Suggestions between 2 cat options

[Rapanui]

Bridge deck slamming was never an issue for us. The Maldives has a good bridgedeck clearance. You get the odd slap but not what I would call a slam which you get with designs that carry the bridgedeck right forward. I have not experienced a tradewind ocean crossing but clearly a number of Maldives have and survived ok. When we sold ours, it went to the Canary Isles, I think in a single leg.

I am confident that the boat is ocean capable given good seamanship and the boat is in excellent shape. The potential weakness is the crew. 32ft is a small boat and the ocean is a big place, and plenty of people have abandoned their ocean cruising intentions after their first long offshore leg in far bigger boats. Through fear and/or the realisation that ocean cruising is not for them? Ironically, the anecdotes I have heard from people who have done it is the trip from UK to Canaries is far worse than the trade wind crossing of the Atlantic for instance. Technology such as real time weather routing can make life a lot easier.

[riki]

No slamming even in very big sea (6/7m waves).
Many Maldives in US and even in Australia, and i guess most of them got there sailing.

[Gpryce]

I am late to respond as I've only just found this thread. I own a 1992 Maldives which I keep in the Fort Myers area of SW Florida. One other item to check if you start getting rainwater in the hulls, is the scupper boxes beneath the teak grates at the entrance doors to the salon. It appears the sides of the boxes are wood, mine rotted. If water sat in there or the scuppers plugged then water would trickle out under the floorboards at the base of the steps down in the hull. Took me years to find the source.


I found on a number of occasions when head to wind in the ICW (no room to sail) that the 9.9 hp wasn't powerful enough. I got a higher hp outboard with fuel injection (the 9.9 Yamaha was carbureted) and a leg extension from Bay Manufacturing. Any slamming seems to be the waves hitting the sled that the outboard is on, not the bridgedeck itself.


Overall I am very happy with the boat.