on the subject of budgetary carnage...

Some very needful reading, a good reason to buy stuff somewhere else, and just the sort of thing to read during Christmas week...

Lately I've been receiving a lot of email with links and suchlike sent by folks as proof that it takes a LOT OF MONEY to fix your boat or to cruise and today was no exception.

Today's example (you can read it here) concerned a couple with a Cape Dory 33 whose engine was toast and the local diesel repair guy had just given them an estimate for $6,741.47 ($2903.27 parts + $3270 labor + tax & shipping). It was a rather depressing story.

The guy sharing the link to the story said it was proof positive that boats/cruising was very expensive and how I was wrong about budgets and suchlike...

OK.

So yeah, it does cost money to fix stuff and shit happens.

That said, while I don't think the couple with the engine problems are doing anything wrong, their spending and budget is not the only path available to them...

For instance, if you can work and maintain the systems you have on your boat you can dispense with that rather large labor charge and, looking over the prices on parts, you could save a whole lot of money there as well with a little educated effort but the important lesson that comes to mind is that old but still valid observation...

If you can't repair it, maybe it shouldn't be on board. - Lin and Larry Pardey

Which just may be the smartest thing Lin and Larry have ever said.

As it happens, I don't much like working on engines but, over the years, I've rebuilt a few. The first one was the engine in my 1963 VW van that I had to rebuild on the side of the road in the back end of nowhere with the tools on hand and a dog-earred copy of John Muir's "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot". It took me a week and a half and I had to hitch hike fifty miles each way several times to buy parts and get stuff machined but at the end of the ordeal the engine worked and continued to do so till I sold the beast a couple of years later. You might say I'm living proof that John Muir was right about the complete idiot thang.

On the other hand, my first thought when I saw the estimate of $6,741.47 was why on earth would someone pay that kind of money for a repair of an old diesel engine when you could buy a new one for less than $3000? Someone always has industrial diesel engines on sale cheap if you know where to look...

I'd expect a brand new 27HP Kubota could be easily adapted and would work finestkind on that Cape Dory. It only took me five minutes to find it (Surplus Center has a bunch) and costs $2,895.95. I would not be surprised if you spent a couple of energetic days looking you could find an even better deal on a new engine.

You could also install an electric propulsion system for less than $2000 (batteries not included so that would add another $1000) or adapt the boat to use an outboard. Some might even say that you don't really need an inboard engine at all... 

The bottom line is that there are always options and, almost always, there's an affordable one sitting right there in plain sight but most folks are usually so busy throwing money at the problem they miss it.

Which, I suppose, is me saying that I'm sticking with my thoughts on budgets and costs...

Listening to Angry Johnny & The Killbillies


So it goes...

A quick test of sorts...

Roger Ebert making sense, worth a read/look, and talk about some batshit frelling madness...

I'm pretty sure, being a firm believer in Colvin's 1HP per ton rule, I've mentioned before how I think most sailboat engines are larger than needful and too frelling expensive.

So, which of these motors for sale make sense?

This...

Volvo Penta Model 2002 Diesel engine. 18hp for small sailboat. All new parts- bearings, head, valves etc. Injectors and injector pumps serviced, but won't run. Get it running or buy it for parts. Sold as is. $2500

Or this...

Listening to the Tedeschi Trucks Band

So it goes...

Let's put an electric drive maritime myth down...

More than time to face up to some problems, who says there's no voter fraud (but you might want to check out the voting while dead culprit), and George R. R. Martin makes a point...

I had a couple of readers who took exception with my pointing out the other day that electric propulsion works out at being quite a bit less expensive in a repair/replacement situation... Sadly, the maritime myth of electric propulsion being MORE expensive than ICE just won't go away.

The thing to keep in mind is that electric propulsion is a very simple system and there is very little to go wrong. You could fry the motor, destroy the controller, have a belt fail, or if really talented in the mayhem department, you could rip the throttle off and destroy it in the process.

Not a lot to go wrong but, just in case, here are some numbers for the system on "So It Goes" (an Electric Yacht drive if anyone is interested)...

The most likely repair, a stretched or broken belt, would cost you somewhere south of $25. Not a lot of money (and I really should buy an extra one for just in case).

A replacement motor would cost between $600-$800 and is small and light enough to actually consider buying one as a spare.

The brain of the system is the controller and a replacement would run around $800. Just for the record, we do have a spare controller as it is the one part we'd expect to find difficult to get repaired or replace in the boonies.

The throttle is just a potentiometer so replacement is anywhere from a couple of dollars to around $100 for something that looks like what we expect a boat throttle to look like.

Those are replacement costs and as most of these items can actually be repaired, repair costs could be quite a lot less...

So, even if we had to replace ALL of the various parts of our system that could go wrong, we'd only be out of pocket (by my calculation) somewhere around $1630 which, I think you'll all agree, is quite a bit less than replacing all the major bits on an ICE system.

I really should also point out that an engine-less cruiser does not have to worry at all about the cost of replacing systems or repairs which might be something to keep in mind.

Listening to Lee Michaels

So it goes...

Sail power and suchlike...

On blaming the victims, Kunstler muses about a window yet to be broken, and for those thinking things can't get any worse, think again...

Way back when, Tom Colvin said that a good rule of thumb for an auxiliary engine in a sailboat was about one HP per ton... Over the years I've come across no compelling evidence that Mr Colvin was wrong, so for the moment let's just say that one HP per ton is a good starting point.

So here is a question you might want to ask yourself... What sort of HP does your sail area produce?

In our case, the CAL 34 with its Simplicity rig (basic working sail area of 592 sq feet) horsepower figures look something like this...

8.5 HP @ 10 knots of wind, 11.5 HP @ 14 knots, and 23.5 HP @ 20 knots

For what it's worth the rig as designed by Bill Lapworth (basic working sail area of 515 sq feet) works out like this...

7.5HP @ 10 knots of wind, 10 HP @14 knots, and 20.6 HP @ 20 knots

Right around 20 knots of wind is where "So It Goes" tells us she'd be happier with a reef so, for all practical purposes, our rig tops out at 23 HP.

For those keen on checking their rigs HP the formula is HP at 10 knots of wind = .015 X square feet (use .020 for 14 knots and .040 for 20 knots). Not perfect but it is accurate enough to tell you what you need to know.

The CAL34 having just a kiss less than five tons of displacement would, under Colvin's suggestion, need a five HP engine though our Electric Yacht motor delivers 8HP @48V and the Atomic 4 it replaced produced  about 15HP in normal use (30 HP @ 3000 RPM) and due to it's ill performing stock prop I doubt it actually ever delivered more than 10HP of thrust.

So, when all is said and done the actual HP for the standard Atomic 4 is not all that out of line with what Colvin suggested... In fact, we have powered "So It Goes" with a 5HP outboard on several occasions and found it worked just fine...

The conclusion that I draw here is that 1HP per ton works but there is nothing wrong with a "little" extra oomph but that exceeding the horse power of your sail rig does not make a heck of a lot of sense unless you really want a motor boat.

The French, who know a thing or two about sailboats, call motorsailers "50's" (seldom used as a positive) to designate that they share sail and power at a 50% ratio. These days, with cheap HP available, nearly all modern sailboats would qualify as motorsailers... Something to keep in mind.

By the way the books "The Propeller Handbook" and "The Nature of Boats" by Dave Gerr have all the needed info to help sort out your rig, engine/prop, and HP questions.

Listening to Spirit

So it goes...

Diesel VS Electric drive...

On a forum recently, an internal combustion fan pointed out some facts on why electric propulsion is dumb or at least not ready for prime time... Off hand I don't really like the whole this vs that sort of thing as in this case it is really not diesel VS electric propulsion but more a Luddite knee jerk reaction vs a different way of thinking.

• You can run a small diesel for years on end with little maintenance.

That's not my experience or judging from my many friends with diesel and gasoline engines... Like everything on a boat, stuff needs to be maintained and whether you choose electric or IC systems you are going to have to maintain it and if you don't, well you will most likely find yourself in a world of hurt of one sort or another.

One of the things I really like about electric drives is that they are clean and working on them is a pretty much non-messy affair. Of course, the other thing I like about electric drives, me being Mr. Cheapseats, is that my whole system costs less than most dieselheads spend on oil changes, filters, gaskets, and the odd fuel pump or part and, we can't forget that diesel costs money as well...

• You can light with diesel

Here I'm guessing that he means that you can produce electricity with a diesel by running your engine which is not really designed for running lightly loaded and increase the wear and tear and the need for more of that maintenance you don't have to do (see above point) on diesel engines...

That said, most electric propulsion systems these days are able to regenerate electricity so while you are sailing you make electricity which fills your batteries and then you can use it for lights, computers, or that HD-TV...

• You can heat with diesel.

Sure you can... You can also heat with propane or wood but I'm not going to go out and get a wood-fueled engine anytime soon (though with peak oil it might not be a bad thing for those with diesel systems to look into...)

• You can cook with diesel.
  

Sure you can... I've lived with a diesel and a kerosene stove. Life is simply too short for that kind of hassle and having everything on your boat (including you) smell like oil/kerosene does not get you invited over for the good pot-luck dinners!

• You can run a watermaker from it.

Then again, you can also run one off of solar panels and more than likely if you are like most folks on a boat, you really don't even need a watermaker (do the need/want exercise). If I do decide to install one, I can run it off my 12V or 48V bank and use the energy that my electric motor regenerated to make water...

• You can run a generator from it.

Seems we are back at being able to make light (see point #1) and cause excess wear on the engine... But yeah, if you need lots of power and are smart you may want to run a genset and gensets do make sense for making power... We have a Honda 2000i on "So It Goes" and I can make all the power I can use for less than a liter of gas per hour. Which, by the way, brings up a personal question: why would anyone actually need a 16KW Genset on a cruising boat? Maybe they run all their tools at the same time or who knows what?

• You can run an air conditioner from it.

I suppose so... Off hand, I simply do not see air conditioning as a needful item and most folks I know who do, never seem to leave the dock, in which case the shore power cord works finest-kind!

• You can run a fridge from it.

Yep... I can also run my fridge from solar panels, a wind generator, regen, or my Honda... So what is the point? Well to me, the point is that people are still not getting it. With dwindling resources and fossil fuels going the way of the Dodo, it is time to try and simplify and use less. Maybe having a boat that has to constantly run its motor to keep up with its huge electrical loads just might not be the smart move in these fast approaching hard times. As someone who holds a lot of respect for "Murphy's law", I most certainly do not want to make all my systems dependent on any one thing... With this guy's mindset, if he finds himself in a place where he can't get fuel he is in the dark reading with a flashlight and his beer is not going to be cold... Or, if he happens to find himself needing a part, his beer is still going to be warm and so on... For those who "get" the idea of electric propulsion it is all something of a no-brainer and quickly becomes an integrated part of the boat in a balanced way... and folks, balance is a good thing! For those who don't get it, I'm not sure I can really explain it to them and I may be just preaching to the choir...

On the other hand, as I have said more than once, electric propulsion is not a panacea or for everyone. Sure it has its advantages but it also requires you to be flexible and to use your resources wisely and if you are not, it can ruin your whole day (you might even have to drink warm beer and read by flashlight).

Not quite ready...

One of the wonderful things about modern life ( though I am still waiting for my Jet Pack!) is that so much information is available at the click of a mouse...Case in point the pretty great Blog NAVAGEAR ( a daily read for me) has been in and out of the Seattle boat show and has a great eye for neat "stuff" one such being the wooden runabout by Edison Marine which is a very interesting and lovely boat driven by Electric propulsion.

What a sweet ride and you got to love the Zilla water cooled controller!

One of the constant murmurs that one does hear when electric propulsion is a talking point is that the technology is just not ready and years in the future ( Yeah just like my jet pack) but the fact of the matter is that it is already quite up to the task and just keeps getting better and more available all the time...