On Nov 6, 2:06 pm, kinnardw <
kinna...@mtaonline.net> wrote:
> Den WOW! This is great information! That G503.com looks interesting.
* * *
> Let's pretend that this is a project that makes it off the ground. I
> would use my 318's (rebuilt) wit a possible propane conversion and run
> some type of jet drive system. I would run be able to run in 2' of
William:
Don't take me the wrong way or anything, but I'm glad you're in the
Sacramento Delta and not gonna be mooring anywhere near me. Anybody
else here see a problem with a couple of hundreds of gallons of
liquefied petroleum gas in steel tanks in the enclosed spaces of a
boat? Anyone?
Seriously, what are you thinking? Why on earth would you want to do a
propane conversion on a boat? There's nowhere to fuel it, and I
seriously doubt that any delivery truck is going to be willing to run
a hose down a dock. To say nothing of the fact that the minute your
marina finds out you're propane-fueled, or sees a propane truck
unreeling a hose on the dock, you're going to be out on your keister.
It can't be for better mileage; in vehicles propane/LPG fuel results
in lower economy (propane has only about 73% of the heat energy of an
equivalent volume of gasoline). The only reason I can think of is due
to propane not having highway taxes. I don't know about California,
but in Washington, if you buy gas for a boat you can submit your
receipt(s) for up to 6 months with a form requesting a refund of the
highway taxes, so at least for us, that's not a reason. And once you
back the taxes out, the difference in price is made up by the lower
fuel economy.
Frankly, if you're thinking of going propane to save 30 or 40 cents a
gallon, may I respectfully submit that boating is not a hobby you want
to get into? Please don't take me wrong, but you're too cheap. If
your boat goes 1 nautical mile per gallon of gasoline (your 31 should
do at least 1.5 or 2 nmpg at planing speed, much more at hull
(trawler) speed. But assume 1 nautical mile per gallon. It would
take you around 25,000 gallons of gasoline to circle the Earth at the
equator. Saving 30 cents a gallon would result in a net savings of
$7,500 on a complete circumnavigation. You'll never take your boat
that far in a lifetime of cruising the Delta, so your savings will be
proportionately smaller.
[I just wrote several paragraphs of more-or-less scientific reasons
propane is a bad idea, but I decided to keep this short, so I deleted
them]
I can't even begin to state clearly how bad an idea I think this is.
Certainly, propane may have a limited place on a boat: cooking and
heating. But as the principal means of fuel? Never. Ever. There's
a reason that ocean-going LPG tanker docks are dozens of miles from
anything else.
Another thing: the Coast Guard has rigid requirements about propane
tanks: They must be above-decks, not connected to living spaces, not
open to engine spaces and if enclosed in a locker, the locker must be
vented overboard. I can't think of where you're going to put propane
tanks on your boat that will meet these requirements; and if you
ignore them and get boarded, your boat will be immediately impounded.
Oh, this is so not a good idea.
And it just occurred to me what an insurance underwriter would have to
say about the whole idea . . .
However, it also occurs to me that there might be one reason: you'll
have the first Uniflite to reach Alpha Centauri.