Holiday by 100 ton diesel hybrid - short movie posted

[Gary Palmer]

MetroMPG:

If your going to go sailing, you need to help those lad's haul the sheets in tighter,so that you can get that boat heeled over good and hard. If your going to be making 10mph that boat must be 60-70 feet long. Our company used to have a 35 foot boat and it really took a lot of work to drive it at 6.5 knot's, and it was a lot more comfortable for non-sailing junkies for it to be at more like 5 knot's. I hope you have a very enjoyable experience.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

That's to cool. Have you been on the open water before? It hard to believe that it weights that much.

I've sailed maybe half a dozen trips on this boat before. 3 of the Great Lakes, and a previous trip to Nova Scotia. The last time I was on it was 2 years ago when hurricane Juan hit N.S and Prince Edward Island. (We tied up in Summerside P.E.I. about 4 hours before it went through - and had no serious damage).

The boat's "stats" are easy - 100 ft tall; 100 ft long (incl. bow sprit); 10 ft draft; 20 ft beam; 100 tons. Almost "metric" numbers...

Gary: the waterline is 72 ft, so 8-9 kts isn't hard with this ship, in good conditions. I think the max speed it's seen under sail is 12 kts (not when I was on board though).

I'm volunteer crew on this trip, not really a 'passenger'. There will be 6 of us, and we're just doing day sailing. (A full crew is 10 people, for round the clock sailing, though I've done one trip with 4 of us where we did a 3 days of non-stop, on rotating 4 hour watches .)

But it's not "work". Most of the time you're off watch just relaxing and watching the scenery go by.

[Silveredwings]

Very nice. I'm jealous. No really, I love sailing.

In fact, I love sailing so much that I just took a 2-day cruise on the largest such craft in the world (158,000 tons) a couple weeks ago - speaking of diesel-electric hybrid boats:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom...eas_%28ship%29

It's so new, the maiden voyage (for revenue) doesn't start until this Sunday (June 4th 2006).

Power: Six Wartsila 46 V12 diesels each rated at 12.6 MW (~17,000hp) driving electric generators at 514 rpms.

Propulsion: Three ABB Azipod podded electric propulsion units, two of them azimuthing, one fixed. 4 additional bow thrusters.

Complement: 4,370 passengers and 1,360 crew

Speed: 21.6 knots (40 km/h)

Amazing ship. There is a bigger one though (220,000 tons) due to launch in about a year.

Electric drive is the only way to go!

[Silveredwings]

But really, I prefer the 'saner' sized boats and would love to help crew a gaff-rigged schooner like that one.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

In fact, I love sailing so much that I just took a 2-day cruise on the largest such craft in the world (158,000 tons) a couple weeks ago

Wow. Now that's a bathtub toy.

Re: the weights. We used different figures - the schooner's 100 ton stat is for displacement. The Freedom of the Seas' stat is tonnage (how much it can hold).

How did you end up doing a "pre-release" cruise?

[Silveredwings]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Wow. Now that's a bathtub toy.

Re: the weights. We used different figures - the schooner's 100 ton stat is for displacement. The Freedom of the Seas' stat is tonnage (how much it can hold).

How did you end doing a "pre-release" cruise?

Good point about the deadweight tonnage.

I got an all-inclusive "pre-inaugural" freebie (except casino) from Royal Caribbean because I work on systems for a bunch of their retailers. It wasn't totally free, I bought a toy for my kids for $4.

Last time I was on the water, I bare-boated a 40' sloop out of Tortola for a week. Great fun.

Enjoy your holiday!

[MetroMPG]

Nice deal!

Thanks. Not exactly sure which day we're leaving - they're just finishing up the pre-voyage spit 'n' polish, painting, varnishing & minor repairs. Could be Monday, could be Friday. The boat's only 30 minutes from here, so it doesn't matter much to me. I'll be ready when they phone!

[thisisntjared]

awesome!! i love sailing! ive never gone on an over night sailing trip, just day trips and i sooo love it. whenever my family goes somewhere(where you can sail) my father and i always take a class to bump up our asa certification. i cant wait till i have big enough pockets so that i wont have to borrow my dads or my uncles boats.

i have to admit i am very jelous! sailing is sooo much more fun than a cruise or motor boats, it doesnt matter how fast they go or how big they are real sailing is just so much more fun. its like how surfing is more fun than driving, but i guess you guys wouldnt understand that either.

anyway, congrats on such an awesome trip!

[krousdb]

Too bad I get seasick just thinking about being on a boat. I am a land lubber.

[MetroMPG]

Just got off the phone with captain hybrid: Looks like the floating holiday starts in 6 days.

That's good for me - gives me plenty of time to finish all my work projects before I go so I can slack for the rest of the month.