Travelling powerboat?

[Crawford]

I wonder if members of this forum could give me any advice on an issue i have been giving considerable thought to recently.

A keen surfer living in Bristol (UK), i am tierd of the inordinately slow journey down to the north coast of devon/cornwall to surf. The roads are indirect, and the traffic generally bad on friday nights when i go down for the weekend.

Given that it is only ~80-100 miles by sea, i had the idea of getting a boat in bristol, and sailing down on friday nights. Thinking along these lines, i came across the powerboats capable of astonishing speeds. I don't beleive there are many of them over here.

However, i also understand that some of these giant engines do <2mpg. Since petrol (gas) here costs £4 gallon (~$6) that isnt really an option! Thus, i wonder if
a)LPG would be a viable alternative
b) How fast a petrol powered boat could go and retain
reasonable economy (maybe 15-20mpg?)

Size per se is not terribly important, though ideally should be large enough to sleep 1-2 people on. I was thinking of mooring off-shore, so reducing costs!

I would need something well-suited to heavy seas, which i believe are frequent along the bristol channel. Furthermore, the rougher the seas the more likely i will be wanting to travel, since surfing will be better (within reason!).

Thus, i wonder if a suitable boat exists (and what sort of price range it would be) or whether i need to look into making my own. Although adept at cars, i have never made a boat; presumably it is rather challenging??!

Hope someone can advise, even if only to point out the hopelessness of the enterprise!

Cheers

Crawf

P.S - Used to sailing in huge north seas with uncle (40' waves), without sea-sickness being a problem!

[Ian Wilkinson]

I live in Bristol, and sometimes launch my trailer boat in the city docks. The slipway is one of the best and easiest I have used, and is usually quiet.There are a couple of potential snags though. You can only get onto the Avon, and thus the Bristol Channel at appropriate tide times - other than that the lock gates are kept shut. also - obviously - the same applies when you return, so the windows for departure and return may not fit with your required travelling times. As well as that, assuming you wish to return on Sundays, quite often movement in the city docks is banned and they are given over to water skyers until about lunchtime. Had to kick my heels waiting to launch for a couple of hours a few weeks ago.

My boat has only a 60hp outboard, so I am not qualified to talk about high powered boats. Most of my boating is done in South Devon [and my son would recommend surfing at Bantham], where perhaps the tidal conditions are a bit less extreme. I think I would prefer a reasonably sheltered and secure mooring rather than merely dropping the anchor for the night.

Diesel engines are improving all the time. They are safe and economical, and currently the excise duty is low, so you should be able to find it for less than £2 a gallon. I run a V8 Discovery on LPG - excellent stuff, and 29.9p a litre at Morrisons. Don't know what the availability is at marinas. Also there would be extra weight on a boat of the necessary pressure tanks.
Ian Wilkinson

[Thunderhead19]

15-20MPG I believe is a bit of a pipe dream. Guided boats out here average 150 liters over 50miles so around 4.5-5 mpg. this is considered reasonable economy for these folks as they are running a business and fuel is expensive (~$1 liter) $4.54/gallon. I would think between 5 mpg and 10 mpg is really good. I seldom quote fuel consumption in mpg though, it's gallons per HOUR (the water moves, a road shouldn't)

[rlewis]

If you want economy, why not sail? I think that distance will take you 5-6 hours, but cheaply

[FAST FRED]

Fast boats usually measure fuel consumption in gallons per mile , not MPG.

See the posts on log skinney boats to get an idea of what dedication it takes to get 5mpg, at even modest speed.

FAST FRED

[hmattos]

Hi Mr Crawford,
I live in your patch and often travel down some of your route. We build fast RIBs capable of this journeyat up to 85 mph on a calm day but would I do it to go surfing - NO. This coast is pretty inhospitable with not too many safe harbours - after all you want to go surfing and when the wave buoys say the surf is up - 16 ft today at 8 seconds - you will not want to do 40 mph in a small (5 - 10 metres) boat. At 40 mph you would only touch the wave tops and the crashing would have you exhausted before you arrived to surf. Now if money was no object - say 40 mph in a 60 - 80 footer, it may be possible but that would use so much fuel you would be bankrupt. You could fly cheaper - you know that Polzeath has its own airstrip and small planes do 25 mgp at 100 mph which is better than many cars. I should try the overnight / early morning M5/ A30 trip. I have done Bristol centre in 3 hrs in a diesel car at 55 mpg.

Good luck, and may see you out on the water.

Hugh Mattos Explorer Marine www.explorermarine.co.uk