#San diego midnight wave free

So we take the range and deduct 10% or 10 miles and the fishing range for this boat is about 80 miles with 2-3 hours of trolling time. This leaves us with a 10 gallon reserve or an additional 1/2 hour of running is. We can troll and fish (most people troll at 6 to 8 knots) for 2 hours before we need to cruise back home (at 22 knots). So we can cruise a total of 22 knots for about 4.5 hours or about 100 miles. We use 40% of the fuel to get to the fishing grounds, 20% to fish at trolling speed and 40% to get home. Next we use the 40/20/40 method to figure out our fishing or cruising range. With a 100 gallon capacity we subtract 5% off the top, so we assume that we have 95 gallons of usable fuel, then we subtract 10% for reserve and we end up with 85 gallons of fishing or cruising fuel. Now lets do the math, 35 gallons at 2 hours is 17.5 gallons per hour (round up 18.0 gallons per hour). On our trip we burned 35 gallons of fuel at an average speed of 22 knots and it took just over 2 hours to run 45 nautical miles. Now we have the data that we will need to determine our burn rate. When we’re back at the fuel dock we stop our stop-watch, refuel the boat, and log both our engine hours and start/stop times from the stop-watch. Loma, into San Diego Bay down to the bridge, and then back to the fuel dock. Using a stop-watch to measure our time, we take off out of San Diego Bay at our typical cruising speed (22kts) and head to South Coronado Island, then back to Pt. Some of the newer electronics packages, like the ones by Garmin and Raymarine, have trip meters, if yours does zero the mile meter.

At this point log we log our engine hours. We head to our local fuel dock and fill the boat as we normally would before a boating or fishing trip. We are operating out of San Diego Bay in a 24’ boat with 100 gallons of fuel on board and at an average cruising speed of 22kts. Now that you know your hull is clean and your props are in working order on to the test.īefore you depart make sure that your Membership card coverage is current and that you have a working hour meter on board (if you don’t, they can be installed quickly and affordably).įor this example we will assume the following scenario: If the propeller looks dinged it to Pacific Marine Propellers in National City (or any other propeller repair shop) and for a fraction of the cost of a new prop they can repair and tune your propeller. A propeller going through the water is like cutting a tomato with a knife if the blade is sharp and true it will slice through the water like a sharp knife through a tomato on the other hand, if the knife is dinged or has been bent a little it will still cut through the tomato but not as smooth.

#San diego midnight wave free

You should also make sure that your propeller(s) are true (no bends) and free of dings. My boats burned more than 40,000 gallons of fuel in 2008 and we can tell when the bottoms need to be cleaned just by looking at our gph (gallons per hour) burned. While bottom growth seems slippery it isn’t, growth equals drag or resistance and it negatively affects your fuel economy. Most of the companies that offer bottom cleaning will also inspect the condition of the zincs, shaft(s), prop(s), and rudder(s). For trailer boaters this is an easy task, for those of you who keep your boat in a slip you may have to hire a service if you’re unable to dive yourself.

Well here is a simple way to find out what the actual range of your boat is* (as well as an opportunity to “sea trial” your boat so that you can address any issues your boat might have so you can lessen the chance of a major breakdown during the middle of your boating or fishing season):īefore you launch your boat make sure that your hull is clean and free of growth. The most common phrase I hear when a boater runs out of fuel is, “My Gas gauge still say’s I have ¼ tank!” During the last 10 years Vessel Assist San Diego has delivered fuel to over 5000 boaters about 80 percent of them report that their fuel gauge shows that they still have fuel, about ten percent think that there is a problem with their fuel system, five percent have no idea that they are out of gas and believe they are suffering a mechanical issue, and finally, about the last five percent are just flat out honest and say, ”oops, looks like I went a little too far with my boat today.” I’m sure that with new technology and modern hull designs they are pretty close but how can you be sure of what your fishing or cruising range really is? Walking around boat shows these days I see plenty of boat dealers boasting about the 400 and 500 mile range (per fuel tank) of the boats that they’re selling.

How far will your boat travel on a tank of fuel?