Looking to Charter, then Purchase, a Cruising Catamaran

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by sail4evr

Oh allright I was thinking 08 not 07. Its history now, lets have that beer.

Sounds like you could use one.

When are you "moving to the BVIs"? We can't begin long range cruising until spring '09 and probably won't get to the BVI area until November '10.

Dave

[H2OHOBO]

having owned cats in the BVI since 1995 I have learned a few things, I see all the brands and hear lots of feed back. i am not interested in getting into a "Ford vs. Chevy"
discussion, but will be happy to share what I have learned with someone thinking of buying a cat for personal use or charter.

[sail4evr]

hey 2hulls...are you cruising yet? I'm still going back and forth to NY. Maybe full time 2010 I hope! Looking for that beer

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by H2OHOBO

having owned cats in the BVI since 1995 I have learned a few things, I see all the brands and hear lots of feed back. i am not interested in getting into a "Ford vs. Chevy"
discussion, but will be happy to share what I have learned with someone thinking of buying a cat for personal use or charter.

Post away.

I have had bad Ford experiences and none with Chevys.......don't know why.

[Karinya]

Someone asked about the Broadblue 385. I have just purchased one and it seems like the "right" boat for offshore. The mast is so well stayed in comparrisson to say the Lagoon or Pajot. The main looks odd as it is quite small, but the advantage here is that on offshore you do a lot less reefing which will assist with crew (short handed) rest. The Broadblue owners I have chatted to that go offshore use the 2 head sails when down wind which are easily managed from the cockpit.
I like the hard fore deck as its a more stable platform than a net, although there is more pounding associated with this.
The tankage is good having 500 litres of both water and fuel giving the range on diesel around 1000 nm
The cockpit is deep and well protected from wind etc. The helm is OK. The living quaters are fine, its not as wide as the afore mentioned Cats so slightly tighter in the hulls, this really gives you only 2 doubles and a 3/4 below with a full head separate shower in the other forehull.
I'm happy with the boat and happy to answer any queries

[Laidback]

"Looking to Charter, then Purchase, a Cruising Catamaran"
was the opener to this Thread :-

Having charted in the Whitsundays - Queensland and in the BVI's and moved on to having my own Catamarans - Find it difficult to see the value of a 7 >> 10 day charter in terms of learning multihulling, compared to what will be required to maintain, repair, understand the important dynamics of buying and sailing an ocean going catamaran. No short term charter will prepare you for the real world of what will be an important part of your daily activities. Diagnosing, finding & ordering parts, repairing components, fitting, installing , testing etc etc ...... and then
meeting and becoming part of a special cruising fraternity.
The charter may turn out to be a mere allusion of what Multihull cruising is about - on the other hand it make be the spark !!!

[caribcat]

Harsh but true...