Mark42
Fleet Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2003
- Messages
- 9,334
Been keeping record of how many gallons of gas the boat used, and where we went these last two weeks of vacation. Using a marine chart of the area its easy to measure the miles traveled, and the gas pump tells me the fuel used.
The old 85 hp Force on my 16' bayliner averaged 4.5 mpg! (statute miles, not nautical miles) That includes both light load and heavy load trips. Also, I rarely ran WOT for more than a couple of minutes, but made sure the throttle went to WOT to get on plane, then throttle back to cruising speed, usually 20-25 mph. We did not pull any tubes or wake boards, etc.
I am surprised at the economy. The fuel consumption wasn't checked since before the hard top was installed. Really thought there would be a little more wind resistance because of the hard top, but I guess not enough to make difference. When measuring the distance on the chart, the time spent running up and down the shore looking for the best landing site was not included, and the fuel used jockeying around the docks, and avoiding other boats, etc was also not included. So I think this is a conservative and accurate measurement.
I know I probably sound like some kind of nerd tracing the trips on a chart and keeping track of the gas, but to me, its fun and part of the whole boating experience. Maybe I do it because I rely on charts for all our trips outside of 5 miles or so from the launch.
Anyone else track their fuel consumption against the distance traveled?
The old 85 hp Force on my 16' bayliner averaged 4.5 mpg! (statute miles, not nautical miles) That includes both light load and heavy load trips. Also, I rarely ran WOT for more than a couple of minutes, but made sure the throttle went to WOT to get on plane, then throttle back to cruising speed, usually 20-25 mph. We did not pull any tubes or wake boards, etc.
I am surprised at the economy. The fuel consumption wasn't checked since before the hard top was installed. Really thought there would be a little more wind resistance because of the hard top, but I guess not enough to make difference. When measuring the distance on the chart, the time spent running up and down the shore looking for the best landing site was not included, and the fuel used jockeying around the docks, and avoiding other boats, etc was also not included. So I think this is a conservative and accurate measurement.
I know I probably sound like some kind of nerd tracing the trips on a chart and keeping track of the gas, but to me, its fun and part of the whole boating experience. Maybe I do it because I rely on charts for all our trips outside of 5 miles or so from the launch.
Anyone else track their fuel consumption against the distance traveled?
