[Rhodes22-list] Bill's Gas Consumption

[Bill Effros]

Roger,

I keep my boat in Greenwich.  The entire LIS system has the same problem as the East River, just not as extreme.  Most places have 1 to 2 kt. currents.  Where my boat is moored I constantly have a 2 kt. current except during slack time.  We average a 7 to 9 foot tidal variation.  All that water has got to go somewhere, and some of the places it has to go through are very shallow and narrow, hence the great speed and power.

These currents are every where, and they vary with the depth of the bottom, among other things.  I can do 2 knots when I'm sailing with no wind and no motor.  I exceed "hull speed" all the time, because my hull is not going through the water as fast as it is going over land.

It can take me 1 1/2 times as long to get home as it should if a current is running against me.

These are all things sailors need to know when they are sailing in these systems.

Nobody understands them perfectly.

Remember when you sailed through the Gulf Stream?  Same deal.  You can't conduct a meaningful fuel consumption test in those real world conditions because they do change the outcome, especially dramatically on small boats.

But my main point is now, as it has always been, that the amount of fuel most of us use is so insignificant that changing engines is not the best contribution we can each make to improving the environment.  

Bill


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Roger Pihlaja 
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 3:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bill's Gas Consumption


Bill,

So do you keep your boat somewhere up the East River & have to time the
tides in order to get back upstream?  Why did you make mention of having to
do your fuel consumption test on the East River if there are so many other
places nearby?  Why can't you test fuel consumption in New York Harbor or on
Long Island Sound or off the Jersey shore?  If you don't know your engine's
fuel consumption; then, how do you plan a cruise?  Or, do you only day sail?

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilbrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Bill's Gas Consumption


> Roger,
>
> Nobody sails in the East River who's got a lick of sense.
>
> It does reach 6 knots, depending on the tides, and it reverses every 6
hours.
>
> The major NYC prison is on an island in the middle of it.  The last time I
checked, no one had ever escaped from the prison by swimming and lived.
>
> It's not really a river, it's a tidal estuary.
>
> I have stood on the Brooklyn Bridge, which goes over it, for hours and
watched dopes in large sailboats fight the current, going virtually nowhere,
dodging the commercial traffic (which of course is all coming the other
way), with almost no control over their boats, trying to avoid getting
dashed against bridge pilings.  You can't put your boat broadside to the
current if you don't have any weigh on. (way on?) (Waylon?) (Whale on?) (But
I digress.)
>
> You sail in New York Harbor--around the Statue of Liberty, up the Hudson,
over to New Jersey...
>
> Or on the other end you sail into Long Island Sound.  I spend most of my
time sailing in Greenwich on LIS, but we have a place in Brooklyn where I
would like to spend more sailing time, moving the boat back and forth by
water.  I have alluded to this change in sailing plans often, and it is the
only reason I am considering changing engines.  If I start to go back and
forth, just like Phyllis, I will motor most of the way.
>
> Tow your boat here with your boys one summer, and we'll show you the urban
time of your life.
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Roger Pihlaja
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 11:49 AM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Bill's Gas Consumption
>
>
> Bill,
>
> If you have to contend with these wicked currents in the East River; then,
how do you manage to use so little fuel all season?  If the East River
current is really 6 knots, how do you even go up stream at all?
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> Dynamic Equilbrium
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>
>


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