little math on engine hours, assuming generator usage at 1 gallon per hour revealed that the first year we actually should have used about 76 gallons total not the 203 gallons that it took to fill up the tanks upon our return, we watched that fuel pump in stunned amazement and disbelief as it passed $200, $300 and finally came to rest at $375.Can you believe our estimated

Both are excellent, answered every one of my questions, and were forthcoming with advice and estimates of cost to repair. Their reports were detailed and pulled no punches. (I also used 5 mechanical surveyors. Their written reports were next to useless, but the oral advice, if brief, was fine.) Ask around before engaging a marine surveyor.

Formulae are just estimates. The real life situation is how many miles can you safely travel on the tankage that your boat contains. If you want longer range, you slow down. Regards, Bob Austin

I would estimate 80% of the time. >>Other than "bragging rights" ie: my boat gets better fuel mileage than......

. > >You will note that DirecWay will not give any type of speed estimate or >service guarantee. Note also the need for a rather large dish and >extremely precise orientation. > >We have no direct experience with this service ourselves so this is just >hearsay but I suspect this is still not ready for prime time.

That's before starting on the estimate of the cost of the loss of the vessel and their personal belongings. Fortunately they had excellent coverage from a "real" yacht insurance company and they had absolutely no trouble with reimbursement and payments.

. ****************************** The direction of the current flow can be roughly estimated by rotating the plates and also by aligning the axis connecting the two probes. My partner has even resorted to mounting the probes on the ends of a long plank laid across the dinghy which he rowed around to see how the gradient changes.

From the safety line, which is estimated to be about 1 encounter in 100 hours, to the next level of once in ten hours requires only about 2 knots increase in the wind speed. From 1 in ten hours to once in 1 hour it takes about another 3 knots. And for the chances to increase to 10 per hour, requires only about another 5 knots of wind.

. < grin > Consequently it is becoming more difficult for the "average" boat buyer - especialy a firsttime buyer of a used boat to judge and accurately determine the real condition of any particular boat and estimate just how much work is involved in making it fit their expected use.

A conservative way to estimate frontal area is to multiply the beam by the height of the superstructure. An even simpler way is to multiply the beam by 3/4 of the beam. By this calculation, my Willard has about 100 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 40 has 160 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 47 has about 195 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 72 has 330 sq.ft. of area.