Fast, Fun and Economical power boating

or, The Height of Fuelishness

Recently a member of one of the boating email lists I belong to posted a very interesting mail. He had spent the weekend on the Chesapeake and noticed a strange calm. Lots of sail boats out on the water but very few of the large powerboats found there most weekends. These latter usually spend much of the weekend thundering around leaving huge wakes, he observed in his message. Adding, as a conclusion, that high gas prices in the US have at least one useful side effect for sailors!

Now, I like going fast on the water too. It is the one place where, outside of the restricted speed areas, you can get your dose of speed thrills without meeting up with a law enforcement officer. But I have never seen the fun, my personal opinion, of going fast on a boat over 15-16 feet long. Over a certain length, perception of speed is lessened. Higher up and protected from spray takes all the fun out of it for me. So I have nothing against people zipping around in a moderately powered 4 stroke, thus economical and quiet, open dinghy for example. To quote Robb White: "I have noticed that the more the horsepower of a boat increases, the less polite the people who operate it are." What can I add to that... Just look at the power output of your average jet ski!

When I go out on the water in a larger boat I am looking for other pleasures. Just being out in the water. Pottering along and enjoying the views of the coast from there. You can actually enjoy watching sailboats racing or the beauty of a classic yacht heeling with each puff and majestic under sail. A large boat is a luxury. You have invested much time and money building it. It costs a lot to upkeep. If you are not living aboard or using it commercially its only function is procuring pleasure. Can someone please explain to me the pleasure in burning through huge amounts of gas in an afternoon and making life miserable for other boaters on the water? Is there something I am missing? OK I have read the "my fishing spot is far away I have to go fast to get there in order to have enough time to fish", "it is safer, we get back faster when the weather turns bad" and other "very" good reasons for burning through obscene quantities of gas per hour. Has this pleasure had any impact your family budget recently? Have you had to cut back on your pleasure? What then is the solution?

I think that we are better off as amateur builder putting our money towards a quality boat that we can actually use rather than giving our money to petrol companies. Notice that so far I have managed to keep the controversial (in some circles) "good for the planet" green stuff out of my reasoning. Common sense would have it that not wasting is good for the planet, fellow human beings and your bank balance! "Primitive" man knew all that by instinct and built long narrow craft that were both energy efficient and economical in building materials. Something then went horribly wrong. Civilisation happened and, for example, Nelsons Victory alone used an estimated 80 acres of England's finest oak forest!

For our inner speed freak I'd be quite happy to experiment with some of the little go fast hulls from a while back powered by a "huge" 6HP 4stroke. Or even a 10HP for the two person sportster. These little boats are big fun. They don't require much space to build or store. The killer? They don't cost an arm and a leg to upkeep and actually use. There are plenty of plans out there. They just need to be refreshed and maybe converted to more modern building methods and materials. This is the time to step back to older pleasure craft designs or modern designs in the same style. Not for nostalgia but because of the economic necessity.

Tony Grant [kiwi]
June 2008