Blue Water Class

I'm sitting in Nomad on a lake full of muddy brown water, so I guess that sparked my "blue water" musings. Deb and I are considering taking a blue water course at Emerald Coast, the same place we did the Catamaran class last year. They treated us so well and their prices are so good that it seems the right choice to take advantage of their combined "Advanced Coastal Cruising" package. We could renew our acquaintance with Lady Marian for the 5 day Gulf of Mexico Sail, (our dance partner from last year's catamaran class) but we are thinking of going to the opposite end of the spectrum. Emerald Coast has a Beneteau 381 available for this course. It is a production boat a bit more than 10 feet longer and two feet wider than Nomad, with another foot of draft. We know we could live on a 38 foot Catamaran and barely notice we have left land. (Not really, the ocean is a pretty big place. Still there is no doubt that living on a 38 foot Cat is living the good life!) I'm kind of curious how 38 feet of production monohull looks and feels after a week on board and a couple of hundred miles of water have passed by the gunnels.

Besides, I haven't sailed a Beneteau before. Why not try something new?

Thoughts on the 09 Annapolis show

The cat vs mono-hull debate is pretty much settled in favor of cats - depending (of course) on $$. I wonder at the difference between the sea kindliness of a 38' cat vs. a 50' mono but suspect that the stability of the cat, even though shorter, would win. Upwind is still a concern for me, but again, the stability of the cat and the quality of life living aboard would probably make it the preferred choice. I did see a Benetau I really kind of liked, the 43. Deb saw a Hunter she kind of liked (a bit of a surprise that). We both really like the Pacific Seacraft 40, the Caliber 40 LRC and the Gozzard 41. (Deb likes that one a bit more than I do. Interior is fantastic but somehow the exterior of the boat has lost some of its luster to my eye.) I was disappointed to be disappointed by the Dufours, even the 525 left me a bit unmoved. The Island Packet Estero was a disappointment as well. Though the interior (like the Gozzard) has a great living room space in the forward hull, for some reason it just doesn't work as well as the Gozzard's.

Of the cats the new-for-this-year Leopard 38 was a stunner. The flat front windows make its deck salon feel more spacious than the older model 40. It needs some work on the cabinet hinges. They are not mounted well and, given sea conditions where people end up putting some pressure one them, will soon fail. But that was the only complaint I had. I liked the retracting dingy davits and the cockpit seat back that swings so that one can sit facing aft. Sitting and looking out over the ocean at the end of the day, sipping a cold one with an unobstructed view from the world's best back porch...how cool would that be?

The F/P Lapari 41 was another stunner. My only concern was a boat with a 39' LWL and a 22 foot beam. That wide beam made for an interior space in the hulls that was amazing, though I wonder what the additional wetted surface will do to performance. The tub like helm station hanging down into the cockpit was a bit awkward as well. (If the boat was mine I would get Brian to paint something there to cover the "ugh" factor.) A show-goer who has chartered both the Leopards and the F/Ps several times, (though admittedly neither the brand new 38 from Leopard or the Lapari) shared his opinion that the Leopard was a far better sailing boat; which would break the tie for me. (And, truth to tell, I think the Leopard is a prettier boat. I know that shouldn't matter much, but life is too short to own an ugly boat.)

I'm also getting pretty comfortable with the idea that Deb and I could handle a 50 foot boat, cat or mono, with a little practice. Besides, if we had a boat that big I'm thinking we would have a lot of "temporary crew" around to help out.

Big Cat Doors

A lot of catamarans have these huge sliding glass doors that open the back of the bridge deck onto the aft cockpit area. It is a big selling point; in fact SeaWind folds the doors up completely into a hard top Bimini, effectively removing the wall altogether.

I'm beginning to cool to the whole idea. In the first place it means there is a large portion of inside area that cannot contain any counter space (a chronic shortfall in boats of all kinds). Such a design also means that any supplemental heating / cooling of the interior space is going to be that much more difficult, though of course open ventilation is wonderful. Mostly though, I wonder just how tough those big panes of Plexiglas would be if one was running before the wind in gusts of 40+? How much water, rain and following seas, will they keep out?

I may never be a true "blue water" sailor but my inclinations are moving toward boats that seem to be designed for less than ideal conditions. A big glass wall that opens the entire interior of the boat to whatever the ocean can gin up would not seem to fit that description. That is one of the reasons why I really like the Gunboat and Chris White designed catamarans. (Now if I could just come up with $1,000,000 and change I could buy one.)