get the typical mostly enclosed small sailboat. Say 18 to 22
footer.

How many HP would I need to push such a vessel at hull speed? And say for
example that it calculates at 4HP, how much more power should I have in reserve
to fight wind, waves, bad weather, avoiding running the engine at max power etc
etc....

As an aside, around here...gulf of mexico, Pensacola Florida area...the ocean
weather is not often bad....when its bad for long periods of time you know its
coming and can avoid it....and generally if its something unexpected (ie pop up
thunderstorms) it only last a few hours at most...so its not like I'd want a
boat able to fight a New England type noreaster for days on end....and my uses
would most often be the bays, intercoastal water way, and the occasional ocean
jog 10 to 20 miles east/west of "the pass" and about 10 miles offshore max...

Would a sailboat (without any of the sailing thingamabobs on it) make a decent
day/long weekend powered cruiser when used in nice weather? And would it be
reasonably safe (if not comfortable) in bad weather (compared to a high powered
"normal" powerboat)?....

And would a sailboat in reasonably decent weather, say moderate swells, waves
or chop, be a fairly comfortable boat when at anchor? (I would think the keel
and its moment of inertia would help there)

And I certainly like the idea of economical boating being of a rather cheap
nature myself (and being poor at the moment makes for a really bad combination
....

Give the hurricane Ivan damage here, I could probably get a small sailboat hull
here for nearly nothing (hell, some are still in the trees in the
woods!).....amazing what a 40 foot storm surge will do!.....and a small
outboard is no big deal....but I imagine trying to rigg out a sailboat with all
the sailing "stuff" would probably make me faint cost wise.....

take care and dont get to upset with my blasphemous quest!

Any comments on the pros, cons, or possible gotcha's greatly appreciated!

take care

Blll