FF
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2007
- Messages
- 22,552
Almost EVERY photo of a gas boat exploding was a few feet from a dock after the boat refueled.
Means someone was not paying attention!
Means someone was not paying attention!
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Nice boat.My new boat has twin Crusader gassers. It's not a trawler by any stretch of the imagination but it IS probably biggest interior of any 35 foot hull I came across. It'll make the perfect liveaboard for me. TooCoys, go tour one in person. You may fall in love with it like I did. Here's the one Im under contract on. I would've preferred diesels but every boat is a compromise. I found a gem.
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2005/silverton-35-motor-yacht-3066629/?refSource=enhanced listing
Nice boat. Nothing wrong with gassers if you're not going very far. I love the Californians. I owned a 42 LRC for 9 years with 3208As. Good solid boats. I'd look hard at that boat too.There is a trawler that we like (long story, I’ll update y’all later) but it has two Crusader 350’s in it. Why they put gas engines in a trawler in the mid 80’s I’ll never understand but there it is.
Would the fuel efficiency of a trawler with gas engines at 8 knots be the same as planing hull at idle?
For reference this is the boat I’m teferring to:
https://www.popyachts.com/motor-yac...ian-38-trawler-in-league-city-texas-r1-104295
Please leave all comments about the dreaded seller aside, I am well aware.
My last gas Motorhome had the 8.1 engine that GM for some stupid reason discontinued. That engine, stock, is a beast. I loved it. I could run off and leave my friends that had the 454s and V10s. It was also, for a big block, not bad on gas milege. If I was repowering a gas boat they would be my pick.Yes, and those 8.1s are such a step up from the 454s.
I agree with toocoys. I have moved to diesel, BayLiner 4087, after almost 50 yrs with gas. If I had to do it again I would take gas without question. If you run the 350s below 3000 with secondaries closed you will find fuel burn quite acceptable. In fact it may be less than a new high RPM diesel. Secondly, the cost of two new state of the art crusaders installed will be less than 1/3 of installing diesels in a gas powered boat. My last gas boat was a 1988 CC 381 and my burn rate ranged around 40 ltrs per. If the vessel passes the survey, make an offer. You will be happy.
While 40 lph may not be bad for a gas engine, it's about triple what a diesel would burn.... FWIW..
Wifey B: But you never moved the last boat. Never used it.
Finding the right boat that suits you is far more important than the fuel used unless as others have pointed out, you travel extensively. We do not travel extensively and last year we settled on the layout of the 370 Voyager. Almost all were gas and the one diesel available was double the price. I could not justify it and have had no regrets to date. At 8 kts and at a fast idle I really don't use much fuel. It was hard, I love diesels.
The Loop is mostly a displacement speed trip (with some exceptions) so high speed and high fuel burn would not be very useful.
"The only area where you're limited to displacement speed is the Erie Canal."
Things must have changed, much of the Canadian system was limited to 10 kilometers / hour thru much of the built up areas and many islands..
This on either the Left or Right loops thru Canada .
Ok, so call me old fashioned. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing better sounding than a couple big block gassers at idle or low RPM.
Not a huge fan of Galley down boats but that one really has some nice features.
Final point, been made several times already. Unless you are putting many hundred hours on the meter every year fuel cost isn't much of a consideration. Keep out of the four barrel and those thirsty beasts will just sip the fuel and last forever.
Pete
While 40 lph may not be bad for a gas engine, it's about triple what a diesel would burn.... FWIW.
Like I said, after hearing people tell you you're going to blow up every time you mention your boat, it kind of starts to wear on you. We really love the boat we are on, and we are looking forward to taking it out this summer as much as possible.
It's 23 years old this year, but it only has 600 hours on the engines. And they do sound quite lovely when I crank them up in the mornings. That low rumble gets me every time!
Assuming you fixed that crapper problem.
-Chris
That crapper is going to be the death of me. BOTH macerator pumps are now on the fritz so I have to buy replacements for them, and soon I'll be pulling the entire aluminum tank out and replacing it with a poly tank. And while I'm doing all that I'm replacing all the hoses with that sani-flex stuff that Peggy suggested.
The crapper, and the generator are the only major issues that I have to sort out if we buy it. Not that we NEED a genset, but it would be nice to have A/C at anchor this summer.
In the meantime, this is how close we are to the bath house, so the crapper is not being used.