Using a SF to transport loads of humanitarian aid

[hatteras 1985]

This should be an interesting discussion:

How much extra (non-fuel) weight can a big boat tolerate before it becomes unstable/hazardous?

In the past, on the old 46', we took a couple thousand pounds (wild guess) of donated medical supplies to Cuba, which consisted of boxes stacked floor to ceiling in the two front state rooms. We never weighed the loads we took over, and the boat seemed a little heavier to maneuver, but at cruise you could hardly tell the difference.

At dinner tonight, my dad and a friend talked about doing the same thing every time we go over on his boat. He has a 54' Convertible from the mid-1990s. That boat is built like a tank, and I figured we could fit double the capacity of our old 46', or about #4,000 lbs stowed throughout the boat and in the bilge.

The 54C weighs 70,000 lbs dry, and a little over 80,000 lbs wet.



Any guesses?


.

 

[saltshaker]

4Klbs on a 54C will have little effect on the boat other than slight loss of performance. What engines does he have Cats or Detroits? The 54C w/3412's if a great package.

 

[hatteras 1985]

4Klbs on a 54C will have little effect on the boat other than slight loss of performance. What engines does he have Cats or Detroits? The 54C w/3412's if a great package.

Nope he's got the 1292s.


Just think of 4000# as 4 zodiacs on your bow. Now that wouldn't be so good.

But with the weight lower in the hull - in the bilge, amidships in the master state room, you mitigate a lot of the force that wants to push your bow down.

We were lucky I guess... we always had good weather and went slow/at night when we carried meds over there.

 

[REBrueckner]

4,000 lbs is say 20-25 people equivalent....should be ok, as a guess...Do you need a full fuel load??

Good question to pose to Hatteras...

Is the trip legal?? Posting in a public form could potentially draw unwanted attention.

 

[saltshaker]

Nope he's got the 1292s.


Just think of 4000# as 4 zodiacs on your bow. Now that wouldn't be so good.

But with the weight lower in the hull - in the bilge, amidships in the master state room, you mitigate a lot of the force that wants to push your bow down.

We were lucky I guess... we always had good weather and went slow/at night when we carried meds over there.

Agree you need to spread the weight out and keep it low. Place the stuff on the floor, in cabinets, lockers etc. Be careful with putting stuff in the bilges. You don't want to impede water flow and safe operation of pumps if you were to take on water. Same goes for keeping access clear to critical areas. Fill up the fish boxes,live well etc. but don't put anything down in the lazarette or ER. Don't forget you will need to consider the weight and space needed for your own gear and provisions. If you have a water maker, I would keep the water tank near empty and not carry more fuel than what would be needed for a safe trip, allowing extra for the decrease in economy and adequate reserve.

 

[rsmith]

I would bet that boxes of meds and stuff like that wouldnt even come close to 4000lbs. Its not uncommon for boats being delivered long range to carry a rubber bladder tank up on the bow. When I was a kid I rode shotgun on a 34 that was being delivered to Bermuda by a capt I was mating for. We had a 300 gal goodyear bladder tank tied up on top of the trunk cabin. The only time we noticed any handling problems was when it was half drained and the fuel started slogging back and forth.We turned down sea until it was done draining. Shifting loads is way worse than anything.

 

[hatteras 1985]

4,000 lbs is say 20-25 people equivalent....should be ok, as a guess...Do you need a full fuel load??

Good question to pose to Hatteras...

Is the trip legal?? Posting in a public form could potentially draw unwanted attention.

4,000 lbs is a lot of weight. It is similar to the weight of four zodiacs stacked on your bow. We never weighed any of the medical 'cargo' we hauled over there, all I remember is that the two staterooms were full. When you take medical supplies over, visas are readily available from the US government. Most of the time we didn't take medical supplies at all, nor did we bother with visas/permits.

Agree you need to spread the weight out and keep it low. Place the stuff on the floor, in cabinets, lockers etc. Be careful with putting stuff in the bilges. You don't want to impede water flow and safe operation of pumps if you were to take on water. Same goes for keeping access clear to critical areas. Fill up the fish boxes,live well etc. but don't put anything down in the lazarette or ER. Don't forget you will need to consider the weight and space needed for your own gear and provisions. If you have a water maker, I would keep the water tank near empty and not carry more fuel than what would be needed for a safe trip, allowing extra for the decrease in economy and adequate reserve.

It is fun to go at regular cruise in the day, but when you slow cruise overnight, it becomes more of a 'journey'. Cuba is notorious for having poor quality diesel. We had fuel filter problems more than once coming back.

Anyways, interesting discussion about the safety and physics of carrying heavy loads on blue water crossings.

 

[hatteras 1985]

I would bet that boxes of meds and stuff like that wouldnt even come close to 4000lbs. Its not uncommon for boats being delivered long range to carry a rubber bladder tank up on the bow. When I was a kid I rode shotgun on a 34 that was being delivered to Bermuda by a capt I was mating for. We had a 300 gal goodyear bladder tank tied up on top of the trunk cabin. The only time we noticed any handling problems was when it was half drained and the fuel started slogging back and forth.We turned down sea until it was done draining. Shifting loads is way worse than anything.

That's a long crossing. I would be nervous about having a pillow tank anywhere on board...

 

[34Hatt]

That's a long crossing. I would be nervous about having a pillow tank anywhere on board...

I would like too hear more of that crossing a 34 to Bermuda !

How about a new thread about the story!

 

[hatteras 1985]

I would like too hear more of that crossing a 34 to Bermuda !

How about a new thread about the story!

Here here!!!

 

[Megalodon45C]

I dont think the load of medical supplies will affect your performance. We fish the garden banks and green canyon in our 45. In order to reach these rich fishing grounds off the louisiana coast I have to bring extra fuel. I bring 4 55gallon drums, two under the back deck and two on top the back deck. My fish box has 500lbs ice, full water and fuel. crew and gear the ole 45 still gets on plane. Usually cruise at 19.5 knots 1900rpm burning 38gal/hr, pull back to 9.8 knots at night 8gal/hr. I dont know if this helped but think your ok. Do you ever fish off cuba?

 

[rsmith]

I would like too hear more of that crossing a 34 to Bermuda !

How about a new thread about the story!

The trip was written up in "Rudder" at the time. I've got a copy of it somewhere at my moms house. Might be able to pull it up on the net. Goodyear was selling the bladder tanks at the time with a ad that acompanyed the article. It was in July 1970 the boat was a '65 '34 with 4/71's.Fuel wise we had 200 gal in the mains 200 gal saddle tanks and the 300 gal bladder on the bow. We ran down to Oregon inlet and left from there. The boat was SLOW but we ran 13kts until we were on the east side of the gulf stream then slowed down to 9kts for the rest of the trip. Its 600mi and change and it took us 3 days. We had a great weather window and it was like a sheet of glass all the way. We had Loran A and a RDF We ran off the edge of the loran chart some 200mi offshore and ded reconed until we were able to pick up a comercial radiostation on the RDF. Nights when you are that far offshore without the light from the mainland are incredible. The stars are so bright and the ocean is so black you get the feeling you are upside down. If you turn all the lights on the boat off you get vertigo. And then there's the phosphoresence in the water that lights up the wake.For a 15yo kid that lived ate and breathed boats it was a outrageous trip.

 

[hatteras 1985]

I dont think the load of medical supplies will affect your performance. We fish the garden banks and green canyon in our 45. In order to reach these rich fishing grounds off the louisiana coast I have to bring extra fuel. I bring 4 55gallon drums, two under the back deck and two on top the back deck. My fish box has 500lbs ice, full water and fuel. crew and gear the ole 45 still gets on plane. Usually cruise at 19.5 knots 1900rpm burning 38gal/hr, pull back to 9.8 knots at night 8gal/hr. I dont know if this helped but think your ok. Do you ever fish off cuba?

We have fished off Cuba's north coast in the past. The billfish were small, most were in the 125-150 lb range. In all the billfishing was poor. We did win a Wahoo tournament at Marina Hemingway once, out of about 12 or 15 boats. We also had the biggest Wahoo at 67lbs!