RW Salnick wrote:
Oh, this is definitely a displacement hull... no doubt about that.


Sorry, I meant the trawler that burned 895 gallons... For a
55' boat that's probably not even a full load (maybe not
even half), but then there are trawlers I know of in the 45'
~ 50' range that burn approx the same 2 gph that we do. The
ones that burn more all go faster... the ones that go
significantly faster don't want to talk about it


The sails, rigging, etc came with the boat...as well as the diesel.
Didn't spend anything extra on them. I have replaced some of the
running rigging in the 10 years we have owned Eolian - probably
$100-200/year. And my oil changes in the diesel involve 2 gallons of
oil altogether.


'K
But sails do have a finite life span, and ones that are
worth having in the first place are relatively expensive.
Amortizing them over 10 to 12 years makes them a better buy
for the mileage than diesel fuel.... however, if power
boaters were content to cruise at 5 knots, they'd burn FAR
less fuel. Shucks with our boat (which is overpowered IMHO)
if we go 5 knots it seems like the engine is actually making
fuel out of air and pumping it back to the tank!


But as I said to Cal, this is less about cost than about money well
spent.

Very much agreed.

.... If you buy the least expensive boat type (by whatever criteria
you should choose to use - and the arguments on this subject abound here
on usenet), and end up with a boat that doesn't match your personality
properly, then *all* the money will be poorly employed, supporting a
marine life habitat tied to the dock.


Agreed again, and there are mor examples IMHO of people
getting this wrong than getting it right.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King