[Alberg30] REPLACING MY VOLVO 10HP

J Bergquist j at ship.saic.com
Tue May 27 06:29:26 PDT 2003


Yves,

How much gas do you estimate you will need to carry in order to motor 
1000 miles?

That is a LONG way to motor. I figure if you make 5 knots, that's more 
than 8 straight days of motoring. At the end of that, I personally would 
probably be insane. I hate to motor. It stinks, literally. My boat does 
not enjoy it either. She much prefers sailing.

If I were you, I would be more focused on figuring out how to sail 
instead of motoring. Forget about motoring any appreciable distance. I 
think that if you do a cost-benefit analysis you'll find that the weight 
and space of an engine, its fuel, tools to work on it, and its spares 
can be much more effectively allocated to storage of provisions and 
water on a transocean passage. Plus, you'll rid yourself of the engine 
and fuel smell. I'd get an outboard and use it for getting into and out 
of harbors. Heck, you don't even NEED to have that, if you're good at 
handling your boat and confident in your abilities. Evaluate your 
electrical needs and get a hydro turbine generator or a wind generator, 
or a solar panel, or all 3 if you need them (though I suspect you don't).

If you want to motor long distances, you should get a motorboat which 
was designed to do that, like a trawler. They have large fuel tanks and 
plenty of storage space. Alberg 30's are small. They were designed for 
sailing. The motor is only an auxiliary to facilitate getting into and 
out of slips quickly, easily, and shorthanded, and for motoring short 
distances when there's no wind (like 20-50 miles). The boat simply was 
not meant to motor distances on the order of 10^3 miles.

Good luck with planning your voyage.

J Bergquist
Calliope #287
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