Driving a 280 like a trawler?

[Curtiss]

Bimini crossing looks to be fun. YouTube is full of videos. People cross over in everything from super yachts to bay boats, ski boats and even jet skis! I hope to someday make all the keys, dry tortugas and the marquesas.

Hello Froghunter,
I've got a 2004 280 DA and I'm in sarasota, fl. I am planning a trip down to Key West here shortly and I really want to go out to Dry Tortugas. The problem is there's not enough gas in this model (100 gallons). It's about 70 miles out which means 70 back or 140
round trip. If I am full up running out I'll be lucky to use less than half a tank. That's 1.4 mpg or 2.3 hours at 30 mph at 21 gph. I'd have to plan on taking an extra load of gas about 40 gallons to be safe. But, if I use my generator (2gph) that poses another problem, plus once the tank is below 1/4 tank the generator won't work. Just not a big enough tank for that. My plan for Key West is to stop and fill up in Marco Island. This is furthest south before the everglades and about 97 miles south of me. I'll take extra gas just in case but I shouldn't have a problem making KW from Marco Island which is about 86 if I go straight down. I'd be quite a ways off shore so I'd want the extra gas just in case. To cross the gulf stream I'd want to do it in the summer and wait for calm weather. I'm not so sure how she'd do in a 6 foot sea. If the wave period is high, it might be ok but if they're close together it wont' be fun. I'd love to hear from some folks who have done it in this boat.

 

[Creekwood]

I drive my 340 like a trawler. I think right around 7 knots is the sweet spot, not pushing too much water. It's still burning way more fuel than a trawler though. If I wanted to go fast I wouldn't have bought a Sundancer!

Most folks around these parts will call this "cocktail speed". And it's where a lot of us slow boaters spend a lot of our time...

Not sure what you mean by that? Other than the Fountain style boats, the Sundancers are not bad in terms of speed for big cruisers?