boat weight

[67hat34c]

We were able to weigh our 1967 34c on monday, full gas and water and just 2 of us on board, no gear, weighed 20000.00. Was heavier than i thought. Sister told me that the boat needs to go on a diet and that got me to thinking.

When we got the boat 4yrs ago, it was fairly original except engines and gen had been changed, 454's and a nice light weight onan mcck (420lbs). boat was loaded to the gills with crap. we removed the following:

spare parts for everyting including mostly used stuff, 2 new alternators etc. parts filled almost every available compartment.

2 spare props with heavy prop puller ( reinstall if we ever go somewhere far away)

fair amount of bilge sludge

very heavy tv set.

one of the 2 original barrel chairs, keeping one at the house and they are heavy.

dual compessor condensing unit, original unit cruise air, replacement system was about 100 lbs lighter.

removed the bow rail this year.(storing at home incase we ever want it again)

3rd anchor

now keep all cleaning stuff in the dock box along with other maint items.

replaced sliding saloon windows with fixed ones. frames are lighter at least some.

got rid of loads of misc crap from prior owners.

etc etc.

so it did go on a diet , no idea what all this stuff weighs but suspect a significant amount. goal is to keep it void of extra stuff, small boat gets crowded in a hurry. There are 4 of us that use it, (dad and 2 brothers) so we cant leave personal stuff on board.

What have others done to lighten the load and any other suggestions? I know at some point weight does not make that big a difference on these heavy and slow hulls.

 

[luckydave215]

I don't keep the fuel and water tanks full, I normally carry about 500 or less gallons in the aft tank, fwd empty, and about 150-200 gallons water. (instead of 1600 gal fuel and 600 gal water) This saves me +10,000 pounds, and she can feel the difference.

 

[Freebird]

I've found that weight really doesn't really matter that much on my 41DC. She runs pretty much the same with full tanks of fuel and water as she does near empty. Granted that's not a whole lot of weight, but it does add up. I also carry a good bunch of clothes, groceries, and associated items which go along with the liveaboard lifestyle.

I removed over 1,500 lbs (verified at the landfill) of crap off my 58TC when I was in FL the first week of September with a week of free time. This came in the form of just pure junk left onboard by the PO, an aluminum suspended "disco" ceiling in the upper salon, 1,000 yds of indoor outdoor carpet (yuk!), a built in mobile home grade chest of drawers in the master, a couple of old TV's, a "window shaker" AC unit that had been built in to the master, and a bunch of padded vinyl that was covering the original Aframosia! Dang, what some people will do to a boat is beyond my comprehension!

I'll be adding some of that weight back in when I redo the interior, but I don't figure it will make that much difference in speed compared to what she was running before the starboard gave out. Hopefully I will have an answer when I'm up and running again in a few weeks.

I figure these old Hatts were designed to haul a bunch of weight around without adversely affecting overall performance. I could tell a bunch of difference with previous Sea Ray express boats when I was carrying a load of people and their associated baggage. But that's a whole different animal.

In short, throw out the junk, but keep everything you think you may need for an enjoyable cruise onboard. I doubt you will ever know the difference. Just leave the slate top pool table at home!

 

[67hat34c]

here is another observation and thought.

I saw a price and spec sheet posted on the former classic 34 page it had the weight at about 14000lbs. guess dry weight. there is a big difference between 14000 dry and 18000 dry. I wonder if they miss-stated the weight so former wood boat owners would not be scared away. wood boat of the same size is typicaly much lighter and faster. I did note that some sales adds had an unrealistic cruise and wide open throttle speed, think others have noticed the same type of adds. It is my guess that no one realy cared after taking delivery of their new boat so I doubt anyone complained. Sort of like when a customer hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design and build a building or house. The buildings leaked like a siv from day one but the owners did not even care as they loved the building too much to complain.

 

[Freebird]

Yep, I'd be worried about that much variation in a wood "sponge" boat! I too have wondered about variations in weights listed by various manufacturers on boats of the same size and type.

I figure the boat guys may be like the safe guys. They don't all buy their scales at the same place. I found out the hard way that one of my manufacturers had been fudging on their listed safe weights when I loaded a company truck to capacity with only their brand of safes. I weighed it before heading to an out of state show and found I was about 2,000 lbs light!

When I confronted the manufacturer, they said their weights were based on engineering estimates! I questioned this and found it hard to believe they weren't just playing games. Unlike boats, lighter safes are certainly less desireable than heavier ones.

 

[Trojan]

I think that you can operate your boat to a point where the weight does not matter. But once you reach this point. Like saturation. Then you have very little extra capacity before it shows up with the operation of the boat. I don't know for sure that this is true. But I think I have seen it happen on my boat.


BILL