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What about wing engines? A lot of the bluewater "singles" have wings. This always struck me as a pretty poor solution as you end up with a 99.999% useless engine, usually from a different maker with its own set of spares, maintenance, etc. and a feathering prop, cutlass bearing, etc. The...

This. It's a purely theoretical discussion unless you're buying a new boat and get to choose. These days inventory is so tight you need to grab the first good boat that meets your major criteria at a reasonable price point. I don't think this should be one of your major criteria. Generally...

Yeah I’d like to see a 12V option as well. Hugely significant technology for boaters even as-is though.

I'm out of town tomorrow but in the future if you need a hand heaving heavy stuff or anything else shoot me a pm - I'm near downtown San Diego & work from home, so am often available to lend a hand. Also happy to hold parts in my garage if you need a US shipping address!

This is generally true. One exception might be the Superbowl ad rule <cough...crypto...cough> which seems to be a pretty good indicator at least of an initial high water mark for a new asset class.

In a seller's market I think it can - going to an open house that's packed with people & being told by the listing agent that there are 10 buyers who have already submitted cash purchases changes your bidding strategy for sure. FOMO kicks in big time - that's where a good seller's broker can...

I've always wished my boat had a single FL120 instead of two but this thread is making me thankful for the redundancy!

You gotta do what you gotta do! COVID made boat buying a challenge. I bought a daysailer (Alerion 28) for my parents sight unseen during COVID - we found a local guy with the same model who'd show it to us to make sure it was the right vessel, then I hired a surveyor local to the boat for...

It's hard to get a feel for a boat (or house) from the pictures. I looked at a lot of catamarans in person & found that my head would knock into things frequently - never would have picked it up from the pics but a total dealbreaker. Another thing I found - sometimes a berth will look great...

I think the top-notch photos give out-of-town buyers the (false?) courage to put in an offer sight unseen, which ultimately drives up the selling price even if the eventual buyers get a chance to see it in person before closing the deal. Not surprised to see that Grand Alaskan go quickly -...

Sounds like you're done with your GB36, or your wife is (same difference). There's nothing worse in my mind than a boat project on a boat one's lost interest in. Sell & let the buyer determine what to do next - the market's as good as it'll ever be. I'd actually be excited to re-power a boat...

I'd take a serious look at this Grand Alaskan 62 if I were in the market for a vessel of that calibre. Seems like a very reasonable price compared to the Flemings. Probably gives up some top speed with twin 300hp Cat C-7's but sure looks beautiful to my eye...

One way to do this would be to test the voltage across each battery under load (with the other batteries disconnected). Not sure how difficult this would be with your pack setup, but the idea would be to run the pack down a bit, then pick a set of known loads (e.g. lights, blowers, no...

Yeah we've certainly seen energy price volatility much more recently. The tools to manage this risk are pretty well established (forward contracts, hedging, indexing). But my point was there aren't many people still working who were working through the 70's inflation spike. A few, sure. My...

It is very weird out there I agree. But if you're concerned about inflation, shouldn't that mean you accelerate your buying decision? Better to buy the asset now than in a year when it costs more & your cash is worth less. That feeds the asset price inflation spiral of course. A woman I...

Keep in mind the usable Ah from FLA or AGMs are much less than LFP - around half I believe. So if for the same usable Ah it's only 25% more expensive, I'd go with good LFP as it could well last the 10-15 years and deliver superior performance with less degradation. but.... make sure your...

I have 6 of the 2200's for my bank. They've done well over the past 2 years. They were also recommended to me by our local battery shop.

I put in FLA 2 years ago. Today I'd do LFP. I'd need to upgrade one of my two alternators but it'd be completely worth it. I wouldn't (won't) swap out a functioning pack to do it though, in part because LFP gets better and cheaper every year.

Finally a use for cats! :)

Yeah those blowers... Do you need them running when not underway? Why? Do you know how much current they draw? Agree that 48a seems like a very high baseline. I'd sort that first. Quick pedantic engineer note: A "load" is measured in Amps (or better, Watts). Amp-hours (better...

Very pretty! Any more pics available?

Sounds like a very good deal in today's market. I'd have a look myself if she were on this coast. Good luck with the sale!

Holy cow! Harbor Island West? What dock? So glad to hear there weren't serious injuries. Would be great to get a post-mortem on that once the full picture has emerged.

Congrats! This forum has been incredibly helpful to me in getting my own '79 CHB 41 into (better) shape. Enjoy! Might see you out at Catalina or the Channel Islands this summer!

I've seen some articles where cruisers take a different approach: - critical comms = minimal satphone plan; Starlink makes this a true emergency-only or offshore option only if no connection is available. - discretionary comms = starlink + cell phone, where the former is used for bulk downloads...