Smallest cat for the Caribbean

[ArtM]

In cats below 38', innovative features become critical, and therefore become a matter of personal taste and style.

Also, availability is very important. It's one thing to want a particular style of boat at a particular price, and another to find it.

When I looked at PDQ and similar styles, I found them to be a bit constrictive and crowded for my taste, with very little "walk around" room in the salon and cockpit. The Gemini is larger, but still suffers from that lack of "Walk-around" room.

By contrast, the Seawind has an open salon/cockpit combination that solves that problem, but is also very exposed. For the Caribean, this design seems appealing to me, though I don't know if I would want that much exposure all the time.

But then there is the rub - though I think like the design, I don't know if I could find one, or how much it would cost, or even if I would like it once I saw it in person.

Though I'm a big fan of cats, I've often said that for a single sailor and in smaller sizes, monohulls are often a more practical design. If you can find one that has a retractable dagger board, you can still take it into skinny water. Even if not, you may find that the every-day comfort will trump the shallow-water benefit - depending on your personal cruising style.

With respect to the water maker, I believe that every one of the rowboats in the Pacific rowboat race (just completed last week, or still ongoing) had a solarpowered water maker. If it can be made to work on a rowboat, you can make it work on a sailboat.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Small cats are too light for a watermaker, arn't they? A friend cruises the Caribbean on a tiny one, about 25 foot.
The Caribbean is easy, a Hobie Cat would make it.

Not sure about cruising on a Hobie but guys have gone from South Florida to Bimini and then to some of the other islands. Wharram has some twenty foot plus cats that some folks could camp/cruise on.

If a boat is too light for a watermaker seems like it is too light to carry very much water. Plenty of solar powered low out put water makers that produce a gallon or two a day and weigh very little.