Is It Cheaper To Motor Or Sail

Which is cheaper? What a dumb question?
My current mainsail cost me $100 in 1980. It has taken me for 9 trips to Haida Gwai and back, one to Mexico and back and two to Tonga and back. My genny cost me $300 used . How much motoring can you do for that much money.
Duhhh!!
My rigging cost me $25, turnbuckles $25 each, etc etc. The entire rig was under $350.What kind of motor can one buy for that.
One would be foolish not to take advantage of any winds one may find on the trip, to save money.

 

A dumb question yes. But only for the "el cheapo extremo" fraction of us. The average boater will come out equal or at a little less when motoring. PERIOD!

 

Motor across the Pacific many times, for the price of a set of used sails ? ********! PERIOD!

 

Who is talking about used stuff (except you)? And are the sails the only cost on a sailing boat? ********! Period.........

And have you ever read this?

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/po...powerboat-cheaper-run-than-beowulf-25549.html

and the whole story behind?

 

Most sailors use a lot of used equipment . They are far more resourceful ( and wiser ) than you suggest, or possibly, the company you keep..
If you want to save money, Dashew is the last source of advice you need. His understanding of resourcefulness is the definition of absolute zero. His advice seems to be aimed at discouraging low income people from cruising , to leave the anchorages free for only the super rich.
I have little doubt he motored a lot more than most low income cruisers in his travels.
I hear he is writing a book called "How to Cruise on Ten Thousand Dollars a Day."
Don't get your advice on how to save money, from someone who is awash in it, and has thus had no reason to ever be resourceful.

 

well that conversation was well worth the read
laughing my *** off guys

that bit about how to motor on 10,000 a day was priceless

ok
say it with me
kite assist
seems to allow for the use of used parasails and the least amount of rigging

 

In short: you did not read it! Or not understand it.

 

My 18hp Sabb with lots of spare parts and complete controllable pitch propeller was $1,200. At snailboat speeds of 5 knots I burn 0.355 gallons per hour. I am not maintaining a sailing rig on top of that. With a sailboat I motored 80% of the time because the wind was not cooperative. I maintained both a small diesel and a sailing rig. The power boat is less money in my case. I just depends on the boat and its use as to whether its BS or not.

 

Easy there, Apex. I'm a fan of the Dashews' work too, and their engineering and seamanship talents are clearly top notch, but their designs and most of their advice are quite clearly geared towards the, ahem, more affluent variety of cruiser.

The answer to this question is nowhere near as clear-cut as several posters, of both persuasions, seem to wish it were.

Two weeks on passage in a boat that burns two gallons an hour is almost $2500 CDN worth of fuel at yesterday's pump prices. There is a small handful of posters on this board who would consider that to be chump change. But most of us would cringe in pain at the thought of a figure like that appearing on the MasterCard bill.

Likewise, some of what I've seen here about rigs valued in the six figures is more than a bit rich for my tastes. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of a mast, stays and sails that, put together, are worth more than my house. But that's what some boats seem to be fitted with. If you don't mind looking more "workboat" than "yacht", there are many cheaper ways to do things that work just as well.

 

as a kid I enjoyed many days out on the water in various cheap *** contraptions that I'd cobbled together or bought for peanuts and I had a great time, both sailing and fiddling around with keeping the rigging going, as an adult Im happy to sit back in a nice cozy chair and watch the sail boats battle the elements
oh I'll do my share of Kiting when the time comes but until then I think not only start up costs but also basic maintenance on a sail rig for a 50'ter are bound to be prohibitive, at least for me.
Im estimating I get between 4 and 6 mpg at hull speed

if I travel say 2000 miles pr/yr then Im spending about 1,200 in fuel and likely another 300 in where and tear and maintenance on the motor ( % of replacement cost ) say $1,500 total for the year of exploring
so what does one sail cost on a boat of this size for say a 600~800sq/ft main
my bet is you could not touch that sail new for $1,200

 

B it was kinda fun to draw stuff out.
What I've done with stuff before is get chalk,lines,cardboard boxes,tape,saw horses & boards, hit the driveway and do a life sized draw up with the boxes acting as a visual cue for furniture/appliances etc.

 

Oh and for the rest of you......why can't you read???
B is talking about the BC Coast and Alaska.
Read the Effin' thread before spouting off.

As for Brent,I'm sure he's sailed with $30 sails,dumpster dove at Shelter Island,and used old tarps as a spinnaker on his 32' (or whatever) sailboat,but how much bigger would it have to be to offer the space in B's boat-60'?? More??

I know a guy with a $5k boat,who uses free biodiesel.Why not use him as a comparison?

I use my boats more 99.5 % of the people out there,and the most I ever spend in a year is $2k.

Yet in my experience guess who I find:
-shouting "pan pan" for assistance due to currents and tides
-needing a tow because they are behind schedule
-wanting to "borrow" (no way!) my washing machine/shower
-needing to borrow tools,diesel,weather reports,etc,etc.
-etc

That's right,sailors.
Most of whom smugly denounce myself and others as stinkpotters.

 

Just wait, sailors, only a few years to go

Prices for fuel will continue to slowly rise, well above the rest of the economy, so I think it will not be long before SAILING really BECOMES much CHEAPER then motoring.

I wrote something like this about oil, back in 2004 when oil was just rising above $30 a barrel, and I documented it on a different forum.

A lot of people do not wish to believe this, and so I say "WE WILL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH" !!!

 

I would tend to agree with you Doc but in my present finantial condition I need to think bang for the buck
my first inclination is to hammer out a design that although might cost more in labor will most efficiently us materials
Im the labor so materials cost is key and interestingly enough the cheapest materials cost is the design that is the lightest and in the case of truss and egg crate construction also the strongest

next on the list is getting on the water and after that installing the kite assist system assuming a controller might be found at a reasonable cost

steam is next on the list of retrofits as you are absolutely right about fuel cost
wood pellets on the other hand are never likely to rise above a few hundred a ton and steam engines have mind bending longevity
Im hoping by the time the engine I have is cooked I can be ready to install the steam system
the engine room is designed around this retrofit as is the frame designed around the kite system retrofit

simple reality is of course you are right but I can only afford one propulsion system at the moment and still end up with the amount of boat Im after

cheers
B

 

The point that has been beaten to death by myself and several Alaskans that in these waters IOO you are better off with power.

And so what if fuel goes up???
If I care I'll just slow down to 6 knots.


Oh yeah B I like the redraw with the galley up-getting rid of that port door opens it up a ton