Living At Anchor On A Monohull

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Not saying that plenty of monos don't go to some of these same areas, but when you can float in less than 3 feet of water, or even take the ground when the tide goes out, it opens up a whole new world of cruising. Having said that a lot of the big cats are not really all that shoal draft, which is a shame because like I said I think that is a huge advantage.

I feel the same. I've cruised the Bahamas in a person tri with a 2-foot draft, a mono with a 3-foot draft, my present mono with 4-3, and chartered a couple that were over 5-feet. The differences in where I can go is amazing, including some shallower water, more protected anchorages. That's not to say one can't cruise the Bahamas even with 6-feet: Obviously many do, but for cruising areas with lots of shallow water like the Bahamas, shallower draft really does open up many more options, including anchorages.

The importance of course depends on where one wan's to anchor. If someone just wants to get to Georgetown as quickly as possible and anchor for the season, draft won't matter much. If one enjoys gunkholing and anchoring in some of the less visited areas, then shallower draft will open up a whole new world of opportunities.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by nautical62

... The differences in where I can go is amazing, including some shallower water, more protected anchorages.....If one enjoys gunkholing and anchoring in some of the less visited areas, then shallower draft will open up a whole new world of opportunities.

Very true. When living in SW FL, I switched from a mono with 5.5' draft to a cat with 3.3' -- this opened up lots of new possibilities for anchorages. Instead of avoiding areas charted at 6', I could now seek them out as anchorages! Sure is nice to have a lot less chain to haul up too.

And, being in a shallow, well protected anchorage, during snotty weather, definitely equates to more comfort at anchor.

You could of course do this with a shoal draft monohull as well, but their sailing performance generally suffers. If I went this route I would look into something with a center board.

As pointed out, shoal draft is also quite handy in crowded anchorages which have a shallow spot in them.

[SailFastTri]

As a trimaran owner for over 10 years, and former monohull owner (for more than 15 years before that) who has chartered cats many times, AT ANCHOR nothing beats a cat. There are trade-offs in all boat designs/builds, but for at-anchor: cats rule.

[Bash]

I like the fact that I can carry 300' of chain in my mono's chain locker without it effecting performance. Helps me sleep better when I'm on the hook.

[Cheechako]

You certainly dont have to have a cat to be happy, but the big advantages are:

• Space, ease of getting in and out of the cabin (usually one easy step.. not up and down a ladder)
• entertaining space in the cockpit and salon,
• No "death rolls" when a big boat goes by,
• ease of getting in the dingy/swimming,
• ease of storing the dingy when sailing or for security at night (davits between the hulls).....
• engine room space (no longer standing on your head!)
• Oh... and fishing out the escape hatches!

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Bash

I like the fact that I can carry 300' of chain in my mono's chain locker without it effecting performance. Helps me sleep better when I'm on the hook.

You'd probably sleep even better if you got the anchor and chain out of the locker and deployed it - Just sayin'...

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Bash

I like the fact that I can carry 300' of chain in my mono's chain locker without it effecting performance. Helps me sleep better when I'm on the hook.

I could carry 300' of chain too, and then my boat might be as slow as yours

(Sorry, couldn't resist. Please take it as a friendly "barb" )

Edit: Seriously though -- if you really don't think your boat would sail better with less weight than you should unload the chain as a test and you'll experience the difference.

[CarlF]

It's really not appropriate to compare a 40ft cat to a 40ft mono. It's like asking which is more comfortable a 32ft cat or a 40ft cat?

Compare confort on equal price - a 40ft cat to 50ft mono -- and it's a tougher set of trade offs. The cat's draft advtange is very real but a big mono is pretty steady in normal conditions.

Carl

[mkjhartmann]

I've been told that the point of ultimate stability on a cat is upside down. Really all I needed to know.

[belizesailor]

Come on guys lets not start this same old multi vs mono rubbish. As pointed out earlier there have been some good objective replies to this thread.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by mkjhartmann

I've been told that the point of ultimate stability on a cat is upside down. Really all I needed to know.

Why do you walk upright?

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by mkjhartmann

I've been told that the point of ultimate stability on a cat is upside down. Really all I needed to know.

Why are you trying to be confrontational, that comment does not help anyone. In fact it is just plain stupid. And where this discussion falls down is we are lumping all multi hulls against all mono hulls. They are so diverse it is impossible. If you compare a 30' racing mono to a 30' mono daysailer to a 30' cruising mono You end up with some very different arguments, the same with Multi hulls.
Edit: Average draft of a cruising mono is 6' average draft of a cruising Cat is 4'.

[rebel heart]

I think some of you guys with the shallow drafts are on the east coast of the USA. For those of us on the West Coast, 50-100' anchoring depths is pretty normal. Anything in the 10-30' range is down right amazing. A lot of the islands and coastline around here goes from 100' to 0' in a boat length.

Not everyone on a sailboat lives on the east coat putzing around in the Bahamas.

[Astrid]

And some of us haven't seen anything tropical for so long that the tropics might as well be as apocryphal as Fiddler's Green.

[colemj]

The best boat at anchor is any boat that gets you on anchor. The view is the same.

I think the ability for multis to anchor in shallower water is overstated as an advantage. Although technically true, and can separate the multis from the truly deep draft vessels, there are few places where this really makes a difference for boats with drafts <=6'. The biggest advantage is the psychological one - mono's have a fear of anchoring where multis are because they think it is shallow! But shhhh -don't tell any monos about this.

The one area where multis at anchor truly shine is when a small, long period swell is working its way into a bay. This happens quite often where we have cruised. What happens is the prevailing winds keep boats pointed into them, but an almost unnoticeable swell gets around the point of the bay and comes in from abeam.

The monos start slowly rolling like a pendulum until they get into resonance and violently become a metronome until they get out of resonance and go still again. Only to start back up a minute later.

A catamaran with two hulls will never get into resonance in these conditions and it is rare that we even notice the swell at all until we start to wonder why all the monos are rolling rail to rail and stopping again. There has been a large number of times where all the monos have left anchorages we and other multis have found to be perfectly still and calm.

But rolling is a very small price to pay to enjoy cruising. I wouldn't let the inability to procure a multi stop me from getting out here.

Mark