Pacemaker Boat Owners Association

GPH will depend on how hard you push the boat past hull speed. My 36 will crusie around 22 kts but that will have my 16 GPH (per engine) flowscan pegged.

As far as making a long trip, just about anything is possible if you want to turn your boat into a floating gas tank. http://atlinc.com/marine.html

@ 4$/gallon that is 128$/hour. You have gone 22 NMs. I don't know how far The Dry Tortugas are from Key West but...... I know of no Pacemaker that is cheap to run. They are heavy and overbuilt. That is why they are still here. So ya may want to consider a Trawler or run your Pacemaker like one. A good rule of thumb is 1NM/gallon at say 14 knots with gas engines. Fuel prices have taken a lot of fun out of the boating experience. But I forgot to mention Insurance,Slip fees. Annual hauling, maintenenace on the systems and that is if nothing breaks. Boats are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. You could probably do an All Inclusive vacation in say Jamaica or Punta Cana for your fuel bill to DT. I know it is not what you want to hear but reality aint pretty when running a boat.

Morningwood, don't know what you thought I wanted to hear? I know all to well the costs associated with boating, we own a sailboat. Perhaps I shoud have worded the question differently.
Key West to the Tortugas is 70 miles, making 140 total. Are the fuel tanks big enough, and is the GPH range small enough that one could make that round trip in a 30ish foot Pacemaker?
Thanks in advance.
Jack

Hey Jack.
I meant no harm in refrence to your request. Thought you might be a greenhorn with very wide open parameters.,
The fuel capacity on some 30er boats I am guessing would be around 120 gallons. 2, 60 gallon tanks or maybe less.
At a blistering 9 knots@ 7GPH, your burn rate would come in around 105 gallons. Based on your distance of 140 NM. That is figuring all goes according to plan with no wind issues etc it would be around a 15 hour roundtrip. I am sure others can weigh in on their fuel capacities/ boat model. I personally would not want to go on a single screw boat for that distance in the deep blue. But I am a conservative boater that has used up a lot of luck over the years.
That 7gph is really stretching it with a twin screw. Maybe more like 10. My father has a 44 S/F with 2 454s. He makes about 11 knots @ 1900RPMs and burns around 8 to 10/hour total. He carries 350 gallons. The long waterline helps his speed as compared to a shorter boat.
My 37 Egg Harbor with 6BTA 330 Cummins cruises at 20 knots @ 21 GPH. I carry 400 gallons.
I think you are going to need a bigger boat.

Hi, I have a 31ft Sportfisherman, with twin crusader 270s. At 20 knots, I burn about 20 gal per hour. Getting her up on plane, I am up around 34 gph, then I pull it back to cruise (20 knots) and go 20gph. I had 3 new tanks installed and carry 288 gal.of fuel. My bottom was power-blasted last year, barrier painted then bottom paint, cleaning the bottom really improved my fuel consumption and getting her up quicker. A pretty good rull of thumb for me is, 1 mile per gallon but all boats are different depending on condition and extra weight.

I have found that at the end of the year when I add up all the boat bills, fuel is actually one of the least. so now i try to look it is as if i spend alot on fuel, I have had alot of fun away from teh docks.

I don't want to add up the boat bills. Then my wife will feel obliged to get more Botox.

I add em up, but do not show her...........

I have a 1967 33 sedan bridge with twin 327 gas engines the boat weighs about 15000 lbs and burns 25 gph at 20 knots

I have A 42' with twin 427 Crusaders, I idle at 4 gph. I have 700 gallons on board 350 port and 350 starboard aft. But she cruises smooth as A swan.

I have a pretty new to me 1977 30' pacemaker with 126 gallon tank per engine (why 126 gallons I don't know) so I hold 252 gallons full. I have to take the previous owners word as I have never filled them all the way up. But, I do figure about 1 gallon per mile though....