Central Florida day charters on smaller cats?

[HSV Sailing]

My wife and I were hoping to find a charter service that uses one of the condomaran brand cats around 38-45ft (Lagoons, Leopards, FP, etc).

We're new to sailing and wanted to go out for a few hours to half a day for a less busy/party boat experience. Something where we could learn a thing or two while out.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Davy J]

I don't have any experience with any of these companies, just listing them as I see their boats/advertisements around occasionally.

Sailing Catamarans Marco Island and Naples Sunset Cruises

Sail Yachts & Rates

https://sailingflorida.com/st-peters...amaran-yachts/


Looks like all of them are quite pricey for a day ride.

[HSV Sailing]

Originally Posted by Davy J

I don't have any experience with any of these companies, just listing them as I see their boats/advertisements around occasionally.

Sailing Catamarans Marco Island and Naples Sunset Cruises

Sail Yachts & Rates

https://sailingflorida.com/st-peters...amaran-yachts/


Looks like all of them are quite pricey for a day ride.

Thank you for these!

The Marco Island one isn't too expensive and is on a 42" cat "Cool Beans. It's a bit of a drive, but I may go this route.

We've not done much sailing, but are interested in seeing if it's something we'd enjoy. The smaller size cat may allow us to ask a couple of questions to the captain while we're out.

Thanks again.

[Sand crab]

It is interesting that the Marco Island charters don't say what their cats are. I think they are a Maine Cat 41 and a Seawind 1000XL. The Maine Cat is unique with the completely enclosed cockpit with all lines leading to there. I see they say that they can take up to 20 guests on board so be aware that that much weight might make the boat pretty sluggish. Have fun.
https://www.mecat.com/maine-cat-catamarans/me-cat-41/

[HSV Sailing]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

It is interesting that the Marco Island charters don't say what their cats are. I think they are a Maine Cat 41 and a Seawind 1000XL. The Maine Cat is unique with the completely enclosed cockpit with all lines leading to there. I see they say that they can take up to 20 guests on board so be aware that that much weight might make the boat pretty sluggish. Have fun.
https://www.mecat.com/maine-cat-catamarans/me-cat-41/

Definitely some interesting looking cats!

Sluggish should be a good start. We wanted to see how it felt being out on the ocean in a 40" cat, as we ease into sailing. We've been interested for awhile now and have been lurking here for over a year. Time to get our feet wet.

[Sand crab]

You will be getting your feet wet with a really good one. Try to schedule a private cruise with the MC41 because she's better than most.

[HSV Sailing]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

You will be getting your feet wet with a really good one. Try to schedule a private cruise with the MC41 because she's better than most.

Definitely! We're still looking around to see if there are any charters closer before we book it. It's about a 4 hour drive each way for us.

What are the MC41 boats known for? Performance or closer to a condomaran?

I wasn't sure if people ever offered up a few hours of chartering on Craigslist or on Cruising Forums? Is there perhaps a section for that here?

[Davy J]

Here is another catamaran that we come across in the GICW fairly frequently.
Apparently, the one located on Anna Maria Island, although it looks like they have a few locations on the Gulf coast.

https://www.kathleend.net/anna_maria_island

[HSV Sailing]

Originally Posted by Davy J

Here is another catamaran that we come across in the GICW fairly frequently.
Apparently, the one located on Anna Maria Island, although it looks like they have a few locations on the Gulf coast.

https://www.kathleend.net/anna_maria_island

This is the one I we are leaning towards booking. Its only a 2 hour drive from us, so a little easier to zip over.

The Seawind 1000 is only about 32ft? How would that feel vs something in the low 40ft range? Slower? Faster? Will it be less smooth of a sail because of its smaller size?

Thanks again for all the help.

[Sand crab]

They have a Maine Cat 30 and a Seawind 1000 at Anna Maria. The big pic is the MC30. Smaller boats tend to hobbyhorse more. A longer boat will smooth that out some but all boats are different. Both the Maine Cat and the Seawind have stellar reputations btw and would be good coastal cruisers or island hopping in the Bahamas. Neither one can really carry the weight needed for long trips. None of the Seawinds or MCs would be considered condomarans and they lean more toward more of a performance oriented boat. Not racers but a little faster than most.
Also the Seawind 1000 was given a makeover by adding about 2 1/2 feet to the sterns and is now called the 1000XL2. Marco has the XL but it's the original 1000 in AM.

[HSV Sailing]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

They have a Maine Cat 30 and a Seawind 1000 at Anna Maria. The big pic is the MC30. Smaller boats tend to hobbyhorse more. A longer boat will smooth that out some but all boats are different. Both the Maine Cat and the Seawind have stellar reputations btw and would be good coastal cruisers or island hopping in the Bahamas. Neither one can really carry the weight needed for long trips. None of the Seawinds or MCs would be considered condomarans and they lean more toward more of a performance oriented boat. Not racers but a little faster than most.
Also the Seawind 1000 was given a makeover by adding about 2 1/2 feet to the sterns and is now called the 1000XL2. Marco has the XL but it's the original 1000 in AM.

Great to know.

We will probably book whichever is available for this weekend or next. In the future if we're down in the Miami area again, we'll look into that MC42 charter.

[Svan]

I would take the ride on the MaineCat because it's just an interesting boat.

While shopping, they were very interesting to me because I value ease of access to systems, and I did not like the trend of 40+ foot cats with galley up. This left gemini's, pdq (the eventual choice) and MaineCats. Our choice was mainly for availability, ours was already on the Great Lakes.

[Houston450]

If you find yourself in Galveston Bay, Kemah, TX, Yachtcations, 409-682-7745, runs sailing lessons and charters on a 2015 Lagoon 450F. Chris