Interested in living on a Cat out west.

[octanetwilight]

How ironic,

After living in MD and POWER- (argh.. there I said it) boating on the Chesapeake for almost 8 years my wife and I find ourselves in Phoenix, boat-less, and looking for a sailboat to live on.

After reading the exciting and sexy reviews on a few websites, I have to say that the idea of some kind of multi-hull appears to be a great option for both living and sailing.

Does anyone have any experience living on a smaller cat or trimaran, (Telstar 28 looks very cool) or a Corsair. Are they too spartan to seriously consider as full-time living boats?

Our budget is around a $100,000 (that's half the price of a beater condo in Scottsdale). I can probably talk the wife into $150,000 if necesary..heh..heh.heh.

No kids, the house is sold and we're heading to San Diego tomorrow to start the process.

Thanks in advance for any comments, concerns, snide remarks etc.

Tim

[sailingdog]

The Telstar is one of the more liveable boats out of the small folding trimarans. The corsairs are not liveable, until you get up to a Corsair F31, as you can't stand up inside one until that point, as they have less than five feet of head room, where the Telstar has six feet of head room.

It might be a bit tight for two people, as trimarans have less space than the same length monohulls. You might be better off with a catamaran, like the Gemini 105, the TomCat 9.7, or the Maine Cat 30. These boats will present you with a lot more living space, and should prevent you and your wife from going psychotic from the limited room.

If you have any specific questions, drop me a PM. Most of the sailors on this site are monohullers. I am not.

If the marina has good facilities, then it might be possible to pull it off on a F31 or a Telstar 28...but I don't think the missus would be happy. She'd probably be happy with any of the cats I mentioned.

BTW, the Gemini 105 and the TomCat 9.7 are both about $150,000 new.

The Gemini is the narrowest of the boats, but the longest, with a beam of 14' and LOA of 33' 6". The MaineCat 30 is the shortest, but the widest, with a beam of 18' and LOA of 30', and the TomCat 9.7 is in the middle, with a beam of 16' and a LOA of 32'. The Gemini might fit in a single slip, where the other two are probably too wide to do so.

The draft on all three boats is fairly comparable, with the Gemini being the deepest at 5' 6" and 18" (board down and up) to the TomCat at 5' and 16", and the MaineCat at 5' and 2'.

Of the three I would recommend against the MaineCat as it is the most expensive, has the deepest board up draft, and is considerably wider than the others. It will probably have the worst sailing performance of the three, being wider and shorter than the other two. I don't see any particular advantage to this boat, over the other two that would make it worth the 16% price differential.

[Canibul]

Interesting post. If you were deciding between a TomCat and Gemini, which way would you go? I am pretty sure wife and I could live for a couple weeks at a time on the Gemini, but two inches less draft where I live makes the TomCat worth considering. Finish in photos doesnt look as good.

I notice on the used boat market there do not seem to be many of the TomCats, guess they havent been out long enough. There are a number of Geminis, but they are slightly different models. This make TomCats more expensive, used.

[PBzeer]

One thing you have to remember with a multihull, you are looking at probably renting 2 slips rather than one. Also, a higher intial cost versus a monohull. Remember though, you're buying the boat to fit you, not anyone else, so until you figure out just what you need, don't get to focused on any one type of boat.

[Canibul]

I have been looking at cruising boats for awhile now. i WANT a Leopard 42, but the draft alone would severely limit it here. Keep coming back to the Gemini's.

[PBzeer]

Gemini's are nice boats. Have one here at the marina where I'm doing my refit. My biggest problem with multi's is my wallet .

[sailandoar]

14' bean fits marina slips
18" draft gets you anywhere
Used prices in your ballpark
Many years in production

?challanging to haul overland?

[Canibul]

Overland hauling not a big issue here, where maybe 20% of the roads in the entire nation are paved. Besides, just about the longest trip one can make by road is less than 20 miles.

Your post made me think, though about beam. There is ONE travel-lift here, and I called them, and they THINK they could maybe squeeze 20 ft. beam into the slings and up thru the pilings.... No thanks.

I have been reading about suriviving hurricanes, and the concept of running her nose into a mangrove swamp, sitting on the sand at low tide, and tying her to bushes with stern anchors out....that makes sense. And we have lots and lots of mangrove swamps here. Home-made hurricane holes?

[octanetwilight]

Hi all,

The Gemini is still the strongest contender. The used market has numerous models for sale, spread out geographically. New is possible as the price difference, while meaningful is not a deal killer.

I have been "fortunate" in that the marina is willing to rent me an end tie with no power, possibly fresh water for the price of a 35ft. slip. They are willing to run power out there for $3000.00....nice.

As for comparisons, it's tough. The sailing crowd in PHX is small with the largest boat being a 36 Catalina, several 34's, one Bavaria etc. That means traveling to CA just to examine a few models.

Tomcats don't seem to be prevalent enough out here to consider a reasonable comparison.

Thanks again for all of the info.

[sailingdog]

If you're going to be on an end slip, without power, you'll definitely want to get some solar panels installed. BTW, I would highly recommend that you DO NOT USE Peter Kennedy Yatch Services, which was formerly recommended by the manufacturer, as they are both unreliable and expensive.