Express Cruiser

[bushybum]

I have been lurking here for many weeks enjoying the posts and decided to jump in after today. My family used to boat years ago, and I am trying to get may wife to buy into boating, and so far she is ok, but both are concerned about costs.
My wife and I are looking to buy an express cruiser in the off season here in Texas. We went to the Sea Ray dealer and got sticker shock this afternooon.
We have found a couple of used cruisers (one 24 and the other 26 foot) that are in our price range, single engine, with A/C and generator, (if you plan to stay overnight on the boat here A/C is a must due to ninety percent humidity), but I am still concerned about the cost of just fuel alone (and it could get worse).
The one thing I don't want to do is buy a boat and then cannot afford to be able to use it due to the fact I have more boat than money in the wallet. Anyone got any clue as to what a "normal" outing in a boat of this size may cost with regard to fuel. I don't mean cruising all day, but just a normal outing (get there, relax, fish, nap, etc). The guy at the Sea Ray dealership estimated fuel usage at about 3 miles per gallon and I almost had to give the wife CPR.
Any help or even good guess would be greatly appreciated on what costs associated with a vessel of this size would be. Thanks

 

[steelespike]

Re: Express Cruiser

In round figures you can figure 10% of horsepower for GPH(gallons per hour) at wot(wide open throttle).ie: 260 hp X 10%=26 GPH. @ wot.3 mpg sounds pretty optimistic to me at any kind of reasonable speed.
If the boat will plane at 1/2 throttle you might get 13 gph at 20 mph (just for easy figuring)thats about 1 1/2 mpg.You might get 3mpg at 6 or 8 mph.
Wot GPH is the same 10% for all motors.MPG is determined by what speed you can do at various rpm.

 

[magster65]

Re: Express Cruiser

Hello.
My 2003 240 Sundancer (5.0 mpi / bravo 3) got a best of 2.6 mpg under ideal conditions. I don't think a boat of this power / weight ratio will see 3 mpg... almost but not quite unless it's diesel powered. The 2.6 mpg was at 3500 rpm and around 32 mph (12 gph). Keep in mind if you just putt around... instead of 12 gph you can use only 2 gph. So in your 4 hours out you may not have gone as far but you only used 8 gallons instead of 48. The dollars per hour are what's important most of the time.
This is why the single diesel trawlers are getting so popular. With a 120 Lehman diesel sipping 1.5 gph, the typical 35' trawler will achieve 9 mph. This is a huge boat getting 6 mpg!!! I'll have one when gas (and speed) gets unaffordable for me. The slower speed doesn't seem to matter with a boat like this... the trip is always 'better' than the destination. Smart cruising or a slower unit... wifey won't need CPR, she'll have an elevated heart rate and a twinkle in her eye 'cause yer' so smart!
A normal day out in a 240 will (depend on you of course) will cost ya' $30 to $70 in fuel, double or even triple it if you run hard. This is an almost impossible question to answer accurately though...

 

[lorenbennett]

Re: Express Cruiser

We have the 03 260 sundancer (6.2L)and bought it 2 years old for half price. As far as use. I can get 3 trips out of it on one tank or need to fill up twice in a day. I don't like to make long trips but sometimes that is what we do. Done plenty of 120mile days which is a little over a tank. Most times we drop in the lake cruise easy about 10 or 15 minutes to a nice beach and park it. Maybe pull the kid on the tube a little. Normally use more gas with the generator. You can decide on what type of trip based on how much extra cash you have. Its no uncommon to empty the house fridge on Friday eve and head for the lake. If i still have a half of tank then its only the cost of operating my truck to the marina. Or when we go to lake Powell and get wet at walweap marina and meet friends at bullfrog marina we will top of at dangling rope half way up. Its 90 miles and we run at around 3800 to 4000 rpms so its really using allot of gas. I try to avoid to many of those trips. Most of my friends with larger searay's all tell me there consumption is a little more but at the end of the day its how hard you run and how long.

 

[External Combustion]

Re: Express Cruiser

Bushybum:

Tankfulls don't tell you much unless the size of tank is listed and how many hours it took to empty it.

I am a die hard cheapskate. Even worse, I am a die hard cruiser. I frequently forgo most of the aminities just to get a few more miles under the keel. I guess that is why I stoke wood into a boiler instead of paying for diesel in a much easier to manage engine.

Here is my take. Displacement hulls, which can easily be described as NO FASTER than 1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in knots can be pushed to this level at one horsepower per ton. Yep, ya got me right. If your vessel weighs four tons (2240 pounds, marine ton here, times four says that you will go 7 1/2 mile per hour on a twenty five foot rig [math abreviated, contact me] for four horsepower. That can be a five horse Briggs geared down, a Sea Horse that can actually put the horsepower to the water or even a steam engine such as my favorite vessel.

Find out what the wife needs as far as comfort. Know how much the comfort weighs and find a "trawler" that will afford such accomodations.

As long as you do not approach semi planing or planing speeds then you will be able to cruise within a limited budget. I know, as now I am on a fixed income.

Most here do not speak displacment hulls. There is nothing wrong with that. I occasionally still burn dead dinosaurs to make one of my hulls go way fast, yet if you require miles under your keel for the dollar spent, then only a displacement hull will fill your needs.

Check the nations coastlines. Many fishermen retire their hulls after three years due to the tax incentives. A good ex-fisherman's vessel can easily make a fantastic cruiser. Those fishermen have to go out no matter what the weather to make a living.

Remember my predjudices and experiences. I am a dry lander with a moderate amount of sea experience. I hold miles per gallon more important than comfort. I have been out in serious weather only in displacement craft. My family's safety is more important than anything. I love to go far.

 

[KCook]

Re: Express Cruiser

4 MPG is easy for a pontoon, even with an outboard motor. Very popular for lakes, just don't expect to set any speed records.

wude Kelly

 

[steelespike]

Re: Express Cruiser

4 MPG is easy for a pontoon, even with an outboard motor. Very popular for lakes, just don't expect to set any speed records.

wude Kelly

Actually surprisingly the pontoon can do quite well if not pushed too hard.
actual figures on a 21 ft 50 hp 12.7 mpg at 5.4 mph and 6.2 mpg at 12 mph.
Wot 4.3mpg @ 21 mph.
23 ft 50hp 6.8mpg @ 6mph,6.5 @ 9.7mph and 3.8 mpg at 19mph.
both these boats operate in the neighborhood of 5 GPH at WOT.
A typical 50 hp 17ft aluminum boat gets about 9 mpg @23 mph
and 6.7 mpg @ 34 mph.again about 5 gph @ wot.

 

[j442w30]

Re: Express Cruiser

Do you plan on trailering this cruiser or keeping it stored at a marina? You would need a pretty substantial tow vehicle to haul that size of boat around. If you plan on keeping in the water be prepared to pay around $1 more per gallon than at a gas station down the street. Boating is fun but is an expensive hobby.

 

[magster65]

Re: Express Cruiser

The economy numbers here are great... I wish I had a flat calm ocean to boat on every day!
I'd have a 'pontoon' if I could!
It's all a 'give and take' with boating.
Every boat mentioned has it's place... ya' gotta' love 'em all.

 

[oops!]

Re: Express Cruiser

welcome to i boats!

and happy new year!

i know your post just asked about fuel econemy

and i think youve got your answer.

but there are a few more pennies to spend every time you dip that prop in the wata! how bout ice for the cooler? gotta be a buck fifty a bag in the states.
ok now how bout the beer? hot dogz? burgers? sunscreen?

my gal and i are on the water almost every day in canada. (summer)
boating costs a hundred a day. some days not....some days more.
$4.50 a gallon at the pump. $6 bucks on the water.
qiuck putt around or floating stargazing.. if theres lots of fuel in the tank..then no cost that day.

is it worth it?

EVRYONE ALL TOGEATHER.....YES

some of our best times are on calm waters (lake) at midnight. no one out there but us.
sittin on the deck. watchin meteor showers. or if were really lucky the northern lights. just the two of us chattin for hours...

priceless

cheers
oops

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: Express Cruiser

I was kinda thinking that 3 miles per gallon in a 24 or 26 foot boat was pretty good.

You have to know how far you'll actually be boating too. 3 miles by water seems to go further than 3 miles on land.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Express Cruiser

Make swure that you take a test ride in anything you are seriously interested in. One thing to look for is the exhaust smell from the engine. I have had a couple of outboard powered express cruisers and the exhaust gasses tend to get sucked up into the cockpit due to the express design.