Fuel Burn -- or lack of...

Friday – today we will make our way to Oak Bay. We had met the retired couple on the sailboat “Old Sam Peabody” that recommended Oak Bay to us. The anchorage is tucked into a small inlet and then back through some channels. We again stern tied the boat and took the dinghy up and down the channel exploring the smooth “whaleback” rocks.

A note on our fuel mileage. Once we got into the North Channel area, most anchorages are an hour or two away from each other (at the most) – so in order to enjoy the area better I slowed the boat to run at 1200 RPM’s and about 6.8 knots. Since I did that we have burned an average of .94 gallons per hour – yes, less than 1 gallon per hour. So, we filled the fuel tanks about two weeks ago and have been all over the North Channel and have burnt less than 50 gallons of fuel (150 gallons left). The generator burns around .40 gallons per hour and we use the generator approx. 3 hours each day to recharge the batteries.

Here are some comparison:

1600 rpm’s 8.0 knots 3.25 gallons per hour fuel burn

1400 rpm’s 7.2 knots 2.00 gallons per hour fuel burn

1200 rpm’s 6.8 knots .94 gallons per hour fuel burn