Favorite Type of Power for a Powerboat

What's your favorite type of propulsion for a powerboat for your purposes? Outboard, diesel inboard, gas inboard, gas I/O etc.? Please post a reply after answering the survey question to clarify why you voted for the propulsion method you consider the best for your purposes. If your choice was not listed, then post a reply detailing it anyway. I'm sorry if I excluded your choice. Excluded choices include diesel outboards (which do exist!), electric motors and electric trolling motors along with outboard with kicker and dual outboard and dual (insert type)

 

How does one pick from among so many choices?.....

OK, so I voted for the fuel cells. Not the silly membrane ones from car companies, the real solid-oxide and phosphoric units that can run 24/7. Big problem is fuel storage. Great for a nice displacement-hull cruiser or trawler.

For the other side of my boating tastes, the runabout side, I'm saying jetpump and biodiesel, just because nothing more hi-tech has high enough power density. And I don't like digging my prop out of sandbars.

As much as I love solar, and love working on the solarcars, it simply isn't practical for motive transportation except in certain circumstances. Of course, solar with a biodiesel supplementary would be pretty useful for most cruising. How about a nice big Australian cat with U of T's new nanosphere solar stuff....

 

Inboards have proven to be the most reliable. Would love diesel but given the short boating season in Maryland and the fact that I have never cruised more than 50 miles from home diesel doesn't make sense. When I start cruising the ICW to Florida I will switch to diesel

 

Diesel inboards for me. As woodboat says, they are the most reliable, but with diesel, there's no risk of fire or explosion and the diesel inboards are much more efficient than gasoline.

 

i voted hydrogen (fuel cell) instead of steam. although the fuel cell is develloped out and ingenious i belive it must be possible for a boat -better than a car- without a cooled H fuel tank at all to make its own H from the water and burn it directly somehow* in a compressor and use the hot exhoust steam to generate more H. i figger it may be even gas price competative these days...

*hybrid under hypothetical devellopment ;-)

 

But what I'm asking is what YOU use, I sort of misworded the question. I'm just wondering what YOU consider the best power for YOUR purposes. Capitalizing YOU just for the heck of it.

 

hmm, beeing here at BOATDESIGN.NET i thought i trow in my thoughts bout the future
but ok, my boat (mercs with bravo's) uses gas at E 1.39 a liter

 

Diesel stern drive for the ultimate in fuel efficiency. With ever increasing fuel prices, mileage (cost of operation) is my biggest concern. Though if the boat is going to be wet slipped in salt water, go inboard for corrosion resistance. (come on Volvo, where's that composite stern drive? )

 

Stern drives are pretty good these days. Corrosion is not AS big of a worry, though it looks like it will be a worry for the near future.

 

I love my deisel inboard. For a boat that stays in salt water, it doesn't need all that much maintenance. It takes a bit of skill to dock, but not so much that it should take anyone long to learn.

 

Steam is my choice. I've been using it for over thirty years. I like the relative quiet (although the newer outboards are as quiet). The low rpm with a well balanced engine creates a pleasant ride. I'm out on the water to relax and escape today's hectic world. While I may want to go from point A to point B, getting there is more than half the fun. And it's really pleasant to dip into some backwater slough at about 1-1/2 knots and move among ducks, geese, heron, etc. and have them only raise a head to look at this "funny craft" and then continue about their business.

That said, I'm in the process of designing/building a 22' LOA x 5'8" Beam, tunnel stern Sea Bright Skiff of about 1000 lbs. displacement that will be powered by an engine that goes from 25 rpm to 2000 rpm and from a crawl to 18 mph. Good, modern automatic controls and capable of burning any liquid fuel including waste vegetable oil (coming down the dock one is struck by the smell of McDonalds ). It's getting there and in a year or so will be underway.

 

I've voted for diesel inboard but...
in fact each propulsion system meets to his own boat characteristics..

RANCHI Otto

 

Yes, each to his/her own.

 

My apologies...

RANCHI Otto

 

No reason to apologize for anything.