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	Motorboats are an increasingly common sight in anchorages on the round-the-world routes. Karma accompanied us through the Gulf of Aden--we believed it looked enough like a military patrol boat to scare off the pirates!

We have a friend who was sailing around the world and who used to joke that he couldn't really believe his luck in that wind power is free, as nothing in this world ever seems to be free. He said he had this awful fear that when he finished his circumnavigation some supernatural being would present him with a bill. The next time we saw him he had sold his sailing yacht and bought a motor boat. Perhaps he preferred to pay as he went along rather than risk a big bill later.

Then a second set of friends did the same thing, and now Steve is building a powerboat too.

In the last 10 years we have noticed a marked increase in the number of motor boats undertaking blue water cruising, many owned by erstwhile sailboat owners. In 2003 there were at least five motor boats making up the fleet of yachts traveling up the Red Sea (and those are only the ones we know personally). Nordhaven seems to be the preferred design at present (though we are watching Steve's new design, which may change the balance).

When you look at the relative costs of sailing versus motoring round the world, the results are somewhat surprising. There is no doubt that a small sailing yacht will be able to sail round cheaper than a motor boat. But when the yacht size increases, the differences are not so marked.


	No matter what the economics of sailing versus motoring, there's no denying the pleasure of a full set of sails.

For a sailboat like THETA VOLANTIS, the rig and sails will require an initial outlay of perhaps $150,000. That buys you a great deal of fuel even at 50 cents a litre, but when you can buy it for as little as 20 cents in some parts of the world, the equation swings dramatically in favour of motor boats.

Of course, a motor boat will have a larger engine and higher servicing/oil costs, but the engine on our boat was not inexpensive. And for certain parts of the world, there is so little wind that sailboats motor much of the way, and whereas a motor boat has sufficient motoring range to refuel where it is cheap, sailboats often have no choice and must pay up to 75 cents a litre in some remote areas. Wear and tear on a sailboat is also much greater than on a motor boat--sails blow out, vangs fail, booms break, rigging needs to be replaced, as eventually do sails and sail covers.

There is very little to choose between the two options in terms of average speed. Whereas we can easily outsail a Nordhaven 67, when there is no wind, they will generally do better than us, if only because we will need to watch our fuel consumption. Because of their trawler-style bow they will also do better than us motoring directly into the waves, but we'll have a better ride than them when reaching. (Again, Steve's new design may change some of these generalisations, specifically with regard to average cruising speed and comfort downwind.)

What this somewhat scientific analysis does not take into account is the pleasure of sailing. At least one motor boat owner (an ex-sailboat owner) who traveled up the Red Sea this year was very keen to come sailing with us. He had the perfect boat for an upwind Red Sea passage, but seeing a yacht out there having fun still had him hankering for a mast and a sail.

And what do we envy? Not having to take off/put on all the sail covers, not having to disturb the off-watch at night to do a sail change, having deck space and a crane for the dinghy.

There's no right way or best way to cruise offshore, but whereas ten years ago we would not have considered a motorboat (nor did any serious bluewater sailor), it seems as if more and more cruisers are finding that it's a good solution for them.