TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands 43 Power Cat - Moorings

Hey All. Hope everyone is doing well.

I am planning a last min guys trip in Feb and reviewing boat options. One of the available boats is a 43 power cat out of moorings.

I have always (10+) done sailboats or sail cats, but the two guys coming with me are regular power boaters (stinkpotters) and they expressed interest in trying out the power cat option.

Can anyone tell me what the fuel costs would look like on a typical weekslong charter? I realize speed and distance travelled has a lot to do with consumption. But lets assume normal cruising speeds, normal counterclockwise route including a day on Anegada.

Also, looking for thoughts and comments on the experience in general.

Thank you very much.

Keith - Chicago

My a wide and I have chartered said boat. We were out 10 days, ran generator, moved from place to place at a around 2200rmp. Our fuel zone was 900.
We have also charted the 43 from Marine max. The Marine Mac boat has watermaker and large captains quarters bed. This boat was built as a power boat.. not a sail boat without stick.

The Marine Max is a 44 however only available as a 3 cabin. The Moorings 43 can be chartered in a 3 or 4 cabin configuration.

In the quotes that I've done through Moorings for Power Cats they've "forced" a pre-paid fuel option that varied depending on size. I did a quick check on their website for a 433PC now and it shows as $630 for a week. We've had $805 for a 514PC last year and a 464PC this year. I didn't pursue trying to get that removed but would be interested if you had any success. We used a bit less than half our fuel on the 464PC this past trip and hit up Cooper, Anegada, JVD, Marina Cay and Norman.

The 464 PC is a new boat designed from the ground up as a powercat. It has a very long range and holds 475 gallons of fuel. If you used 230 gallons the 805 charge was probably a pretty good deal. It will replace the 433 and 434.

Good point - I didn't do the math this time around and we were trying to make up a bit of time between a few of the destinations this time so used more fuel. On the 514PC we used quite a bit less so I'm more curious in general if there was an option if one was planning to be more conservative. The pre-paid fuel means you don't have to fuel up at the end so that's a nice added bonus.

The 51 holds 396 gallons but the new 53 replacing it holds 575. I am not a powercat person but I have to say the new 53 is an amazing boat. I was behind a guy checking in booked on an old 51 who was told that he was upgraded to a brand new 53. He was unhappy and complaining about it! I told him he should go take a look at the 53 before they switched him back and upgraded someone else! He thanked me later!

I chartered a 47' power cat about 12 years ago and did the typical counterclockwise loop with a stop in Anegada. Fuel cost was about $300. I ran the boat at 7 or 8 knots and I'm sure this helped with the fuel. After all, the distances in the BVI are relatively short so why race around like a jet ski?

I look forward to my first foray on the 53 in June

we regulary have taken the 514 out and fuel costs were 800-1100. we use the generator when anchored or moored