Dani-Lu
Well-Known Member
We are getting closer to retirement and our plan to buy a displacement or semi-displacement trawler for cruising 4 to 5 months or more per year in retirement. I am not sure we will like cruising at 8 kts, with a maximum speed of 10 kts, which is why we are also looking at semi-displacement trawlers. I also like knowing I have reserve power when needed, like string currents or rough inlets. I love docking my 2 engine boat, but many trawlers are built with one engine, with the shaft and prop protected by the keel. The single engine trawlers usually have bow and stern thrusters, but I don’t know if I will like or feel comfortable docking on one engine, even with thrusters.
Will I do harm to my Cats running at 8 kts all day or even 24 hours straight with the low gph burn rate? Will I need to run the engines up to cruising RPMs, during the run or at the end of the run to clean out whatever builds up when running at low rpms? The reason for this question is, I would like to use our current boat for the first year of cruising the coast/keys/bahamas, before making the move to a trawler. I would want to run our boat at trawler speed, to get a feel for this type of boating. Will I do harm to my engines or turbos running them at 8 kts?
Lastly, should I move this thread to the diesel section?
Thanks,
Jeff
Will I do harm to my Cats running at 8 kts all day or even 24 hours straight with the low gph burn rate? Will I need to run the engines up to cruising RPMs, during the run or at the end of the run to clean out whatever builds up when running at low rpms? The reason for this question is, I would like to use our current boat for the first year of cruising the coast/keys/bahamas, before making the move to a trawler. I would want to run our boat at trawler speed, to get a feel for this type of boating. Will I do harm to my engines or turbos running them at 8 kts?
Lastly, should I move this thread to the diesel section?
Thanks,
Jeff