Advice&help needed to make up our minds

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Gunther wurth

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Doubt you'll match that on a mono under 65ft.. all production cats I've sailed slam sooner or later...
Save your money.. go in the Dean..

[belizesailor]

You already own a cat, which you just recently purchased and love..what about it does not meet your needs?

A 36' cat is easily as roomy as a 43' mono and its not like living in a shot gun shack (one long hallway) for your guests. The traffic patterns below deck are more spread out, cabins have more privacy, and you have way more above deck space, plus more salon + cockpit space.

I transitioned from a 37' mono to a 35' cat because my late wife wanted room to have guests aboard. With 4 double cabins we can easily accomodate 2 more couples as guests (one cabin gets used for storage). Ive run charters with as many as 6 guests aboard (2 guests per cabin, crew sleeping in main salon/cockpit, still room for 1 crew to sleep in storage cabon). While 6 guests is a bit crowded, less can be very comfortably accomodated.

Just for sundowners/day sails, Ive had a dozen guests aboard quite comfortably several times.

For several seasons in the San Blas now, we've had 2 to 5 guests aboard quite comfortably for up to a week.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by SeaSon

NO ONE WILL EVER VISIT. they all want to, but they never do. If they ever were to visit, they can stay in a hotel or you can rough it for a few days. But they won't.

That is our plan, we are on a 38' mono, which is plenty of room for the two of us. I finally convinced the wife that when family comes to visit, we will rent them a room in a resort or something, that they we both would be more comfortable that way and they could stay on the boat with us during the day.
I can do that as I do not believe that will be very often if ever, but the Wife doesn't want to accept that reality, and I don't need to burst her bubble either

[Cheechako]

I wouldn't buy a boat based on visitor space really.... not for long distance cruising anyway. You may get a couple visitors in a few years of cruising.
Slamming would bother me , I don't know the Dean that well though so don't know how low the bridgedeck is. There is nothing wrong with a mono for sure, you are going to find a much bigger mono still feels small compared with your cat. I went from a 47 ft mono to a 42 foot cat. The mono was down 5" on the waterline from all the gear aboard, the same gear lowered the cat 1.5 - 2".
The cat is far more comfortable at sea to me, it just feels "point and go". I don't mind the jerky motion. The mono rolls etc and I'm not fond of that. Still, boat to boat, I feel safer in a long keel mono were I to get into really rough weather.

[TheThunderbird]

Do consider monohull with a stern cabin, if comfort is paramount

There are at least 5 reasons i dislike cats, but i keep it for myself :-)

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by SeaSon

NO ONE WILL EVER VISIT. they all want to, but they never do. If they ever were to visit, they can stay in a hotel or you can rough it for a few days. But they won't.

1+

Sadly visitors will be few and far between. As long as you don't try taking any on a passage, having them for a few days will be just fine.

Stick with the boat you have.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

That is our plan, we are on a 38' mono, which is plenty of room for the two of us. I finally convinced the wife that when family comes to visit, we will rent them a room in a resort or something, that they we both would be more comfortable that way and they could stay on the boat with us during the day.
I can do that as I do not believe that will be very often if ever, but the Wife doesn't want to accept that reality, and I don't need to burst her bubble either

Hoping the wife never reads this post?

[Suijin]

If livability and having a great platform for diving and other activities is your primary criteria, then the cat wins hands down.

If enjoying sailing is your primary criteria is your main criteria, then the monohull wins hands down. Sailing a cat is pretty much like driving a truck, even if it is faster foot for foot.

Save your money and invest it in upgrades repairs to your current boat. If you sell it, and buy a later model monohull you'll lose out financially. Also, most less expensive production monohulls start to need refits at about 7 years (generalization), so you'll not be buying that much time on the refit schedule.

[donradcliffe]

The big advantage to the cats are more comfort at anchor, but when I went boat shopping you could get a whole lot more boat for the money with a used mono. More boat means more room, more load carrying capacity, more speed, and more safety. In 15 years of cruising, we had guests less than a dozen times.

[Scout 30]

Selling a boat you already own that is adequate for the task at hand in order to buy something to please possible future visitors makes sense if you're opening a Bed & Breakfast but not if you're planning on going cruising.