The Sailboat!

That's right! Even if you don’t know how to sail – and have no intentions of learning - a sailboat “motored” all the way around the

Great Loop will undoubtedly be your most fuel efficient vessel.

My oldest son taught me this lesson in 2010. I admit, I was totally against the idea. However, in my quest for "more fun than fuel" my

son convinced me to "motor" around in a sailboat. My goal? Was simply to determine how “cheap” a year cruising the Great Loop

could be. So we searched of a suitable sailboat and found a great little 28 footer in St. Augustine for only $3,000 . We bought it and

"motored" around the entire Loop averaging less than 0.4 gallons of fuel per hour. We made the entire voyage on $1,300 in fuel

and with a total fuel, oil, tuneup, and engine related expenses less than $3,000.

Think about it this way – It takes just a little bit of wind to move these vessels 7 to 8 knots (about 10 mph) through the water.

Therefore, it takes a very little motor using very little fuel to accomplish the same thing.

As a result of our 2010 voyage, on my next voyage around, I took a 36’ center cockpit ketch. It was a good old one. I bought it for

$10,000, cut the masts off to 13 feet above the water, had a huge Bimini top made that covered almost half the entire vessel, and I

had the keel cut to maintain a 4’ fully loaded draft. It provided plenty of room and comfort, and burned just less than 1 gallon an

hour. Yes, it’s twice the fuel as the 28' Albin Vega, but it’s more than twice the comfort and more than worth the additional fuel.

The Sailboat bonus - Obviously, if you know how to sail or willing to learn, this will be your best of all options as it opens the

door to Island hopping the Caribbean or even sailing around the world. Sailing is fun, easy, quite, and the very most economical way

to live aboard and go long-distance cruising.

It seems that many "Sailors" visiting our website are totally unaware that one can cruise America's Great Loop in a sailboat, but you

can. Fact is if your mast is less than 65' above the water (and most are), and your draft is less than 6' the trip around is very

possible. While we strongly suggest a draft less than 5' (mine is 4'), motoring your sailboat around the Loop opens a wide range of

cruising options.

Of course, sailboats must have their mast removed before entering the Erie Canal, and before entering Chicago or the Cal-Sag.

There are facilities to raise and lower your mast at each end of these locations.

What you may not know is that the design of the sailboat's displacement hull makes it the very most economical vessel on the

water. Think about it! Sailboats are designed to move easily through the water in the slightest breeze. As a result, it requires a very

minimum amount of horse power to move these vessels through the water.



For example:



A 28 ' to 36 ' (live a-board size) S ailboat might be rated for a 15 to 30 hp engine and have a f uel burn rate of 0.4 to 0 .8

gallon s per hour , at a speed of about 8 mph .

A 32 ' to 36 ' single engine Trawler might be rated for a 175 to 2 50hp and have a 8 mph fuel burn rate of 4 gallons an hour.

Twin engines might have a fuel burn rate of 7 to 8 gallons (or more) per hour .



For this reason, you can not obtain a more economical live aboard vessel to cruise the Great Loop even if you take off the mast or

never raise the sails.



Learning to sail of course, is easy and fun. Surprisingly to many beginners, it comes natural once they realize there really isn't

anything hard or difficult about it. With a few lessons, a sailboat will also open your "side trip" options to include a greater range of

boating capabilities - such as the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

