My name is Don. I am an A4 addict. It would be hard to stop.
I rebuilt my 27 year old A4 using Moyer's book in 2000 and about $1,000 for parts and services. Since then the A4 was running about 85% of the time going from Toronto to the north shore of Lake Huron then Toronto...Toronto to Georgetown, Bahamas ...back to Florida ... Georgetown ...Toronto. This put about 3,000 hours on the motor and the compression today is not significantly different that it was after I rebuilt it.
I have had issues, but it is a fixable motor. In a fix, Napa parts work for some problems. And Don Moyer is a treasure.
I burn about 2.5 lires/hour. When I'm out rolling around, and I have rolled about, I don't worry about the gunk in my tank clogging my filters - a justifiable concern with diesels. Gasoline is not a Sandals resort for bacteria, particularly those who have retired to the diesel fuel storage tanks at some less-than-fastidious marinas.
Fuel is not a problem. I lash jerry cans to the deck when I need to as do folks with diesels. Re-fueling is relatively easy - just heave to and use a jiggle siphon. I burn about 2.5 liters/hour and budget for 3.0 My prop is 10" three bladed sole by Indigo. The max rpm is about 2300 and I cruise around 1800.
Given that my actual cruising weight is around 14,000 lbs. ( I have added much to the boat) I would like more thrust sometimes such as going through inlets in Florida, or the cuts in the Bahamas. If I'm in open water and want to push into the wind, I bring the boom into the center of the boat, maybe more, and use the main with a reef or two. I run the boat at about five knots - my usual cruising speed. My 35-1 seems quite content.
I admit I'm a little slower on the atomic motor than if I had a diesel. And there were times I would like more speed. But I am content to live with my addiction.
Don _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
