Multihull Cost

[Cheechako]

Catamarans are very nice. Are your goals for a bluewater cat or one of the smaller, lower deck clearance types. Yes the smaller can take you there, but may not be worth the wait. Mono or cat you will have a great time. You dont need a big ship! A well found 30 footer is a nice cruise for 2. A 40 footer is faster and more comfortable. Let's see.... working 2 jobs...or going snorkeling today.... hmmm.... which would I rather do?

[Teeto]

In twelve months you will be congratulating yourselves on how glad you are that your cat has a few comforts. Your wife will be happier, maybe safer and the year of extra work will become simply a rite of passage that you survived to reach your goal. This is character building.
Cats are wonderful and worth it. Go for a better one!

[sandy daugherty]

Re-evaluate your criteria.
You can always go back to work later, for a while.
You should look at what you can afford now, but keep on working becasue you need to put 15% of the purchase price into your annual budget for maintenance on any boat you buy, over and above your estimated cruising expenses.

Cats cost more. That's because people are willing to pay more for new ones and used ones. If that weren't true, there wouldn't be any cats built.

You are willing to pay more for a cat, or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

I understand your pain, and even admire your frank admission of the inconsistancies of your dreams from a purely practical viewpoint. You remind us that by owning cats, we are not acting on purely practical, adult, responsible thought processes. We have cats because we want them, and are willing to spend three prices to scratch that itch.

We aren't very rational either! Welcome to the looney bin.

[markpierce]

I'm ignorant as far as catamaran economics go. Still, it is understandable that, for a given overall boat length, a cat will cost more than a monohull if for no other reason that a cat has twice the total hull length (a 30-foot cat would have a total of 60 feet of hull).

But bottom line, does one get noticeably less of a boat per dollar purchasing a cat compared to a mono? If not, why are cats considered more expensive than monos and people complain about the high prices of cats?

Isn't the OP's question equivalent to "I can afford a 30-foot monohull today, but should I wait until I can afford a 38-footer?"

[Cotemar]

kevingy,

Take the extra year and save up and buy the Cat you want.
Buying the wrong boat, then selling it to buy the right boat is expensive, stressfull and time consuming.

Mark

[ricosail]

Buy a prout they are solid and much cheaper than the newer designs.They are not racehorses but hold their own in a blow

[KatKokomo]

I certainly would wait and go with a catamaran :-)
I am anchored in Panama and close to my boat is a Prout, Quest 33 for sale. Nice boat, well equipped and ready to go. I do not know the asking price. If you like I can get you in contact with the owner.

[Kettlewell]

This thread reminds me of the "how much does it cost threads." The obvious and correct answer is "however much you have." Another thing this reminds me of is the #1 complaint Hummer owners have: terrible gas mileage. Well, duh! If you want a Hummer you've got to put up with terrible gas consumption. If you want the cat you need to pay for the cat, it is that simple. It is one of the tradeoffs of cats. You answered your own question in the OP--you want a catamaran, even though it is taking more time than you would like to save up for it.

[simonmd]

I may have missed it but you never stated your budget. I'm assuming it's not huge but as you want to go cruising, im sure it's not $1000 either. Therefore, may I suggest a Gemini 105? As you're in the 'states, there are lots about and i've seen perfectly nice 10yo examples for $50k. Now that's a very comfortable boat for a couple and you'll have the parts and servicing backup that any current production boat enjoys.

Apart from the initial cost, the main cat' extra cost comes from berthing. Here in the Med', most marinas like to slap on an extra 50% but I can't comment on the US side, however, the more stable platform means you'll be able to anchor more often which should reduce your cruising berthing fees to that of a mono anyway.

Yes, a decent size Lagoon, etc. is 250k plus but for a couple, you simply don't need one.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by KatKokomo

I certainly would wait and go with a catamaran :-)....

I would too if my mate or myself were primarily concerned about a boat leaning while going to windward. I trust you will be sailing windward and not motoring like the majority of "sailing" cruisers!?! Maybe that's partly why I got a motorboat.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by ricosail

Buy a prout they are solid and much cheaper than the newer designs.They are not racehorses but hold their own in a blow

And when you are not in a blow how does it go then?
Next thing to work out is how often are you in a blow in the area the OP intends to sail in.
If it is predominantly a light air area, I would imagine a heavily built catamaran could be quite disappointing.

[Islander]

Originally Posted by simonmd

I may have missed it but you never stated your budget. I'm assuming it's not huge but as you want to go cruising, im sure it's not $1000 either. Therefore, may I suggest a Gemini 105? As you're in the 'states, there are lots about and i've seen perfectly nice 10yo examples for $50k. Now that's a very comfortable boat for a couple and you'll have the parts and servicing backup that any current production boat enjoys....

More likely a 20 year old 3000 or 3200. A 12 year old 105M runs nearer $100K.

Cheers

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Islander

More likely a 20 year old 3000 or 3200. A 12 year old 105M runs nearer $100K.

Cheers

My buddy who's now sailing in BVI is returning to West Palm beach the first of August and putting his Gemini 105 on the hard for hurrican season and says he is putting his boat Dana Jean up for sale. I think he paid some where around $70,000.00 a couple of years ago. I hope he's buying a bigger catamaran cause we wanted to go visit.

[category4jay]

Dude you got it made!!! Mono or multi. Now or a little later. The MAIN thing and i mean MAIN thing you got going for you is that YOUR WIFE actually WANTS to go. Some men are not that fortunate. Trust me.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ife-38641.html

[Randor]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

So, back to square one. Dream -> Want -> Setting an achievable goal -> achieving that goal.

Mark

Mark,

Have yet to circumnavigate, but in 50 yrs of adult life, I worked 25 yrs in the U.S. to be able to enjoy these 25 years of adventure in Asia -- and I quite agree with your views.

I always say, "The journey from dreams to goals makes life worth living. Without dreams, it's mere existence, for me not really worth living."

Cheers, Randor

Edit: After posting this I see this is my first post. Been lurking too long. Greetings to all.