The Troller Yacht Book: How To Cross Oceans Without Getting Wet Or Going Broke by George Buehler

Author:George Buehler [Buehler, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Exploration
ISBN: 9781614344216
Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc.
Published: 2011-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

V/L

Speed (knots)

Horsepower

Fuel/Hr (gal)

Range with

800 gallons

1.15

7.27

12

0.72

8,077 miles

1.20

7.59

16

1.02

5,953

1.3

8.22

28.4

1.7

3,859

1.35

8.54

52.2

3.13

2,181

Some people say that running an 80 or 100 horsepower engine at a fast idle horsepower for long periods could “load it up” (carbon the cylinder walls) which is why I recommend smaller engines than you usually see; you’ll run them efficiently far more often than they’ll get bogged down. However, I’ve had several good diesel mechanics tell me that running an engine up to its top power curve for one hour a day cleans everything out and then the engine will run fine at a fast idle for the next 23 hours. So, believe what you want! I’ll go along with these guys. Anyway, let’s use the 16-horsepower figures as a base. Running at a V/L of 1.2 is 7.59 knots for almost a 6,000-mile range, or 1.54 times more range than if you run at 8.22 knots (V/L of 1.3). If your trip is 2,500 miles, at 7.59 knots it’ll take 13¾ days and you’ll need 336 gallons of fuel. Running at 8.22 knots, you’ll burn 517 gallons and cut trip time to 12½ days. While both leave a good fuel reserve, speeding up means you’re burning 181 extra gallons of fuel to save 18 hours, and you’ll probably have to live with more engine noise, since it’s running harder.

It all depends on what you want to do, but if you’re coming from a sailing background, keep in mind how happy you were the rare time you averaged 4 knots for even 24 hours, let alone a week. Believe it or not, a 100 mile day is a sailboater’s dream. To an experienced ocean sailor, an effortless 7.59 knots, day after day, sounds like a fantasy! And notice that 800 gallons isn’t enough to make that 2500 miles if you run at 8.54 knots. Speed Costs! Of course our Troller Yacht can always sail the remaining distance if we run out of fuel, but I’d rather plan to match speed and fuel capacity for the longest trip I’m planning.

By the way, the above figures are for diesel, not gasoline, which would be almost twice as much fuel needed.

The weight of the fuel and room for the tanks is a consideration in smaller boats. It’s a good idea to locate the tanks somewhere around the buoyancy center so that the boat’s basic trim stays about the same as fuel is consumed. If space is much of an issue, I’d center the fuel weight a bit forward of the buoyancy center so that when fully fueled the boat trims slightly bow down. The hull runs through the water easier that way, and as you use fuel it will trim back to the DWL.

By the way, in case I haven’t said this before, the DWL, or Drawn Water Line, refers to the line on the plans the designer thought the boat looked best floating at. Once he decided that, any calculations done, such as displacement, center of buoyancy, maybe weights, were all based on the boat floating there.

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