Moving a hull

[Stujac]

Greetings I have a Hanse 470e in need of a mast, and with a water-logged electrical system (no autopilot) that needs to go to the Chesapeake from Mamoronek NY. The engine is in good shape. Has anyone ever done this trip ... by engine alone in October?

Am I crazy to try it?

[Wolfe10]

To the Chesapeake from WHERE???

[Stujac]

Stupid me - from New York, edited the post

[GRIT]

You may be a little cold, but otherwise, I see no issue with coming down this time of year. We just arrived in the Chesapeake yesterday, from Port Washington. There was a trawler who left at the same time, and arrived without issue just before we did.

He was motoring at 7.5 to 8 knots most of the way. Our speeds varied from 2 to 14 knots, but we both made it just fine.

Pick your weather window to fit your boat's capabilities. Once in the Chesapeake, it's all protected water to Miami.

That's a lot of hand steering though, so you may want to pick crew who don't mind steering. A cheap Raymarine tiller pilot would help quite a lot, rigged to the emergency tiller. Just run it off the engine battery.

Cheers, and good luck.
Paul.

[ItDepends]

Of course, given enough fuel it CAN be done, that's a no brainer. I mean, you can motor for an hour, right? Just do that 80 or 100 times.

I'll warn you however, a trip like this without a mast will be HORRIBLE. The inertia of a mast greatly slows a boat's roll, as well as it's pitch. Without a mast while under the influence of waves, the boat will roll a lot further, and much faster, than it normally does. A gentle ground swell that you wouldn't even notice with the mast in place will challenge you to stand upright.

A motorboat will be designed to have a hull shape that will dampen its roll. A sailboat designer needs take no such care, because the high moment of inertia (and the wind pressure on sails) handles that problem. Take away enough mass, far away from the center of rotation, and a well behaved boat becomes a monster.

If it was me... I'd pay to truck it. And I am a cheapskate.