58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
We just returned from a nice 31 day, 1000 mile trip from SW Florida to the Exumas, Eleuthera and the Abacos. This is our 1st medium distance trip with the LRC and was a great shakedown cruise. We purchased "Katerina" about 1.5 years ago and have been working on ever since. She was definitely "ready to go" and so were we!!!
Katerina ran great, with only a few easily fixed issues (1 float switch, a few bulbs, one shower hose, a few other little things) but no major problems.
What was really nice - the entire trip was done using only the fuel in our Forward tank and we still have several hundred gallons left. We did use the Aft tank for the generator, which was run twice a day for about 3 hrs. each time.
There were 4 of us on board for the 1st three weeks, but the boat provided plenty of space for us all and we never felt crowded or the need to reduce the size of our crew.
I will say that some of the most enjoyed improvements we made to Katerina during her last 1.5 years of updates included a Victron inverter (thanks to Scott B), replacement of the two old HD interstate 12v (in series for 25v) house batteries with (4) 6v US Battery L16HD's (440am @ 24v), upgraded 170amp 24v alternator, beverage cooler (in the aft deck area) and last but not least a working high output U-Line ice-maker.
We like to anchor out, so only 3 nights in a marina and the rest of the time on the hook. With the upgraded/new 24V house batteries we were able to run our full size (31cu ft) French door refrigerator, flybridge ice maker, beverage cooler, downstairs freezer and flybridge refrigerator for about 9-10 hours before needing the generator. Running the generator twice a day allowed for battery recharge, plus watermaker (800gpd) and some HVAC.
Our route took us south to the Florida Keys. From there we rode the GS to Gun Cay. Over to the Berry's to clear in. Then south the the Exumas, etc.
On the way back we did the Lake Okeechoebee route. While it was on my bucket list and worth doing, I don't believe we'd go that route again in the future. I much prefer to run overnight, non-stop and coming thru the lake was a very slow 3 days back from Pt. St. Lucie to Punta Gorda.
Well, now to unload and clean her up. We look forward to the next trip and will be searching for a great next destination.
Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
Fantastic!!!
Great next destination? Good luck find anything else better than the Exumas :). Been going there for 15 years and still finding new spots
Wondering what you mean by “some HVAC” I love the idea of running on inverter overnight but it is hard to make the math work
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Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
The math DOES work running hvac on inverter and battery bank. I have victron inverters with victron lithium batteries. Most recently two days ago in New Bern Nc, power went out at the dock for 8 hours overnight. I’m away from the boat so I have 2 dehumidifiers running, full size fridge, bar fridge, 4 a/c units, obviously they are cycling on and off during the overnight, but the one in the bunk cabin where its warm from the inverters runs most of the time keeping it cool. The inverters and batteries ran the boat all night for 8 hours averaging about 3.25 kw for each of those 8 hours. See the graph and notice the blue descending line, that’s the battery going down. 2 weeks ago i spent a total of 4 days in a row at anchor at Cape Lookout, NC. I have 2800 watts of solar and 660 amp hours of battery at 48 volts. During those 4 days at anchor I only ran the generator a total of 7 hours. Without the inverters, battery and solar, I would have needed to run the generator for 106 hours including sail from New Bern and back. HVAC use, can, be achieved on batteries. Sorry for the blurry pic, not sure why it uploads blurry.
Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
That is awesome! How was your MPG?
Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
Nautical miles per gallon was about .8 - .9 miles per gallon averaging about 1000 rpms which is between 8 and 9 knots depending on weather, sea state and currents. I averaged between 5 and 5.5 gallons per hour per engine and 11 gallons per hour per engine.
Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Addie-Kat
Nautical miles per gallon was about .8 - .9 miles per gallon averaging about 1000 rpms which is between 8 and 9 knots depending on weather, sea state and currents. I averaged between 5 and 5.5 gallons per hour per engine and 11 gallons per hour per engine.
Thank you, glad you had a nice trip. Those long trips are a dream trip for us, and I'm sure a lot of others!
We brought our 53 around from Onekama Michigan to Algonac Michigan at the end of May, and it was so much fun to see the sights along the way!
Re: 58LRC - makes 1st 1000 mile trip (as newer owners)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bob Quinn
Thank you, glad you had a nice trip. Those long trips are a dream trip for us, and I'm sure a lot of others!We brought our 53 around from Onekama Michigan to Algonac Michigan at the end of May, and it was so much fun to see the sights along the way!
Sorry I just realized that I responded to you’re question that was meant for the op. We had just finished a little over a 1000 mile trip in April. The nautical miles per gallon was based on my trip. Apologies
