40ft Yacht

Discussion in 'Horn Depot' started by Uninformed, Jan 5, 2007.

  1. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    I have only owned small boats and am curious about yachts. What kind of gas mileage do they get? Typically they have twin 250hp diesel engines. I have no clue about the typical tank size. What kind of range do they have? Would you be able to make it to the Flower Gardens and back? Would it be possible to leave from S. Florida and make it to the Caribbean islands?
     
  2. Steel Shank

    Steel Shank 1,000+ Posts

    Can't help you, friend. Mine's 45 foot.
     
  3. Pepper Brooks

    Pepper Brooks 250+ Posts

    My BIL has a 48ft Meridian Motoryacht. It has twin diesels that hold 330 gallons of fuel. It gets horrible mileage, or at least it did when it was being broken in and I doubt it is much better now. I think the range is pretty decent on his though. He has driven it over to Lake Charles from Houston several times, and a few other places. You can definitely go from SF to the Carribean in his boat, but of course he lives in Houston. Anyway, yes it has that capability and it is not hat tough a thin to do with proper charts, navigation, etc.
     
  4. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    Thanks, for the info. What do you mean by horrible mileage? Do you know the range? Galveston to Lake Charles is probably only about 130mi or so by water.
     
  5. ryskey

    ryskey 100+ Posts

    Probably the equivalent of 2-3 miles per gallon. At least that's what we calculated my friend's ~34 footer to get. Of course that's with twin 454ci gas engines, diesels will have a slightly better range.
     
  6. Pepper Brooks

    Pepper Brooks 250+ Posts

    I think it is about 6-8 miles per gallon.
     
  7. NCAAFBALLROX

    NCAAFBALLROX 1,000+ Posts

    I'll send an Email to my friend Steve; he's probably the most qualified person anyone on this board can find.

    Here's proof.

    PS: The distance from West Palm Beach (proper) due East to the tip of The Bahamas is about 60 miles, however this is open water & the waves will slow you down as compared to riding the coastline or an intracoastal waterway.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  8. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    Thanks. I was thinking mileage would be a little less than 1mpg. Thus, you might be cutting it pretty close looking for diesel when island hopping from the Bahamas to the Turks& Caicos.
     
  9. hullabelew

    hullabelew 1,000+ Posts

    A buddy of mine has a 53 ft'. He just did about 3/4 of the loop. They got 1 mile per gallon or as he says it, "1 gallon per mile".
     
  10. circumnavigator

    circumnavigator First Time Poster

    Hi,
    My friend “ncaafballrox” asked me to reply to your post.
    Fuel economy is stated as hours per gallon (or gallons per hour) generally at various cruising speeds for a powerboat. There is no typical size engine(s), or tankage – it varies depending on the design and intended use. A boat used for offshore, ocean cruising is built and equipped differently than one designed for coastal or inland cruising. Some 40’ blue water trawlers have a range of approximately 3000 miles, certainly suitable for any long distance trip you might like to take. However, a boat like this, besides being very expensive, might not be suitable for cruising around your home waters for a lot of reasons.

    I suggest you purchase some magazines that relate to the type of boating or cruising you would like to do and do some research before you purchase a yacht, which may not be suitable for what you want to do.

    Captain Steve
    US Coast Guard licensed 100-ton master
    Circumnavigator’s Yacht Service
    Fort LauderdaleThe Link
     
  11. AhhhCraig

    AhhhCraig 100+ Posts

    God I love this board! Where else can you get someone that qualified to respond to your post? Makes me wish I had a question or two. Next time I have a gun post or fishing post, someone better pull out Rob Latham or Bill Dance.
     
  12. NCAAFBALLROX

    NCAAFBALLROX 1,000+ Posts

    Funny thing... Circumnavigator coulda (in a version of bizzarro world) been my Step Dad. That means I would have HAD to get over my sea sickness, but eventually I'd have been around the world on a sailboat.

    [​IMG]

    Thanks, Circumnavigator.

    PS: Did you see the pics of the newest Texan?

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  13. zzzz

    zzzz 2,500+ Posts

    I don't know. I only have a 38-foot yacht.




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  14. hullabelew

    hullabelew 1,000+ Posts

    zzzz, that picture reminds me of when I was about 8 years old, I was gathering cattle with my granddad. We were counting them and he told me to count the legs and then divide by 4 to figure out how many we had.
     
  15. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    Captain Steve,

    Thanks for the reply. I was looking at a Drummond (Pursuit Boats) 34ft Island Runner. I was also looking at a similar but heavier 40ft small yacht. The Drummond gets about 1.4mpg and the 40ft I have no clue. A colleague has a similar boat and I think it only gets about .75mpg. With that kind of gas mileage, one would only do the trip for the experience. The colleague's opinion was:
    1. I would need to have a special license to travel international waters.
    2. Theft/crime is a real issue and I would need to carry a gun.
    3. The cost for a 1,200 mile one way trip would be really high - at $3:00 per gallon in the Caribbean, gas alone would be $3,600.
    4. With that size/type of boat, the trip would not be very comfortable and I would get tossed around considerably in the galley.

    Anyway, what type of boat (around the same size)would you recommend for the trip to maximize comfort and minimize fuel expense? Hopefully, I could use the same boat to dive and sportfish. Other advice?
     
  16. NCAAFBALLROX

    NCAAFBALLROX 1,000+ Posts

    Uninformed... bringing this one back from the dead for you.

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  17. brntorng

    brntorng 2,500+ Posts

    My personal policy is if I have to know how much fuel will cost me then I can't afford the boat.
     
  18. tropheus

    tropheus 1,000+ Posts

    1mpg with run-ins with pirates sounds about right.
     
  19. kangsta

    kangsta 500+ Posts

  20. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    I thought this thread was gone forever.


    At gas prices today, such a boat is probably a bad idea for me. I did see a kevlar boat at about 35ft. that gets almost 5mpg. It has no cuddy, however, and is simply an open center console fishing rig.
     
  21. NCAAFBALLROX

    NCAAFBALLROX 1,000+ Posts

    It's been so long, I think Steve forgot (or doesn't want to take the time to find) his password.

    Here's his response:

    -------------------

    Going back to my original letter, if your goal is to go to the Caribbean (which is quite do-able), the type of boat you want (if you insist on a powerboat) is a blue water capable trawler. This is a boat which is heavy, able to carry the fuel, water and supplies you need to live independently for some long period of time, and able to handle large seas and remain stable. A boat with these characteristics will be expensive to buy and expensive to operate. Most people who cruise the Caribbean go on sailboats. My boat is 40’ feet long and designed for ocean sailing. It holds only 90 gallons of diesel fuel giving me a motoring range of about 900 miles in calm waters (only in calm waters would I motor my boat). However, a sailboat has unlimited range. Our longest crossing (the southern Atlantic Ocean) was 3200 miles non-stop from Walvis Bay, Namibia to Salvador, Brazil. It took 26 days and we arrived with most of our fuel unused. A sailboat can sail faster than a trawler in the right conditions but certainly not motor as well under most conditions. Ocean going trawlers are subject to the same wind, current and sea constraints as a sailboat under heavy conditions. A sailboat cannot sail dead into the wind under any conditions while a trawler can. However, a competent captain of a trawler would not continue to bash into heavy seas for very long. A typical long ocean voyage by small boat is generally with the winds and currents. The routes follow the “trade winds” as sailing ships have for hundreds of years.

    Sailing in the Caribbean is often quite boisterous. The wind and ocean waves between islands are often higher than in the open ocean. However (once you get there) the distances are short with most trips accomplished in daylight hours.

    Again, do some reading about boats I have described. Look at a Nordhavn 40 to get an idea about a powerboat capable of long distance cruising.

    As to your other questions, you don’t need any license for yourself to sail anywhere in the world. Your boat will have to be Federally documented (as opposed to State registered).

    Violent crime is more likely to happen in the US then in the places that you would cruise. You are not allowed to keep firearms on your boat in the majority of places you will visit – they must be turned in to the police to hold until you leave with extreme penalties if you don’t. In the few places where you can keep a firearm and probably need one, such as Venezuela, my advice would be to not go there! There are places in Asia and the Middle East where there really are pirates! There will be 5 guys with AK47’s and grenade launchers. Do you think pulling out your pistol will help you? Again, my advice is to not go to these areas. Leave your guns home! There will be minor theft in some places – talk to other cruisers who will teach you how to avoid trouble. In twelve years of sailing around the world I lost one old pair of muddy shoes and an outboard fuel line (both in the same night) to someone who probably needed them more than I did!

    If you think you can buy fuel in the Caribbean for $3 a gallon, you’re in for a surprise! On the other hand you can buy diesel in Venezuela for $0.10 a gallon if someone doesn’t kill you first!

    As to your questions about fishing and diving, we always tow a line behind the boat and have been quite successful in catching fish all over the world. We have also dived in places that were absolutely amazing! All is possible with any kind of boat.

    One of the best sources of information on cruising, both locally and internationally is the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) the largest cruising group in the world (of which I am on the Board of Directors) with about 9000 members. Our members are both sailors and power boaters and with skill levels from nothing to multiple circumnavigations. Check out (or better join)The Link

    Get a copy of Cruising World, Ocean Navigator, Passage Maker, Latitudes and Attitudes magazines or check out their websites. If you want to talk to people about bluewater cruising, you need to talk to someone who has actually done it or you will hear a lot of crap!

    I’m pleased to answer your questions. I don’t mean to be arrogant or condescending. However if you come back to me again and again ask about "miles per gallon" for various brands of little coastal fishing boats, it shows me you are not hearing what I am saying and I am wasting my time!



    Captain Steve

    Circumnavigator’s Yacht Service

    Fort Lauderdale

    The Link

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  22. Uninformed

    Uninformed 5,000+ Posts

    Interesting...

    It sounds like he pretty much discourages going in a stnd. fishing boat to the Caribbean. I guess the Bahamas from S. Florida and the Flower Gardens from our coast is pretty much the limit for me.

    I always had dreams of going on such a trip (I don't know if any of y'all read the Dove as a kid). However, it sounds like the smart thing to do on such a trip is to hire a boat and make the trip shorter for monetary reasons.
     
  23. zork

    zork 2,500+ Posts

    seems like he is pushing the sailboat option, the virtually limitless options with that.
     
  24. NCAAFBALLROX

    NCAAFBALLROX 1,000+ Posts

    Well, I also see him saying "if you've got the money, then go for it..."

    However.

    I know a lot of people that make the run from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas all the time... they do NOT have the mellow cabin cruiser type boats that you see a lot of people hanging out on when they're cruising the lakes.

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  25. pescado_rojo

    pescado_rojo 25+ Posts

    You really need to ask yourself what you plan to do with the boat 80% of the time.

    If you plan to fish hardcore offshore (flower gardens, floater rigs, etc) then you could either go for a large outboard powered center console or cuddy cabin, or a smallish sportfisher. Both have their pluses and minuses. (there is no such thing as a perfect boat)
    The OB powered boats are going to be cheaper to buy, less expensive to own and operate, and are usually faster and a little more fuel efficient. They are also wet, narrow, have fewer creature comforts, and it's a little more difficult to fight fish around the outboards.
    Sportfishers are usually diesel powered, slower than a comperable sized outboard boat, and require more general upkeep. They are also much more comfortable (AC in the cabin on a July overnighter is niiicce), stable, handle rough water better, and are a little easier to work large fish. (did I mention AC?)There is also the safety factor of sitting on 500 gallons of diesel fuel 150 miles offshore vs sitting on a comperable amount of gas....
    If you go with the sportfisher, you are going to have to keep it in the water, which means slip rental, bottom paint every 2-3 years (last I recall, scrape and paint was around $100 a foot, plus haul in and out. This was mid-90's so no telling what it is now) plus a constant fight against rust and corrosion. Oh, and marina diesel is probably about $4.50 a gallon now.
    An OB powered CC or cuddy would at least be trailerable, so if you had the room, you could keep it off the water somewhere and save that expense. At the very least you could keep it in a dry stack someplace, which would save you tfrom having to do bottom paint and would be cheaper than a marina slip.
    Either way you go, you're looking at probably a grand minimum in fuel for an overnighter to the gardens or floaters.

    IIRC, MustangOrange's family has a sportfisher they keep in PI. Maybe he'll add his .02.

    If you're not a hardcore fisherman, there are a lot of choices that will offer more comfort and range than a fishing boat in the 35-40 ft class. The trawler design is one of them for sure. I don't know much about them, so someone else will have to chime in.
     

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