400: Lagoon 400

[D&D]

Thanks Peter

She looks good -- What's your boat's name? -- and we're delighted to hear you're out enjoying her regularly!

Your comments on the solar panels were helpful indeed. We had some electrical 'issues' with CatNirvana on the long voyage, but I think the French in general and Lagoon in particular are doing a lot these days to improve their historical reputation for weak electrical installations, but I hasten to add that I am also a very very long way from being an electrical expert. We're currently with no solar panels and a smaller (4KVA) Onan genset...and 2 frigs+1freezer plus 2 E120's/radar/AIS/etc, altho no microwave. We're definitely going to instal solar, possibly wind as well.

What's your battery bank?

Just on the trip and pics etc, are you on Facebook? Di and I are setting up a business that will operate out of CatNirvana...and the voyage log (a daily diary, with pics) was posted to the business link on Facebook. In due course we'll be using it all a bit further, but for now if you're interested let me know your Facebook contact point...if you have one?? It was an incredible personal experience...and also one that speaks well for Lagoon's ability to make seaworthy vessels.

Any plans to head north?

Cheers
D&D

[Casaroche]

G'day everyone, my name is Gerard (from Sydney) and I have been reading with interest all your posts on the Lagoon 400 cat anxiously waiting for my new Lagoon 400 to come out of commission, which has finally happened since May 2011. My Hull is # 130 and named "Hot Chilli". I am located at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) at Newport, Pittwater in Sydney. I met Peterp at the July 2010 boat show and I have been inspired by what you did on your boat Peter and also did the following: step to hop onto the top of the stateroom roof, handle at the mast, extension of the stern stainless steel work to fit a large BBQ. I had the following done locally: 3 x 130w solar panels, extra E12ow at nav station, air conditioning (2 x 16K BTU) in saloon and in owner's cabin, Genaker sail made by Baracouta in Sydney and my logo painted by Wetton, a BlueRay alarm fitted, Microwave, TV + DVD, additional sheet bags not too dissimilar to Peter's, freezer in the outside cabinet. I also have the 9 Kva genset, shore power, clear enclosure, extra water tank, AIS 500, PC link (not yet used), but not the Radar. I kept my old RIB an Aquapro CSMR 2001 which I have now discovered is just a little bit too big (3.5m long) with the Davits line stretching out for the lift. I have only taken my 400 out twice by myself and i am still in the process of getting used to the sheer size (compared to my previous Seawind 1000XL moored at my Holiday Home at Soldiers Point in Port Stephens). Whilst I did a pretty good job doing a 180 degree turn before backing into my berth, I was told by VICSAIL's owner that the 400 turns better one way rather than the other. I am yet to determine which way that is? I have also temporarily fixed the shower drain cover to-day by tying it down with a very fine elastic which keeps the drain down marvellously well. I am attaching a photo of my Hot Chilli and my Genaker as a starter. Look forward to future conversations. Cheers, Gerard

[D&D]

G'day Gerard

Hot Chilli looks great! We'll be up around Pittwater shortly (currently waiting on some new halyayrds and mainsail cars repairs after our long delivery voyage) and we''ll look out for you there.

That manuevering differently from different sides sounds a bit odd (a transverse thrust effect perhaps?) especially given the beam involved between your props. We havn't noted anything like that (as yet, altho most of our miles were heading in a straight line forward!) on our L440. Was it Brendan that made that remark?

Cheers,

Don & Di
SV CatNirvana

[peterp]

G’day Gerard, great to see you join our L400 group, love ‘Hot Chilli’ looks great, I called mine ‘SKI’ (spending the kid’s inheritance). I can understand your thoughts on the size of the 400, when I first took mine out of the marina I was really careful and really nervous, I recall thinking if I only sink a couple of smaller craft on the way out to Port Phillip Bay that wouldn’t be too bad at all, however thankfully all went well, I think the 400 is very responsive and relatively easy with the asymmetric thrust of two engines to back and manoeuvre into a berth, I did become somewhat complacent after many successful berthings in my own home berth because it has some protection from the wind and I became very used to it, I was however cut down to size and made very humble on my first trip to Melbourne docklands for a planned overnight one weekend very early in my learning curve where it is very open, windy and very different to my home berth, well, whilst trying to berth big bertha I was in trouble big-time with the wind pushing those hulls every which way, in my home berth I was used to most times using about 800rpm on each engine to manoeuvre into the berth, the lesson learned on that day is to read the wind well before attempting to berth and obviously apply the correct amount of thrust. The bottom line is practise makes perfect, whilst I am no whiz, I am now very comfortable and confident with my L400. With respect to the advice you have had that the 400 turns better one way than the other I can’t say I have experienced that, maybe some of our fellow owners may care to comment on that one. We are really enjoying our craft although at this time of the year it’s really cold down here at the moment but we have had some sunny winter days, must say having the heater makes things very comfortable. Had some bad luck two weeks ago, about 9am we got a call from the marina management advising our screecher was flapping in the wind, we immediately drove the one hour odd drive to the marina and sure enough to our dismay the top halve was destroying itself flapping around the mast spreaders. The cause was a few hours prior, winds 25 gusting to 40 kts came through, the screecher did not actually unfurl itself, the strong winds tore a section out from the roll between the middle and the top, any way I sent it back to Sydney and got it back today very nicely repaired, cost $500.00 which I thought fair enough. Now to stay on this subject when I unhooked the bottom of the sail after letting it down, which was the first time for me I very nearly fell in the drink, yes the cat was tied up in the marina on flat water, the tricky thing is the bowsprit extends about a meter past the cross bar and safety lines, which makes it just too far away to get your hand comfortably on the hook to release the bottom of the sail from the bowesprit, I finally managed to just unhook it by leaning over the safety lines at about a most undignified ninety degrees, the thing is in any sort of sea I doubt I could have unhooked it at all, so to solve this problem we are making a small triangle of webbing to be fixed with the wide bit parallel with the crossbar about 400mm wide and the pointy part fixed to the end of the bowesprit being about 800mm long, the purpose is to provide a safe platform for me to step on to whilst unlocking the hook, well anyway that’s the plan, stand by for a update. So Gerard once again welcome and I look forward to hopefully hearing about your experiences. Regards Peter

[D&D]

Peter

We love the name 'SKI', especially for its acronym of course...

About your problem removing the screecher tack, I experienced the same issue on our L440 during our long voyage where leaving the screecher up was never a safe option and where we were a LONG way from flat water...and where there was no prospect whatsoever of constructing any safety nets. I found a quite workable solution, however, so much so that I suspect my solution was probably what the designers of that whole setup probably envisaged in the first place. After the screecher is down and on the deck, make sure the tack end has plenty of slack halyard to it -- This is an important first step as, if missed, the next step is hugely more difficult than necessary -- and then, lying on the tramp, remove the bowsprit and bring the whole assembly (including the screecher tack of course) in close where it can be easily unclipped without going outside the safety rails at all. The bowsprit can then be easily put back in place and you can turn your attention to putting away the screecher. I should add that our bowsprit is loosely attached by a line going to the top of the centre triangle on the cross bar; if you haven't got such a line on yours it'd be a good idea -- Any small line should do as it is not load bearing -- to put one on just to make retrieving the bowsprit a bit easier if you should happen to let it go, although it will always be attached to the hull anchors of course.

As a further personal preference, I would suggest NEVER leave the screecher up when not in use (unless you expect to use it again the same day) as any furler screecher is vulnerable to sudden wind gusts like you experienced.

Cheers to all,
D&D

[hanafe]

Coming back on an earlier topic concerning emergency switch off for the electric winches.
For around USD 100,- I installed 3 emergency switches for the 3 electric winches.
When the switch is in position off, than there is no power going to the foot switches anymore and shuts off the winches completly.
Works very well indeed.

See pictures inserted

[peterp]

Hello Hanafe and all, your system is a good one as you can switch them on and off whilst at action stations, good idea, well done. I am sure you know there are isolating breakers for the foot switches in the port cabin, since this subject came up I always turn them off when leaving the 400. Whilst on the power isolating subject when setting up my plotter's etc, I had a circuit breaker panel fitted at the chart table, wired so that one switch acted as a 'master' flip it on, that turns both plotters and wind / depth instruments, of course one can still turn them on/off individually. On another subject not sure if those that have one or more of the E120 touch screen plotters have got cought on this one, when motoring late one night into our marina which is fairly tight I had the plotter screen set to night so I could see OK, what I did not do prior to shutting down was reset it back to day, so the next time I went out I turned on the plotters in the normal way, of course it was still in night mode so the screen in sunlight was unreadable, I finished up wrapping a towel around my head and the plotter to make it dark enough for me to just make out the day/night toggle electronic switch on the plotter so I could switch it back to the 'day' setting, the E120 does have a dimmer function which is fine but the night/day switch is usefull for a one touch day/night setting, so since that night if I have had the plotters set to 'night' prior to shuting down I make sure I reset them to day. Regards Peter

[katsumi]

Originally Posted by peterp

Hello katsumi, next time we visit Port Douglas we will yell out or something. For your interest I have attached a couple of shots of my factory solar panels and the factory clears, the clears create a warm sunroom effect down south here in freezing Melbourne, not sure if you have them, if you haven't is that why you are fitting a extension out from the roof. Re the shower we will try it in the near future, good to have a heads up on the problem. Regards Peter

I really must check my settings, for some reason not getting emails when you reply to this thread and life gets in the way of me checking regularly enough! Will try harder, promise..

We are loving this boat/home/condomaran, very happy! We have been taking her out every weekend we can to Low Isles and spending a night, it's a great break and feels like a mini vacation. Kids have adapted well also.

The extension out the back is because we didn't get the clears, we wanted the space to stay big and with the weather here in Summer quite muggy hopefully it will give us more airflow. The stainlesss frame work is up just waiting for the top now and fabric has arrived in town so we expect it will be fitted this week. I will post photos.

We have also had covers made over the existing cockpit covers in a black mesh to give some sun protection up there, can leave them up while we travel, there is a fit in door as well. We are getting a similar set up all around those beautiful big front windows so we can leave the curtains open in the marina and still see the kids outside, plus sun screen advantage.

We were told the tramps could deteriorate quicker if not protected from UV and to have a tent made for the front, not sure what anyone else has heard? Think we might do this too since we liveaboard, will give added shade outside during the day.

Finally, the name is finally on - here are some photos

[peterp]

Thanks Katsumi, looks good I wonder, what is behind the name 'KATSUMI'. No doubt about it, if one is going to live full time on a cat the space in the 400 must be a bonus. I can understand the summer heat in Cairns must be challenging, but I imagine would be perfect this time of the year, it's been really cold down here, we should all move north this time of the year. Regards Peter

[katsumi]

Originally Posted by peterp

Thanks Katsumi, looks good I wonder, what is behind the name 'KATSUMI'. No doubt about it, if one is going to live full time on a cat the space in the 400 must be a bonus. I can understand the summer heat in Cairns must be challenging, but I imagine would be perfect this time of the year, it's been really cold down here, we should all move north this time of the year. Regards Peter

Peterp "Katsumi" is Japanese (we tend towards Japanese names a lot, our daughter's name is also Japanese, long story ) It means Victorious Beauty, or for us it means Victory. This has been a 20 year dream for us and it's finally happened so = Victory!

We find we have plenty of room that's for sure, even with two little monsters, there is always space, the girls have adapted really well now and the a/c keeps us cool when needed. At the moment it is just beautiful, we were on the beach all weekend enjoying the sun, just a little too cool for me though to swim, but I'm also happy just reading on the boat. Popping away for weekends like this even though only an hour away from port, it's like a holiday.

love it!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by katsumi

Finally, the name is finally on - here are some photos

What he said! Our Australian Vessel regsitration (necessary for the long delivery voyage...CatNirvana's Passport) was an incredible process, now finally completed with her 'Marking Note' being lodged with AMSA today.

Not an L400 true, but we like the L400 and it inspried us to look for, and find CatNirvana.

[peterp]

Looks very sharp Don, what's the meaning in 'Cat Nirvana' and what about the 'wow' factor we have discussed on occasions LOL.
Regards Peter

[D&D]

CatNirvana is our adaptation of her original name (Nirvana) which was already taken on the Australian Register of Ships. The Registrar offered us Nirvana VI -- 1 through 5 were also already taken! -- but we wanted something a bit special. Perhaps we're just superstitious (sp?!) mariners, but we were reluctant to discard her original name, especially with a 14000nm delivery voyage ahead...

The 'wow factor' is a work-in-progress at the moment Peter, but it's happening across a number of fronts, turning CatNirvana into a floating gallery/showroom. Our website will appear first; then some exhibitions on CatNirvana; and then the formal launch will be at the 2012 Sanctuary Cove Show. So stay tuned...Floating Impressions is coming!

[katsumi]

Originally Posted by D&D

What he said! Our Australian Vessel regsitration (necessary for the long delivery voyage...CatNirvana's Passport) was an incredible process, now finally completed with her 'Marking Note' being lodged with AMSA today.

Not an L400 true, but we like the L400 and it inspried us to look for, and find CatNirvana.

Hi D&D

boat looks great, bet you are happy now! BTW, I'm a she not a he, check out my avatar, lol.

We stopped in at Yamba on our way from Sydney to PD and the marina advised us of a courtesy bus that took us straight to the tavern, with a kids playground, it was great. Few bevvies later and the courtesy bus took us home, however we had found out that you can also tie up to the tavern for the night if you wish, have you heard of this? Yamba was lovely anyway, we will visit again I'm sure.

[katsumi]

Re floating shower drain cover,I have to shower 2 very active children every night so I can't keep up with pushing the pump button every 15 seconds and fed up with chasing the floating drain cover around the shower putting it back into place, we have a solution I have just sika-flexed 4 lead fishing sinkers underneath which has stopped the shower grill floating off. Works great and allows us still to be able to remove for cleaning, some photos attached.
Mr Katsumi!