Keel hauled!
Oct.31 Dear Steve, I don't know the fuel capacity of the 361, so I can't comment on that other than to note that Hal and Margaret Roth have circumnavigated and made many other notable passages in boats with 35 gallon fuel capacity. Our F456, with a 50 Hp. Perkins sips along at .6 to .7 gallons an hour, depending on how hard I run her, but I tend to take it easy. We've travelled from Vancouver to the Caribbean in it and supplement our 55 gallon tank with 4 five gallon jerry cans. We haven't run out of fuel yet, although the passage from Cartagenga to Aruba took 42 gallons. As to lead verses iron keels, it's really a none issue. If your really concerned about the density of the metal in your keel make up your mind that your going to spring for a spent uranium keel, like Pen Duick IV, otherwise, don't worry about it. Beneteau has got the ballast ratio right which is the important consideration. As for the lead keel taking a blow that would crack an iron keel, I've never actually seen an instance of that. Furthermore, if you hit something hard enough to crack an iron keel than your boat must have fallen off a truck racing down the interstate, because these things are not fragile. Seriously, we've been aground an embarrassing number of times and have managed to only put a few minor scrapes into our keel. With respect to corrosion, our 15 year old keel bolts show exterior rust, but that is all. We took the opportunity when we bought the boat to remove the artificial reef that was growing on it and to apply 7 coats of epoxy barrier coat, principally to provide a good base for the bottom paint and to inhibit corrosion. That was 7 years ago and so far so good. I hope this helps. Fair winds Brian Pickton aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, West Indies.
