Why Such Low Engine Hours on Trawlers?

[ktdtx]

Some people buy a boat, tie it up in a marina and use it like a condo...rarely leaves the dock.

 

[O C Diver]

You appear to just look for a battle as that is twice on this page.

And twice you've disparaged boat owners for not meeting your standard of boating use.

Why not be happy when you find the 30 year old boat that was well maintained and used regularly during the summer, with only 3,000 hours? Most buyers would consider that the perfect find with in their budget.

Ted

 

[Don L]

Have not disparaged anyone except in your imagination,. But been around these long enough to know what to do next.

 

[SteveK]

Remember, most of us here were sail boaters. With sails up I spent many hours on the water zigging and zagging to a destination that now takes me an hour in a straight line.
But that is time spent on the water, the engine was used to get out of the marina and into the anchorage. So engine hours may have been 25 the whole year. Oil changes were done by the calendar, not engine hours. And I have sailed overnight for several days before stopping.

My previous boat over three years had us onboard for 216 days, 1137 k-miles with 162 engine hours.
My current boat since July 2022 has us on board 82 days, 730 k-miles with 104 hours.
Work and life has not allowed more time on the boat. Over the years my boats have left the marina while 90% sat there.

Don, you are not making your point very well as to how you think I should have more engine hours.

 

[Don L]

Don, you are not making your point very well as to how you think I should have more engine hours.[/QUOTE]

I have all the answer I need and am moving on.

Thanks

 

[guy with a boat]

Didn't mean to start an off topic battle. In thinking more I knew the answer to start with and it was simple and confirmed by what I have always observed, most boats rarely go anywhere.

Not sure how you can read the many excellent responses and reach that conclusion.

Spending every weekend on the water for a 6-month cruising season (both are generous estimates) with a 2-hour run each way wouldn’t be considered by most to be “rarely going anywhere”. Yet that only adds up to 96hrs per year. There are lots of ways to enjoy boating, and they don’t all involve long runs and lots of engine hours.

It sometimes takes extra effort to reach a negative conclusion on every topic, but it can be done. Even if you want to believe most boats rarely go anywhere, that would be good news for you if it is lightly used and well maintained. See how easy that is?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. DL. Re: Post #35.


Bye...

 

[slowgoesit]

At the moment I am retired and my wife is not. So we are lucky if we do 120hr in a season. We do on small weekend trips. My wife takes 2 weeks off in the summer and we will do a 100 to 150 mile trip. At 8kn thats 4 days back and forth. There is 35 to 45 hours.

On top of that some family and friends are not into boating. So now we have to go to their functions. And yes, I tell them its boating season so don't expect us to come.

So yes, I can see why some engine hours are low.

Sacrilege! Time to get different family and friends!:lol:

 

[backinblue]

Some people ask a question but don't really care to listen to the answers because their mind is already made up. To add to RT's goodbye.....

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5824db9b-ecea-48cf-a691-b00ef9b0daa1

 

[Don L]

Some people ask a question but don't really care to listen to the answers because their mind is already made up. To add to RT's goodbye.....

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5824db9b-ecea-48cf-a691-b00ef9b0daa1

I "listened" to all the replies.

Some people are interested in posting on and winning on a thread than thinking about question

 

[mvweebles]

Don - I went back and reread your original post. 3500 hours on a 2001 sailboat actually sounds pretty high - roughly 150 hours and 100g diesel per year. Wondering what kind of boat and how it was used? Have seen engine hours like that on boats that circumnavigated for example. Or anchor out boats that run engine for charging. Maybe charter boat?

I think part of the confusion here is the yardstick you're comparing to happens to be pretty high, at least that's my observation.

Peter

 

[mvweebles]

I didn't find any offense in Don L's OP and subsequent posts. My guess is we've all asked ourselves variations of the same question "such a beautiful day - why are so few boats in the marina gone?"

I'm guessing many of us have done the simple math and wondered the same thing.

Peter

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. MV. The boat search 101 thread IS long and involved and like all TF threads tends to wander BUT most if not all of the questions OP asked are covered IMO. Response to comments were met with "Been there, done that". So what exactly was the OP looking for? Beats me.

 

[Don L]

Greetings,
Mr. MV. The boat search 101 thread IS long and involved and like all TF threads tends to wander BUT most if not all of the questions OP asked are covered IMO. Response to comments were met with "Been there, done that". So what exactly was the OP looking for? Beats me.

Yet you read it and respond, are you not entertained? Have I not properly fed you?

Bet you read this, and post again, instead of just moving on.

 

[mvweebles]

Arguably, 80% of the new posts on any special interest forum that have been around for a while are repeats of a topic that's already been covered. And It's not like TF has a great search function - mind you, the OP is a new member.

I thought the OP's question was legit - he has a 2001 sailboat with 3500-hrs and he's finding that most trawlers that are even older have similar number of hours. Given a sailboat spends at least a portion of its life without the engine running, reasonable to assume trawlers would have higher hours. Should that set of any alarm bells? The answer is "No," ~100-hours per year is probably about average usage. There was a slightly snarky response, but candidly, I thought the comment that prodded it was mildly snarky. The comments to wave-goodbye were a bit disappointing to me. This group is amazingly friendly and helpful, especially compared to sail-oriented forums.

Just my opinion.

Peter

 

[Don L]

Don - I went back and reread your original post. 3500 hours on a 2001 sailboat actually sounds pretty high - roughly 150 hours and 100g diesel per year. Wondering what kind of boat and how it was used? /QUOTE]

Fair question and I will fully answer later when able

 

[backinblue]

I "listened" to all the replies.

Some people are interested in posting on and winning on a thread than thinking about question

There were a lot of thoughtful answers to your question which you decided to summarize as "most boats rarely go anywhere". So if that's what you wanted to hear, then you got what you were looking for. There were many other valid answers to your question which you discarded, so IMO it seems like you are the one looking to "win" rather than "think".

 

[RT Firefly]

One more for my ignore list...

 

[backinblue]

Arguably, 80% of the new posts on any special interest forum that have been around for a while are repeats of a topic that's already been covered. And It's not like TF has a great search function - mind you, the OP is a new member.

I thought the OP's question was legit - he has a 2001 sailboat with 3500-hrs and he's finding that most trawlers that are even older have similar number of hours. Given a sailboat spends at least a portion of its life without the engine running, reasonable to assume trawlers would have higher hours. Should that set of any alarm bells? The answer is "No," ~100-hours per year is probably about average usage. There was a slightly snarky response, but candidly, I thought the comment that prodded it was mildly snarky. The comments to wave-goodbye were a bit disappointing to me. This group is amazingly friendly and helpful, especially compared to sail-oriented forums.

Just my opinion.

Peter

Peter, you know as well as anybody that this is a great group of people with lots of knowledge and willingness to help others. But that goes both ways. When someone asks a question then dismisses all the answers that others have put thought into and he doesn't agree with, then what's the point? It was a legit question with many legit and varying opinions on the answer. If you already have made up your mind before asking, then you are really not open to learning from others.

 

[backinblue]

Yet you read it and respond, are you not entertained? Have I not properly fed you?

Bet you read this, and post again, instead of just moving on.

For someone who said in previous posts that they got what they wanted and have moved on, I wonder who is being entertained?

 

[SteveK]

Last post. Bye
At the top of the thread there is thread tools, click on it and then "ignore thread"

 

[garbler]

I’ve surveyed acres of trawler types and I’m never completely surprised by unusually low engine hours. This is understandably true when I board a vessel, meet the owners and get a feel for their history. I can’t tell you how many GB’s and similar Taiwanese trawlers in SoCal ( always with a pair of Lehmans ) owned by people who just don’t cruise other than the immediate harbor, Christmas Parade or to the yard for a shave and paint every other year. It’s a fact of life that in many SoCal and Florida marinas there is a large % of comfortable apartment trawlers that don’t get underway

I might also add hour meters are often not what you think. The old electrical meters ticked off hours once the ignition was on, the Hobbs meters usually run off oil pressure and electric to log engine hours running at any RPM. Today the good meters are measuring the amount of RPM per minute, ie, the higher the RPM’s the faster the meter ticks. If you want to idle along at 800 RPM’s then you won’t log a lot of hours. Honestly I’m a convert, and honestly believe the amount of fuel burned is a more accurate record of an engine’s life. This may not always apply with smaller pleasure boats but it certainly does with larger high use.

Rick

 

[BruceK]

Yet you read it and respond, are you not entertained? Have I not properly fed you?

Bet you read this, and post again, instead of just moving on.

An unwelcome kind of post. OP`s first thread criticized responses too.
Reasons for low hours are well covered. Significant difference in hours between twin engines also merits inquiry. Perhaps using only one because of issues with the other, there are many possibilities.

 

[High Wire]

Some people buy a boat, tie it up in a marina and use it like a condo...rarely leaves the dock.

Agree. Go into any marina and the majority of boats rarely leave the slip. Yet the fees get paid and the divers scrape the bottom regularly. A weekly visit is the norm. The most of the active members of this forum are not the norm in a good way.

 

[Don L]

Don - I went back and reread your original post. 3500 hours on a 2001 sailboat actually sounds pretty high - roughly 150 hours and 100g diesel per year. Wondering what kind of boat and how it was used?

I think part of the confusion here is the yardstick you're comparing to happens to be pretty high, at least that's my observation.

Peter

So I said I would answer.

2001 41' sailboat that was New England based first 15 years. So only used weekends for 6 months and maybe a week vacation trip each year.

When I got the boat it had 538 engine hours, so 53 hours/yr

I used the boat EVERY weekend and either just went out and sailed, having of course to get out/in the inner harbor, or went "somewhere". Lots times sailing "somewhere" on a Saturday met a motor back on Sunday to get home. But at end of that the engine had 1100 hours on it after 6 years of my use. We called ourselves sailors back in those days and sailed 3-5 times more miles than we motored. So in 6 years I motored an average of 94 hours/yr on a sailboat that sailed a lot more than it motored and only was used on weekends for 6 months per year plus a week cruised.

So to me a 1985 trawler with 3000 hours, which is 78 hr/yr, seems like very light use. Even this 100 hr/yr on a trawler doing 7-8 knots sounds low milage

The last 6.5 years we have been full time cruisers and have traveled: Salem Ma -> Florida -> Bahamas and back to Fl -> South Carolina -> Fl Keys -> Maine -> Florida Keys -> Mississippi -> Keys -> Bahamas ->Jacksonville Fl -> Keys -> Bahamas -> Jacksonville -> Keys -> Jacksonville -> currently at cat Island Bahamas. Due to family issues, a broken shoulder, and covid we have only really traveled about 60% of the time we planned.

I estimate that we have traveled about 15,000 miles in the 6.5 years and have we motored 2490 hours during that time. So I estimate we have motored about 12,000 of the 15,000 miles, which is why we are thinking to change to a trawler.

 

[mvweebles]

Some do The Loop once (6000 miles, around 1000 hrs, usually over 2-years or more). Some do the Snowbird migration annually - guessing around 4000 nms round trip, 500-600 hours. Your travels and mileage are probably similar to the Snowbird fleet on TF. Next down would be PNW and possibly Chesapeake cruisers - cruising grounds are a bit more compact and local vs involving long transits to/fro. I'd guess they do 200-300 hours per year.

Most of my pleasure boating has been in San Francisco. With exception of PNW, the best cruising on the West Coast - and it's hard to put more than a couple hundred hours on a boat for more than a few seasons. You can run up the Delta - Sacramento is 100 nms away, but it's up a river so can be a slow slog. For me, best anchorage in the Bay was literally 100-yard from my slip. We spent many a weekend anchored there just because we loved being anchored. Might take a spin around the island, or head to Jack London Square for the morning farmer's market, but still, it would be tough to put more than about 5-hours on the engine. Pillar Point/Half Moon Bay is 25-nms south of the Golden Gate Bridge; Drakes Bay about 25nms north. So round trip to either, might 12-15 hours but have a really nice long weekend. We'd make an annual run for a week up the Delta and maybe put 40-hours on the engine.

I think most people do not cruise their boats too far from home. They either don't have time or inclination to make long treks. But I can tell you, it may not sound like much, but in many areas, you can have a lot of fun in 100 engine hours on a boat. No, won't get you to Mexico or Bahamas. But there are other cruising destinations that are a lot more local.

Peter

 

[MacPhid]

DonL, I think you've answered your own question that a trawler with 78hr/yr average isn't really low. Look at the first 15 years of your sailboats life, the first 9 years 54hrs/yr, the next 6 years 94hrs/yr with you as the new owner, average of 73 hr/yr for the first 15 years.

Very few boats, sail or power travel 15000 miles in six years, so even by the average of your sailboat it's in line with "normal" usage. I think a trawler would make good sense for you as you'll enjoy a higher average speed at a higher fuel cost of course but mpg won't be that far off.

James

 

[ronobrien]

My 1973 GB36 has about 4000 hours on original FL120's. Ave 80 hr/year. I am 3rd owner. Apparently the original owner lived aboard and pretty much never moved it. He was an airline pilot and was away for weeks at a time, so I am told.

 

[HypnoBob]

When we bought our 2001 49 foot DeFever CPMY in 2006, it had 145 hours on the engines. The good news is that it only had 145 hours on the engines. The bad news is that it only had 145 hours on the engines.

First up was the fuel. It carried 1,100 gallons in four tanks and with even half the load it took all day to get the tanks cleans. Two of them we were able to open and clean. The two big saddle tanks took forever. We added a Gulf Coast Fuel Polishing System.

Changed the primary and secondary fuel filters.

Back to the engines. Fortunately, DeFever used silicone hoses, so no issues there. Changed the impellers, fluids, etc.

I think we put about 2,500+ hours on the engines doing the great loop and a bunch of side trips to Key West, the Bahamas, DC and so on. Even then, we were a low hour boat when we sold it 6 years later.