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Hey KNOT-RIGHT and 302Sport - how liveable are turbine boats on a casual boating basis? I mean if half of your boating is idling, running short distances, restarting after only sitting for 30minutes or an hour, etc..... Are they useable or a headache?

Obviously any boat like that would get run a fair amount, but for someone like me a lot of my boating is 10 mile runs to lunch, then back to anchor out for a couple hours then a short idle back to the dock. Are they useable in those situations?

I've just been watching a bunch of turbine videos on YouTube and was wondering.....

I think it comes down to whether or not you have a lot of idling/no wake zones, or you boat in a place where most of the time you leave the dock and can be up on plane running in a relatively short period. Most of the runs we do up here range from 10 to 40 miles but out of all the places we go, the worst in terms of no wake zones is the mouth of the Connecticut River, which is maybe a half mile idle. The reason for this is that we burn about 35 gallons per hour at idle. Other than that, there is no reason why a turbine boat can't be run like any other big block boat.

The nice thing about the turbines is that, depending on your set-up, flushing is not required. Knot-right is setup with dry exhaust and fuel/oil heat exchangers to pre-heat the fuel and cool the oil. So, his boat requires no water to run, and while running no water is taken into the boat. My boat on the other hand has oil coolers and wet exhaust, so I have to flush the oil coolers/exhaust, but I can do this without the engine running, just using my electric water pump and a hose.

Very interesting. So as far as starting and stopping there is no big difference. I guess you read so much about hot starts, etc.... I was wondering if they were really useable for every day boating and it sounds like they are.

The Idling thing would never matter to me - I drop the lift in and am on plane within 250 feet.

Good question.
Short runs are doable. Start intervals is basically limited by the start generator and your batteries.
the duty cycle on the starter is 3 minutes spool and 30 min cool down. Batteries are very important.
A typical short run for our boat is to launch in providence. Run out of Narragansett bay to maybe mackerel cove at the furthest point of Jamestown RI.
There we can anchor in somewhat protective waters. Just chill out for a few hours. then on the way back we may hit Chellos on the waterfront in
Warwick or tipsy seagull in fall river ma.Then heading back to the ramp in providence and on the trailer. This is about 60 miles.

Where we get the most bang for the buck is running to the islands like Block Island and spending the weekend there. Rafting up.
There you are not under the stress of leaving ,docking, trailering it. (80 feet long 12 feet wide)
I even strap the dingy to the back (gets a little warm from the exhaust.) Sometimes we anchor out and run the dingy to the island.
The tubs got a cabin sleeps 4 ( Nothing like a 51OL)Its like camping out. We have a blast on these trips.
this is a 110 mile trip.

In short Turbines like to run for long periods. like being in a airplane. if i had calm seas and a destination i could cruise at 130 for a couple hours but where would i end up?
Target a destination pack the boat with family and friends and go..
Just typing about this gets me all fired up.
i gotta get humpty dumpty back together.

A hot start does not mean starting the engine while its still hot from previous use.

A hot start is when you have a failed start for any number of reasons.

In most of the turbine boats today the start sequence is very simplified and you just simply hold the start button if everything if functioning properly. Here's what you do and the key things to watch for:

1. Engage the start button and make sure you can hear the ignitors knocking. This sound like a big grill ignitor.

2. The starter generators will take the compressor (N1) to about 17 percent by themselves with no help from the start fuel and at this point start fuel will be introduced by the Race Pak system.

3. Make sure your N1 keeps climbing and doesn't hang around 17 percent, if it hangs at 17, you have to abort the start because there is some type of problem. At this point you reach over to the breaker and cut all the fuel to the engine, while keeping the starter motoring and blowing cool fresh air through the engine. In simple terms, you do this so that the fuel that has been introduced to the engine do not sit in the burner can and burn up the inside of the engine (hot start).

4. If al is going as it should hold the starter engaged until about 30% N1 speed and after that the engine is up and running.

Seems complicated but in reality 99 percent of the time there is no problem and you just hold the start button until 30% N1 and you are off and running.

No I actually knew what the hot start was (again, only from watching videos) and you're right it seems fairly straightforward. I was just wondering if you had just shut down and you needed to restart 10 minutes later has enough heat dissipated that your TOT's don't jump so quickly you can't introduce fuel - creating a situation where you basically have to wait an extended time frame to restart..... or once you start spooling them do the temps fall so fast that it is a non-issue.

I'm led to understand that you can't really introduce fuel (Regardless of N1%) until your TOT's get down to a certain level such as under 200 so I was wondering if there are ever situations where you have to sit on your thumbs.

Do both of you guys run 6's?

Is the fuel system more sensitive to Diesel/Jet/Kerosene or do they just not really care?

Thanks for the insight here guys.

They actually start quicker when warm.
I can introduce start fuel and take it out at any time.
I can can kill ignitors and start them at any time.

I run straight kero. I have tried home heating oil and diesel they burn the cleanest with kero.
My setup is more or less the way it is in the helicopter. I even have the throttle shut down. You have to pull up a lever to get them to go back that far.
This is the procedure.
Turn fuel pumps on.
Turn key switch on. This turns off and on the fuel solenoid valve.
Start spool. This is a momentary spring switch. this pulls down the two contactors which energize the starter.
at 12% n1 engage start fuel switch. Engage ignitor switch. This moment you will hear the ignitors sparking and you can actually here the start fuel nozzles flaming.
Combustion is actually taken place now and the n1 will "climb Off" the starter. Right around 20%n1 the main fuel will be introduced by the fuel control.
You can actually here this Swoosh. 30% N1 the secondary fuel will be introduced further climbing the n1 to ground idle 50%N1.
Kill ignitors and kill start fuel.
Pyros will climb during this entire process leveling off at around 900F
The engine is now running.
In the event of a hot start or a hung start i can kill start fuel and main fuel and continue spooling
pulling down egts.
I run 6 drives dry sump herring skegs and i dont like them

Gerry's boat is a lot harder to start than mine and a lot of the other turbine boats LOL, c'mon man you're scaring everyone.

Here this will really scare them my ugly mug showing off in fairhaven
Seaport inn poker run Awesome time wish BOB would throw another.

http://youtu.be/oG2DxMmKj3g