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30-12-2009, 18:51
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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General Comments and Opinions
So I think we have finally settled on our family cruising cat. An owners version Salina 48. Will be visiting her once again in Maimi at strictly sail and wanted to know if anyone out there has any thoughts on this cat. Especially if it was or is still on your list and why. Crew will be a couple and our 3 kids (7,8,8). We plan to mostly liveaboard in the islands, but want a cat capable of circumnavigating if we get the itch for an adventure. Any feedback would be greatly apreciated.
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30-12-2009, 20:54
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Northern California
Boat: finally a catamaran dive boat...
Posts: 505
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feedback? How could I possibly give feedback on such a superb vessel as that F.P. 48 foot castle? I only wish I had the funding to afford such a ride. Outstanding space for your family and smallfry and I would hope it spends far less time in port than the open ocean. It's a race horse so don't keep her in a stable.
__________________
the perfect dive boat is one you're on...
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30-12-2009, 22:06
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: New Zealand
Boat: Ta Shing Tashiba 40
Posts: 99
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It sounds nice and lots of room for the family. All the best to you.
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31-12-2009, 06:01
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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The space and layout is what sold us on the Salina. We expect a lot of visitors as we will be taking the grandkids away!
Other boats that made the short list:
PDQ 44i- LOVE IT.... but no room for guests and galley is down
Lagoon 420- Galley is small and the trampolines are TINY...but at least the helm is in a sensible position (take note 440 &500). This is 2nd runner up if we go for a newer cat.
Leopard 46- Not sure I want to compromise our water tight bulkheads so the kids have a "play space" that can be accessed from their bunk.
My personal fav: 1995 Prout Quasar that has been so lovingly cared for and well thought out and beautifully customized...By the time we got it ready for serious cruising and did some additional refit, it would price out about the same as a new cat, but I would have the piece of mind that it is a proven and solid yacht. My husband doesn't even want to talk about this one
Also have my eye on an older Marquis 56 that would need a huge overhaul to be blue water ready, but she has a great layout and tons of space...maybe too much??
My only concern in going with a brand new production cat is the quality in build. There has been a lot of talk in these forums about production cats being made with too much plastic, rattling, needing repairs way too early, etc. in an effort to produce yachts at a price point that the current economy can handle. The Salina, for example, was initially reported by FP to be over a million. At the boat show">Annapolis boat show, they were down to high 700's and now there is a fairly new one the has barely been in charter going for the high 500's.
So I guess what I am asking is why has the Salina not been the smash hit FP was counting on? Is it just the economy or something else? To be fair, my husband is completely in love with this cat and I really prefer an older proven cat that we can refit. Just not sure I trust the line of new production cats...almost look too pretty and spacious to also be safe, reliable and sail well. Can I really have my cake and eat it too??
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31-12-2009, 06:52
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Tavernier, Fl
Boat: Outremer 50
Posts: 750
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"To be fair, my husband is completely in love with this cat and I really prefer an older proven cat that we can refit."
Not every proven cat would need a refit. Remember all new cats will need a refit of sorts to get them ready for cruising. Good luck and perhaps see you at the show, I will be on the St Francis 50.
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31-12-2009, 07:17
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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Dave~
Your St. Francis is for sale, right? She is beautiful and would certainly make the list if I wasn't so stuck on galley up
We will look for you at the show. BTW, our family followed your sailblog. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Our kids escpecially love to read the blogs of families that have children on board. We spend half our school days now reading sailblogs. LOL! We are very excited for our own adventure!
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31-12-2009, 08:11
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ontario
Boat: PDQ32
Posts: 264
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We bought a FP Orana which we took delivery of in November. There were few items requiring attention but overall quality was very good. We have not experienced any rattles or sqeaks. I think the people at FP know how to build a good boat at a reasonable price. We are very happy with our choice.
__________________
henryv
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31-12-2009, 08:45
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#8
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Marmaris
Boat: FP Orana 2010, Hélia 2013, Catana C 47 2013, Nautitech 46 Fly 2018
Posts: 1,344
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"So I guess what I am asking is why has the Salina not been the smash hit FP was counting on? "
The answer is , she doesn't sail well.. and she doesn't have the space that this size of boat (within FP range) should have..
If you haven't bought it yet, I strongly suggest that you give a closer look to Orana 44.. Has almost the same space, sails much better, equally seaworthy (if not better) and costs 30-40% less !!!
Good luck
Yeloya
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31-12-2009, 09:19
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#9
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pac NW
Boat: Boatless, for now, Cat enthusiast
Posts: 1,318
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If I was shopping in this range, and looking at long-distance sailing rather than just island-hopping and hosting parties, there are a number of other boats I would consider. Not that the FP won't do it (I'm sure it would), but there are some features of this design I'm not sure would be that great for such a task. Personally, I view those fly-bridges and elevated (and exposed) helm stations to be (1) great for a pleasant day sail, and (2) awful in a storm or high seas. A delivery skipper I know calls those boats "riding the camel". I can see how she thinks that.
For example, here's a recently custom built Lerouge cat, 51', designed for both comfort and long-distance sailing:
2005 Eric Lerouge Custom Catamaran Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
I know this boat and have been on it a few times. Very comfortable and luxurious with features (like a fold-up, hideaway work shop with vice) you'll never see on a production boat. Yet, a quick sail, even in light winds, able to be single-handed.
This is far from the only one, either. For the kind of money you're looking at spending, you can find a number of custom built boats that would fill the bill. Look at M&M designs, Chris White, etc.
You might be surprised at what you can find for the price.
ID
__________________
Intentional Drifter
Observations are gold; hypotheses, silver; and conclusions, bronze.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.--Ben Franklin
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.--Daniel Patrick Moynihan
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31-12-2009, 10:31
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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Thank you to everyone for their thoughts. We will certainly be taking a closer look at the Orana in Feb. We were aboard one at the Annapolis show, but it was a busy day and we walked on and turned right around due to the crowd. The forward hull looks like an interesting design suiting both the need for serious storage and converting to an extra bed when needed. I'll have to check out the galley set up as well. Concerned about having enough storage and counterspace. How does that "piano" fridge set up work for you? Is there a freezer somewhere else? How about a dedicated space to add a washer/dryer? I appreciate your time and thoughts. The Orana has moved up to #1 on our "must check it out" list now and I thank everyone who has contributed to this post for helping that happen.
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31-12-2009, 10:39
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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Intentional Drifter~
We have looked at a few custom cats. There was a gorgeous one built right here in Charleston. Our only concern is our ability to re sell. The custom cats, while great, tend to be harder to unload when the journey is over. Of course, that might make it easy for us to just never let the journey end!
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31-12-2009, 11:24
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Tavernier, Fl
Boat: Outremer 50
Posts: 750
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROK
Dave~
Your St. Francis is for sale, right? She is beautiful and would certainly make the list if I wasn't so stuck on galley up
We will look for you at the show. BTW, our family followed your sailblog. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Our kids escpecially love to read the blogs of families that have children on board. We spend half our school days now reading sailblogs. LOL! We are very excited for our own adventure!
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Yes she is for sale but galley down. Have you sailed the Salina yet? For example, we were also interested in the PDQ 44 but completely ruled it out after a test sail. I have no idea how the Salina sails, mixed reviews on this thread. If you get that "itch for an adventure" it would be nice to have a good sailing boat. Please share your blog when you start your adventure!
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31-12-2009, 11:43
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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We had arranged for a test sail of the Salina, but after all the feedback today, we are going to change to test sail the Orana. We are also testing the new Prout 50 in Miami in Feb...although I am very gunshy about getting involved in that new Prout operation. It is definately a beautiful yacht, though!
The big adventure is scheduled to begin excatly one year from tomorrow!! We will be sure to keep a sailblog. Reading about eveyone else and their adventures has done a lot to keep our own dream alive.
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31-12-2009, 13:26
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 23
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Salina 48 experience
Hello,
been following this forum for some time and learning a lot from other folks’ experience, I would like to share our experience with the Salina 48. The admiral and me have been visiting the FP factory last year. We were interested in the Orana but fell in love with the Salina 48 as we saw one ready to go. We liked the design and hoped for better sailing performance with the longer boat. So we chartered one for a week this spring in the Med.
Our impressions were:
Accommodation: Great layout, lots of space which we (6 persons) did not all use. Great for finding some space for oneself. Good sleeping quarters, more bathrooms than necessary. Excellent for a crew of 8 (four cabin version), would not put more crew on board. Excellent galley, enables two persons cooking at the same time. Great at anchor in a bay, cooking a meal and eating in the spacious cockpit.
Handling: semi-flybridge-design good for overview, easy single handling.
Sailing: Disappointing. Needs light-wind sails (which we did not have). Poor performance at tacking with fair winds (approx. 20 kts). Against a wind of approx. 30+ kts and waves of 6 ft the boat behaved well, feeling save and stable, but made no way to wind. Would not want to experience a storm with a huge sail made from plastic like the semi-flybridge. As most of the electronics were not working I can’t give numbers to wind and boat speed.
Quality: Disappointing. The charter boat had been in service for less than one year and looked like the seven-year-old Privilege we had chartered the year before. The charterer told us there were several unsettled guaranty issues, for example if the sliding door at the saloon was closed it took so much force to open from the inside it that the ladies needed help to get out. Electronics (log, wind, GPS) worked sporadic or not al all, we had to spend an extra day in harbour for the service without success. We noticed the charterer did not service the boat well, so some of these issues might be due to poor maintenance.
Greetings,
tomcat1
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31-12-2009, 13:38
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Boat: looking for a liveaboard cruising catamaran for a family of 5
Posts: 12
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tomcat1~
Thanks for the detailed review. It is interesting that FP would create 2 very similiar boats and one would have many more problems than the other. I understand charter yachts that are not cared for will have more issues, but it seems as though any boat, charter or not, should not have signifigant problems being so new. Most of the posts I read from those who have sailed the Salina agree with you...she just doesn't sail well. Clearly, if I was in the market for a condo, I would just buy one on land :-)
The I'm glad HenryV and Yeloya are hapy with the Orana. I'm excited to give it a sail myself.
Happy New Years to everyone!
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