First Catamaran Choice: Family of 4

[admiralslater]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Thats interesting, I havent heard that before,

May I enquire why the Gemini is not suitable for the Carribean,
Honest answer, Please, And no war, Hahahaha

Cheers Brian,

First off I should say that I have some conection with pdq yachts also I believe that boats are a compromise of a variety of things .
I have sailed a 1990 generation Geminis in Annapolis and found it to be quite a nice sailor .
Any boat can and will go places that it is not really designed for with luck .
Imo the the boat is to narrow and does not have enough bridge deck clearance to operate saftly especially with 4 people on board in the conditions encountered in the Carribean . You could make a case that going south would be ok and I tend to agree.
However comming north is a different story. Last year was not particularly different than other years . And so the conditions described are pretty normal . Going north from St vincent 10 -12 foot chop with a true wind of 18-25 which makes apparent wind of 25- 30 1 reef in the main and reefed jib . The wind comes from ahead but the waves are a bit farther back. Even on Our Outremer it was a difficult sail the waves where so steep that even we took a couple of good shots under the bridgedeck ,we are almost 25 feet wide . I have about 5 feet of freeboard at he bow with open nets 12 feet long and we still took a couple of greenies .
my self the idea of a heavily loaded lightly built coastal cruiser in those condtions
is not what I would want to do .
A few years ago someone asked me if I would cross the pacific in a PDQ 36 a boat I am very familiar with . My answer was no , you would probably make it but it was not designed for that challenge.
My 36 shines in ways that Outremer never can and vis/verse.
We love our 36 it was built for us and does all we ask of it , but when We started to think about Caribbean sailing it was just the wrong boat , Bahamas all day long but farher south is just the little bit tougher .
Just for fun I you are in St lucia this February ask any of the folks from the ARC what they think of the sailing there, they almost always say it is rougher and windier than the crossing

[admiralslater]

Boys boys the op was looking for ideas for a boat not a example of CF legendary pissing contest

[admiralslater]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I certainly missed that bit,
I bought my Gemini 105MC after Tony Smith the builder of Gemini's Took one across the Northern Atlantic to England to deliver it,
There is a 45 minute video of his crossing,
Mine has sailed all over the Pacific after being launched in San Diego after being trucked across the USA, Hawai, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Australia,

I bought it in Fiji and then sailed it Back to Australia,
Yes, It slams up wind, But who cruises up wind,
Wait a few days and get a tail wind, Then it dont slam, Very pleasant cruising,
I bought mine to handle Bass Straight and the Tasman Sea, Where I live,
Which it is quite capable of,

Cheers, Brian,

As I said doesn’t mean it cant be done , but also doesn’t nean it is the best choice . As I said my own boat isnt. BTW the early model with less coach house would be much better but less roomie . Do you have a leg or a big out board . Also was it your boat that need a large repair recently from grounding or somthing

[bluenomads]

One of the changes in modern sailing is the use (and prevalence) of weather predictions, upto-the-minute data including wind and current, and different routing options ("head north for 6 hours and you'll get into the better winds").

Possibly more important than the boat is how you will actually use it - are you going to push things or be conservative? Ask that in both your everyday sailing, such as reefing at night, as well as planning and deciding when to leave based on (what are now pretty good) predictions. Of course there will always be surprises, but with daily (or even hourly!) forecasts it's much more unlikely. There are people who have sailed around the world and have got the whole way across the pacific before needing to tack or even dowse the mainsail! Much easier to be one of those people these days with the GPS and weather electronics.

If you're conservative, then most boats sold are going to be fine, and will hold up better than the crew. By getting out there on a boat you can afford, and it's the "perfect" boat, you'll find out what you like and don't like much more than asking here (OMG).

[admiralslater]

Blunomads ,well said

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by bluenomads

One of the changes in modern sailing is the use (and prevalence) of weather predictions, upto-the-minute data including wind and current, and different routing options ("head north for 6 hours and you'll get into the better winds").

A few years back we crossed the Indian Ocean with the 'benefit' of weather routing. Started off a little earlier than planned because the weather experts said a system was coming up that we might keep out of if we went today rather than tomorrow. All was well for the first couple of days then the wind came up to over 30 knots from behind but with wave systems coming on the beam. Just head south a degree or two and you'll get out of it the routers said. We did, no difference. A bit further south they said. We did, no difference. In the end we had what appeared to be our own personal weather system for almost 10 days and it was horrible. The boat stood up to it with no problems but the crew were exhausted.

Weather reporting is getting better all the time but there are still large areas of the oceans where the forecasters simply don't have enough information to be able to provide reliable forecasts.