Fuel Burn for Marine engines.

[FF]

"but I also like the fuel totalizer"

Yes the totalizer can save big bucks.

Was on Block Island where a charter boat capt filled up at the dock and was presented with a bill that did not match his expectations , it was WAY more than it should be.

The marina operator was called and he instantly agreed to comp the tank of fuel.

He would have the dock fuel pump repaired when the long weekend was over.

 

[smitty477]

"but I also like the fuel totalizer"

Yes the totalizer can save big bucks.

Was on Block Island where a charter boat capt filled up at the dock and was presented with a bill that did not match his expectations , it was WAY more than it should be.

The marina operator was called and he instantly agreed to comp the tank of fuel.

He would have the dock fuel pump repaired when the long weekend was over.

Charter boat captain...
You know what they say about fishermans stories.

 

[ancora]

This month we are having the North American Invitational Predicted Log contest here in San Diego. One full day is set aside for contestants to run the measured mile. According to some responses in this forum, we should just skip it, and rely on GPS readings...really?

 

[Gdavid]

This month we are having the North American Invitational Predicted Log contest here in San Diego. One full day is set aside for contestants to run the measured mile. According to some responses in this forum, we should just skip it, and rely on GPS readings...really?

I don't think anyone is negating your chosen interest but I would suggest that you might as well use similar measurement means as you will be using for navigation. For the vast majority of us, we are using GPS as a handy crutch to stay on course. If that is how we are going to navigate, we might as well capture our benchmark data in the same way. We aren't navigating a tactical submarine.

This past weekend, I charted out my course ahead of time, primarily to let my wife and kids when to expect to arrive. I know this distance and roughly followed this route. I don't have an autopilot and I wandered plenty substantially at times. After I arrived, I fueled up, I calculated my fuel burn per mile and know it was not very precise because I added some distance in my wandering but I will probably continue to wander at about the same rate and so this figure will be the most useful benchmark for me.

I'm glad you enjoy your pursuit in navigational challenges and am not insulting the endeavor but it doesn't appeal to everyone.

 

[Fish53]

Assuming the propeller is somewhere near right and you don't have an engine curve with fuel usage listed you can estimate fuel with this simple formula, gallons/hour = 0.054 x HP (at the prop)

 

[Pmcsurf1]

Looping now. Bought boat 17 months ago.
3375 gallons. Including gen set btw.
1126 hours.
2.9 gph.
Guessing 2.5 gph if I subtract gen set hours.
1650 to 1800 rpms average
6 to 7 knots average.
Paul