GULLIVER: a voyaging powerboat
I plan to acquire a small (40-46 foot) power boat capable of long range voyaging, and travel the world in her. I've crossed the Pacific in my 27 foot sailboat, Virtue. In the process, I learned a lot about what I like and dislike about ocean exploration. My theory is that I can have more of what I like by travelling under power.
Over the last three years, I've looked at lots of power boats, new and used, and at lots of plans for power boats. Some of my favorites are
All of which are described in the book Voyaging Under Power, by Robert P. Beebe and James F. Leishman. The Nordhavn 46 is a production fiberglass boat, and although it is quite expensive new, there are quite a few used boats available at "reasonable" prices ($300,000 to $350,000). The other two are steel boats, and would be custom built. Diesel Duck is a 38 footer, designed for inexpensive construction, while Little Sindbad is 45 feet of "spare no expense" design.
One problem with power voyaging boats is that there aren't as many of them around (yet) as good voyaging sailboats. This means that the prices for used power passagemakers tend to be quite a bit higher than their sail counterparts.
Recently, I've been looking into having a steel boat designed just for me. After quite a bit of discussion, Michael Kasten has come up with a boat that I like a lot. The initial design really caught my eye, and has since improved tremendously. The spec has just been updated to show more detail on equipment and scantlings, as of 7 August 97.
There are lots of little details being incorporated into the current Gulliver design. Since I want to go everywhere, I plan to build the hull from Corten steel, which keeps it's strength in extreme cold, and is generally tougher than "mild" steel, which is already pretty tough stuff.
One place I'd like to cruise is Europe. Many cruisers don't realize that Europe is criss-crossed by canals, and that with the right boat, you can travel all through the interior of England, France, Germany, Holland, and much of Central Europe. The trick is that the boat can't draw much more than 5 feet, or be over 11 feet tall. This rules out most sailboats!
Gulliver is designed to meet these requirements when her mast is lowered, and the stabilizer poles are designed to provide the capability to raise and lower the mast without the need for a shore crane. Because the mast is much shorter than a sailboat's, it can be carried easily on the foredeck.
Another of my favorite places is the Isle of Man. The extreme tidal range totally empties out the harbors of this beautiful island in the middle of the Irish Sea. Some boats accomodate this by having two keels, but Gulliver is being designed with "peg legs" that can be dropped down from the hinges used to attach the stabilizer poles.
Another idea we're kicking around is adding a bow bulb. This would probably give some fuel savings, but we're not sure if they would be enough to actually pay for the bulb, and there are open questions about handling in following seas. I'll provide more information as our investigations continue. I'd be interested in hearing from you if you have experience with a bulb on a small boat.
The most powerful way to reduce the cost of construction (and cost of operation) is to reduce displacement. As of August 1997, new boats built by a yard seem to cost around $10 per pound, more or less, depending on where they are built and how fancy they are. Reducing size, and thus displacement, really cuts costs fast. Of course, it also cuts speed if the length is reduced, and in all cases it cuts available interior room and carrying capacity. Still, at 46 feet, Gulliver has a lot of room for one couple. So far we're considering several "low cost" options:
Also under consideration is a 36' version with a midships house, called "Greatheart". This design has the owner's cabin aft, with plenty of width for a double berth right aft. Companionway up to generous wheel house with seats facing forward (aft cabin closets below seats). Generous engine space below wheel house. Forward is the galley P&S at the aft end of the fore cabin. Settee is further forward, sailboat style, with table on center. Can be converted to double. Head is right forward.
Boojum 25
For some really small power cruisers, take a look at the 16' Snort and 25'Boojum.
To cross oceans in a sailboat, one must be out in the elements a fair bit of the time. Tending the windvane, adjusting sail trim, changing sails, and looking around for other vessels all mean going outside on most sailboats. Some of this work can be performed in the cockpit, while some requires venturing out onto the deck, either to the base of the mast, or all the way up onto the foredeck. In tropcial climes, this can be exciting and fun. In cold stormy weather, it is dangerous and miserable!
I love the feeling of travelling under sail. There is a "oneness" with the sea and the wind that is exhilerating. However, I find that the further I get from the tropics, the more the cold and wet part of sailing detracts from the wonderfulness.
Part of the appeal of power is that the boat can be operated from inside the pilothouse. Large windows give a 360 degree view, and there are no sails to trim or change. Course and speed can be adjusted from the wheelhouse, where it is always warm and dry. Of course, on a nice day there is nothing keeping you from a stroll around the deck!
Some power boats are very fast, but most boats that have enough range to cross oceans travel at displacement speeds. This means that their speed in knots is rarely much more than the square-root of the length of their waterlines in feet. For example, 36 foot boats usually go around 6-7 knots, 50 foot boats usually go around 7-8 knots, and so on. This is because the amount of power needed to go much faster is huge, and so sail boats don't have the wind power to go faster, and small motor boats can't carry enough fuel to make long passages at higher speeds.
Hulls that are designed to plane (lift up out of the water, on top of their bow wave) can't carry much weight (and therefore fuel), and are very uncomfortable at sea, especially in rough weather.
Even when a power boat and a sail boat have the same hull speed, however, a power boat does have some advantages. Sailboats need to travel along routes that have wind, while power boats actually prefer the calm parts of the ocean. Most great circle (shortest path) routes go through the middle of high pressure areas that have no wind. For example the route from Seattle to Hawaii taken by sailboats dips far to the south before heading west, and when returning to Seattle from Hawaii, one must sail north east almost to Alaska before heading south east to the Straits of Juan de Fuca. A power boat, on the other hand, can follow the shortest route, motoring happily through the calm seas of the North Pacific High, covering only about three quarters as many miles as a sailboat making the same journey.
Power boats also tend to maintain a higher average speed than do sailboats, although the sailboat may have a higher peak speed. Wind shifts, squalls, and calms often reduce the sailboat's speed, while the power boat chugs along at a constant pace night and day.
In most cases, I think that a power boat is capable of somewhat faster ocean passages than a sail boat of the same size, since she can follow a shorter route at a higher average speed.
Wind is free, but sails aren't. A good suit of ocean voyaging sails for a 45 foot sailboat could easily cost $10,000. That money could buy a lot of diesel fuel -- enough to take Gulliver about 50,000 miles!
In fact, on the 4th of July 97, I checked fuel prices at the Columbia River Yacht Club in Portland, Oregon and found the price of marine diesel to be $0.79/gallon! At that rate, I might get 80,000 miles out of $10,000. I have seen similar prices in Ecuador and Pago Pago, but prices are much higher in French Polynesia and Europe.
In canals or other inland waters there really isn't much need for a mast, but does have a few uses:
In the ocean, it serves several purposes:
And most important of all:
Last updated 4 Nov 97 by Charles Vollum
