TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Sailboat with or without A/C

in your opinion

a generator with a 3000 KW inverter/90 amp charger tops off the batteries much faster then the Yanmar. My boat is a 2 cabin, with an oversized engine room

No you shouldn't, you should keep it and let your Colorado brethren use it for free! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

My point is if the average charterer is now starting and listening to the generator run an average of 60 hours per charter. The average CYOA charter group at least thinks they "need" the generator/ac. At 60 hours the generator and ac may be the most used equipment on the boat. What else gets 60 hours of use per charter?

Here is the original question in case we forgot:

Sailboat with or without A/C

We're looking at bareboating for 6-8 weeks beginning mid April. The sailboats that have been offered do not have A/C, except for one option. However, it's significantly more expensive -about $10K more. Just wondering what we can expect in regards to sleeping at night. I'm 52, and hot weather + sleeping= no sleep. Thanks- Tami

Hi Matt.... I've been working with Seabattical and really enjoy Ron. The problem is, they do have a limited number of boats. A 06 41' Hunter with thruster, a '16 40' Elan without thruster and a 47' with A/C & generator, but no thrusters. What is the boat you're thinking of putting in the pool with them?

Thanks.... that's exactly what I thought I would read, but like you said, definitely more in favor of the A/C. The extra expense means no sailing in the summer of 17. Or, maybe just a week in the PNW.

The definitely consider shore power.

With that said, we're now thinking we leave the end of March and sail just six weeks to avoid that muggy time frame. What are your thoughts if we're out of the Carib by mid May??

We live at 9,300 ft elevation, in Colorado. No A/C in our home, but there's about two to three weeks every summer when I wish we had air. Eight windows, and the door, and a ceiling fan and I still get hot. I hear what your saying....

Haha.... I know. Expensive, but Seabbatical is MUCH more reasonable, just no AC boats

Thanks Patriche- My husband would (and does) say the same. I'm the cheapskate

tv64, I sent you a PM..

If you are going to be on a boat for more than a few days you do not need any bow thruster. You will and should learn how to steer and control the boat. You should never find and do not need anything like a bow thruster on a twin engine bareboat charter cat. The wide beam separating the twin engines will give you all the control you need. The only exception to any of that would be very crowded and tight slips that you should not see regularly on a BVI charter. With more than six weeks if you will have the time to make a second pass or two at a mooring ball. Just take it slow until you are comfortable steering and stopping the boat.

You really don't need the AUXILLIARY engine either... with enough time and patience you can wait for wind and tide to take you where you need to go.

Ron at Seabattical will have a 47 with shore AC but no gen. Plan a few dockside nights ... Maybe around the weather and you should be fine. Thruster might be nice but just not needed. One more thing to go wrong.

So, like Evan, we use Gen/AC A LOT.

In medium-sized Mono with a 6-7kW Generator you're likely to consume about 0.25-0.35 gal/hr while simultaneously running the AC and charging batteries.

We run the generator about 12-14 hours a day, so that's somewhere around 90 hours a week, consuming about 25-30 gallons of Diesel. At $2.50 a gallon that's about $75/week for everyone to sleep well for a week. Cheap.

On a larger cat (we just got off CYOA's Cuvee, 50-foot cat with 6 air conditioners) you might consume 0.5-0.6 gal/hour running most/all the AC units, watermaker, and charging batteries.

We too use the AC a fair amount. On our last trip of 9 nights on a mono we racked up 100 generator hours. Sleeping is certainly a big part of it. But we also cook a fair amount on the boat. My wife does most of the cooking (not because I'm a bigot but because she does it better) and when we're not running the AC she refers to the kitchen as "hells kitchen". It's that hot. With the hatches open. The other benefit is that it dries the boat out. We take our towels - which will at best be merely damp hanging on the lifelines by morning - inside for the night and hang them up. By morning everything is nice and dry. We like that.

I can confirm the fuel usage. We calculated 1/3 gallon/hr.

My wife is from GA. Grew up without AC. And even she thinks it's hot without it. Do you "need" AC? Well... no. I'm sure you can survive without it just fine. And to a large degree it will depend on your tolerance for heat. If you like things hot, a boat with the hatches closed because it's raining will make you very happy.

Will AC likely make your trip more pleasant - no doubt.

Thanks everyone.... we found an A/C boat and have it booked. Really appreciate all the feedback!! Tami

Please tell us what size boat you needed up with? with A/C? Generator?