I need Some Advise please

[M-SAYEGH]

hello everybody ,


Fist of all , I've had my boat for the past 4 years , I use it every week to go on short trips around the bay ...
I'm pretty confident of my boat and my piloting skills , but I'm still an amateur .




I have a 1998 270 DA that I bought about 4 years ago with twin 4.3s (300 hrs each)


My boat is in great shape ,

I have added to standard equipment on the boat:


1 raymarine handheld gps
1 garmin 740s chartplotter+sounder
1 mobile marine VHF 50w tranciever
1 (7w) handheld Vhf Transceiver
1 Inmarsat IsatPhonePro


I am planning and researching a trip from Lebanon to Cyprus that's 219 km or +- 114 nautical miles away ,
as seen in the attached picture , we will be crossing the Mediterranean sea on a day with minimal winds and great sea conditions.


After a few calculations ,


I think it will take me about 5 hrs on cruising speeds.


Would you advise me to go on such a trip knowing that I have a 27 foot boat which is a relatively a small boat ?


I have never cruised more than 40 nautical miles on a single trip before.


Will 100 gal fuel (petrol) capacity be enough for such a trip ?


Can you please advise ? Any input and additional information will be much appreciated ,

Thank you ,
M-Sayegh

 

[Boston-boater]

A couple of things you should think about. First, you should know your fuel burn in advance to determine if you can make the trip with at least a 10% reserve. Second, given that your journey is point to point and not along the coast, when you are half way there, you will be some 50 miles from safe harbor. While you indicated the seas would be calm, are you familiar with the possible conditions that could come up? 27 feet does not give you a large margin should the weather turn against you. I am not saying you should not make the trip, just things to consider.

 

[northern]

What country will save you if you get in trouble?
5 Hours at cruising speed will make your engines work.
Do you know how to fix your engines if you have a failure?
What sort of communications do you have. We do 50 miles of open water and have a sat phone.
On one trip a raw water pump went. I did not have a spare. If that would happen to you your crossing time would be longer on one engine.
I had a fuel pump fail on a crossing once. I had a spare pump but the waves were too big to change it. Took some time before we got to a calm area.

 

[GrandMaster]

I would not attempt that with that boat & distance under any circumstances without another boat joining...but thats just me

 

[BritLady]

I would not attempt that with that boat & distance under any circumstances without another boat joining...but thats just me

What he said !!! Plus an EPIRB!

 

[rondds]

You'd need to average 1.30 statutory MPG for the trip to arrive at your destination on fumes. Is that possible? If not you'd have to carry more fuel.

 

[yako]

I used to have a 270, but I had a single... My math says that you could make it with respect to fuel.

219 km is about 135 staute miles. 5 hous, that is 27 miles per hour. My guess is that is at 3500 rpm. At that rate each engine will consume about 8.5 gallons per hour or 17 in total each hour. 17 x 5 is 85. Fuel

5 hours at say 3500 rpm, with those engines will likely consume 16 gallons per hour. If you started with 100 gallons you would have 15 gallons left. This is less that a 10% reserve, so I would not do that. Plus, remember that when full, you are lugging around a bunch of fuel, so you will have less efficiency.

This is a small boat. In my opinion, there are too many things that could go wrong. I would never do this. Better fly there and then rent a boat.

 

[mwph]

If my child's life depended on it, yes, I'd try it. Otherwise, I would not even entertain the thought.

Of course this is just my opinion. Say what you will.

 

[PMC]

I'd check that 100 Gal number, and see if that is usable fuel. If your calculating on tank size, expect a much lower usable fuel number.

IMO you are no where near a do-able range without extra gas on-board. Keep in mind that sea conditions will slow the boat down, and considerably decrease your MPG usage. Whatever the engine burns in GPH is your number. Current, wind, waves are not your friend when running so close to the edge.

BTW - My 4.3s burnt 9GPH each in fair seas.

 

[k9medic]

I have put a bunch of sea miles in over the years in many different types of boats. This is a trip that I would not do without an additional 25 gallons of fuel at the minimum.

 

[Gofirstclass]

When considering if you need to take along any additional fuel, also consider how you would get that fuel from the can into your tanks. If the water is choppy you're going to be rolling around quite a bit. If that's the case you're not likely going to be able to stand on a side walkway and pour from the can. Will you be able to siphon out of the can?

 

[rcknecht]

I would do it, but bring extra fuel... I would have stop as I go when the weather was calm to fill the tanks... Remember the line you drew was straight, and you can't keep your boat that straight, especially for that long... Therefore the trip will be longer. One thing I would do is make sure I was running at my most efficient speed, which may be slower that you have stated. Try to aim at points on the horizon to keep you boat straight. Also, you will need to have plan for what happen if your engines stop, or you run out of fuel.

 

[rondds]

[video=youtube;8gciFoEbOA8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gciFoEbOA8[/video]