Re: M_Boats: Re: montgomery_boats Digest, Vol 13, Issue 7
Hi Scott, I don't know the dimensions of the Flicka, but if you have luck, some bear grease, and a big shoe horn you just might fit the Flicka into a 20 foot container for shipment to Europe and ensuing European adventures. Does the Flicka have a small one lung diesel installed? This would be the ideal situation for your travels. Everywhere in Europe diesel fuel is the only thing available on waterways, and harbors. Reason: diesel is tax free for shipping............. Gasoline is only used in cars and today is costing about the same in dollars for a liter of gasoline as we pay for a gallon - i.e. the European gasoline price is about 4 times as high as our price is............! ChrisCraft showed up in France selling American powerboats (2 x Chevy gasoline engines) about '65. Lots of people bought them because of the gee-whiz factor, but they were all being sold at big discounts, or converted to diesel engines - sedate displacement operation, within 2 years..............! With gasoline costing (then ) over $2.00 a gallon........... nobody could afford to run the things........... Someone at ChrisCraft sure didn't do his homework...............! I had an Atomic 4 in my Tripp-Lentsch, and when I needed gasoline the natives in Italy or Yugoslavia would point me to the automobile gas station at the edge of town (95 degrees F; not a cloud in the sky; 2 kilometers each way carrying 5 gallon jerry cans)................. So to solve that problem I bought an Italian Benelli fold-up little motorcycle. It fit in my sail locker; could be lifted into the dinghy and onto the quay where I would unfold the handlebars; open the breather on the crankcase oil breather - and the gas cap, and away I'd go............. The motorized dinghy for land use! So, diesel is the only way to go if you want to play in French, Dutch or Belgian canals or head across the Adriatic to explore Yugoslavia. The Yugoslavians have built a number of marinas since the last time I was there (hard currency from all the Germans keeping their boats there) so maybe buying gasoline isn't the problem it was when I sailed there. But even so, almost every boat built in Europe is diesel powered..........., and the only gasoline used is for an outboard. Start dreaming; I'll help with the details! Connie
participants (1)
-
chbenneck@juno.com