Author needing sailing catamaran details

[EliasB]

Hello everyone! I'm glad I found this forum and I'm hoping some of you might be able to help. First of all, I am a writer. I write fiction, mostly in the crime/mystery genre.

In my current work in progress the two main characters jump in the bad guy's sailboat and take off. Like me, neither of them have any experience operating a sailboat at all. However, I feel like I still need to be able to use the correct details (as opposed to calling everything a doohicky).

After they've escaped the bad guy they do find an operation guide so things get easier for them. The ship they take off in is something similar to (or exactly like) a Lagoon 620 so it is not a small ship. My problem is, I'm probably 600 miles from the nearest luxury sailing catamaran and my little duck boat and a summer spent working on a shrimp boat when I was a teenager are the extent of my boating experience.

First of all, does anyone have real world experience that you might be able to walk me through the initial engine start up and operation (such as backing it out of a slip)? A picture of the control schematic would be extra helpful as I've been unable to find it online.

Same for operating the sails the first time.

I found a Lagoon 450 operating manual online, is this similar to the 620?
Are there any other books you might recommend that the two main characters could find and use (and I could buy) that would be useful to them.

Of course being fiction this doesn't have to be exact but I try to stay as accurate in my writing as possible.

Any input is appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Ahoy Author!

What follows is written in a friendly tone of voice, with the sole intent to help you.

It seems like every year a new thread is started by someone who is an author or writer who wants to get ideas from sailors about boats and sailing for a book they are writing. In other words, you are not the first to have such a request.

Here are some previous threads started by other authors and writers where you may find tips and suggestions to help you. Don't let the titles fool you. Every author needs a good editor to pick a better title.

Good luck, and good writing!

Sincerely,
Steadman


Small one man sailboat [Sitemap] - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

Author Here to do Some Research! [Sitemap] - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rs-115290.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...vel-64431.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-dc-17234.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ta-156243.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nes-95021.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-110091.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ll-109571.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...2-a-95865.html

Can you help me with some sailing terms? [Sitemap] - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-157033.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-169181.html

[danielamartindm]

A sailing yacht would typically have an owner's manual aboard, but not instructions on how to sail. Sailors generally learn the basics of sailing on smaller craft, and are competent by the time they purchase a larger one. Making it a motor yacht, rather than a sailing yacht, would be more credible, as it's more like driving a car. Of course, fiction has a lower bar for such practical considerations.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by EliasB

After they've escaped the bad guy they do find an operation guide so things get easier for them. The ship they take off in is something similar to (or exactly like) a Lagoon 620 so it is not a small ship. My problem is, I'm probably 600 miles from the nearest luxury sailing catamaran and my little duck boat and a summer spent working on a shrimp boat when I was a teenager are the extent of my boating experience.

First of all, does anyone have real world experience that you might be able to walk me through the initial engine start up and operation (such as backing it out of a slip)? A picture of the control schematic would be extra helpful as I've been unable to find it online.

Same for operating the sails the first time.

I found a Lagoon 450 operating manual online, is this similar to the 620?
Are there any other books you might recommend that the two main characters could find and use (and I could buy) that would be useful to them.
!

That's funny. Just pull out the manual and 5 minutes later off to sea you go.

Don't mean to be harsh but if you want it realistic, give them lots of time to figure out how to start it then make it a comedy of errors as they forget to unhook the power cord and bang into a few docks and other boats on the way out.

[Yellowtulip]

Different boats have different engine starting procedures. I don't know the procedure for a Lagoon, but someone here will. I think it's credible foe someone to jump on a boat, start the engine and move it out of a marina if there's no wind or tide running. Lagoons may well have a joystick type control, which would make it quite intuitive. That would also be a reasonable fiction to introduce.
Sails are a different matter. Assuming that both sails are roller furling, perhaps electrically operated, it is credible that our two protagonists manage to unroll them. If they then switch off the engine, the boat will eventually just run off downwind. That may not be the right direction. They may play around with setting the sails at angles and sail in other directions, but meaningful progress is highly unlikely. Then there is the complex issue of seamanship and navigation. The most likely result of this sort of action is the boat running aground. It is highly unlikely that there will be a how-to-sail manual on board.
Perhaps you could have one of your characters with a small amount of sailing experience in his past? Otherwise, as someone else suggested, make it a motorboat.
The novelist Clare Francis, a renowned sailor, covered this issue in her novel "Night Sky".
Please let us know if and when the book is published, I'd like to read it.

[Sojourner]

As a former published author married to a published author, I can tell you that there is no quicker way to lose the trust of your readership than to not make your fiction even more true than reality.

There is absolutely no way someone with zero boat handling and sailing skills is going to be able to hop into any sailboat and 'drive' it away, not out of a marina, not off an anchor, not in any capacity except if they are asked to hold the wheel motoring (in a straight line in fair weather and calm seas) while I make some coffee.....although in reality I'd be on autopilot and have used my captain's authority to send you below to make the coffee for me Sailboat stealin' is rare for a reason; it ain't easy to do. Most sailboats I've been on (mine included) do have sailing guides and such, mainly for idle browsing or for guests, but to pick one up and be able to do more than scratch your chin is gonna be unbelievable.

As such, give your character previous sailing experience, or make it hilarious that he or she cannot even get ten meters without snagging the keel on the slimelines or grounding in the shallow end of the marina or having the bow blown onto the million dollar motorboat he should have stolen one slip over....

[Bean Counter]

Why don't you book a holiday on a charter cat in the Caribbean, with a Captain for a week, you will learn all you need to know for the purposes of the book, and you will have a beautiful location and some peace to continue writing, get the costs as a tax deduction against all the profits you will make from a top seller...

[Tetepare]

LOL. I have a manual for a Porsche with a 6 speed stick shift. That won't make it operable by the average idiot. A catamaran is more difficult to operate.

I'm a writer too, but of reference work. First print run yesterday sold out in two hours.

Anyway, here are some possible scenarios of varying realism based on such an event on the south shore of Lake Ontario. You can modify to suite your location, but the boating details are the same.

Jim and Tyrone decide to steal a catamaran and make a getaway. At 3am on a beautiful night they go to a marina and break into the cat. They try to start the motors but can't figure out how to, so they go boost a Honda Accord in the parking lot and drive off. That's your most likely scenario.

OR

They start the motors. Hurried to leave, they can't figure out how to get the dockline loops off the cleats. So they go boost the Honda.

OR

Since they can't get the lines off they start cursing and cut the lines. Boat neighbor Ted is awakened and looks to see WTF is going on. Jim and Tyrone threaten him. Ted goes below deck, turns on every light on the boat, and despite being 3am uses the phone to call everyone in the marina. People wake up and shine big lights on the cat. Tyrone gets scared and fires a shot. The marina boaters open up on Tyrone with dozens of rifle rounds from rifles they were supposed to surrender or register and didn't. The cop who lives near the marina, having heard the noise, grabs his Glock and AR15, shows up to see Jim and Tyrone all shot up, and decided he don't wanna know nuffin'. He goes home. Coast Guard shows up 12 hours later.

OR

Somehow Jim and Tyrone cut the lines, and throw the boat in reverse. They smash into a piling, then another boat, and then yet another boat. See the part about where they get all shot up.

OR

It's a Monday night, and there's not a lot of boaters aboard. So they cut the lines, bounce off boats and docks, and head out toward open water. After five minutes an alarm sounds, and then smoke starts pouring out of the boat. The motors stop, and Jim and Tyrone are sitting on the cat, still, dark waters lapping at the hull with the call of a loon in the distance. The Coast Guard shows up 12 hours later.

OR

The motors stop, seized because the thru-hulls were closed. A light breeze drives waves against the hull. Armed with the user's manual, Jim and Tyrone unfurl the sails. They are blown on the rocks because they have no idea how to sail and the manual can't teach them that. The noise awakens a local cottage owner, who calls 911. The local fire department shows up, Jim and Tyrone threaten them, so the local FD boys board the boat and beat the living ship out of them both. It's 6am now, but the FD boys decide they did a good job, so go cook up some bacon and have a few Budweisers. The Coast Guard shows up 12 hours later.


****

It takes me 20 minutes to get my boat off dock. Turn on DC power, open thru hulls, flip switches, disconnect shore power, drop dock lines, winch handles on deck. If I had to find all that stuff on an unknown boat it would take me longer.

It is unlikely that two crooks who don't know beans about boating could even figure out how to disconnect the shore power cable, meaning they are connected to the dock and can't leave. And, while they might be able to cut the dock lines, cutting the shore power cable presents another scenario not described above.

The only way Jim and Tyrone are going to boost a catamaran is if they are savvy boaters already.

***

In re-reading OP, I realize Jim and Tyrone are the good guys. OK, so the non-boating parts have changed. The part about boating hasn't.

To draw an analogy for this outrageously impossible scenario, I present to you a user's manual for a cello: http://www.kkmusicstore.com/page.html?chapter=5&id=41

[Mr B]

Hahahaha, I did exactly that, Bought a Sailing Catamaran in Fiji, Just a small one, 34 ft,

I do have over fifty years of Motor boat experience tho,

If it wasnt for the previous owner being on board for a day and a half to show me how things worked,

I couldnt even start the engine, Let alone any thing else on it, Hahahahaha

Its just not get on it, Turn the key and away you go like a motor boat,

This thing is very complicated, It has all these systems that make you scratch your head,
If you have never sailed, Forget it, Dont even try,

Take a trip on a Catamaran, you will see what I am talking about,
Some one has to show you what every thing does and how it works,

Cheers, Brian,

[valhalla360]

I like the charter boat idea.

Except, ask them to let you try and take it out before the debriefing on how everything works. They can only stop you if you are going to damage something.

I'll bet you 10-1, it takes more than 2 hours and they stop you at least 10 times before you are out on the water with sails up running in the direction of your destination.

One of the big issues is it's not like a car where you get in the drivers seat and the steering wheel, brake pedals and key are all in the same positions and work pretty much the same way. Every boat is different and the same items may be located in completely different locations....sometimes even on the same boat.

Reminds me of one summer in college I got a job setting up the county property auction. Of course when we got a dump truck in, I HAD TO MOVE IT TO A BETTER LOCATION. I must have spent a hour messing around (It wasn't a very serious job). Never was able to get it into any gear other than the creeper gear. I think it was around 3500rpm and maxing out around 3mph. Good thing I didn't have to back it up because I never did find reverse.

[leboyd]

As Steadman said, the following is meant in a friendly tone and as helpful.

All of the above, plus a 60+ footer is like moving a barge. Few without a lot of experience "DIY it". Many who can afford a 60+ foot cat just have a hired captain for quite a while. Getting one of those in/out of a marina can be a challenge and takes a lot of time.

Even holding it in a straight line with the engines and not sailing can be difficult for some. We went on a charter with another couple with no sailing experience. The first two days neither of the other couple could hold the boat in a straight line with the engine (monohull). Several times we went around in a quick circle.

As Tetepare suggested, you'd be better off having them fail and then boost a car.

Or, have a captain sleeping on board, gets kidnapped and forced him to sail the boat - only to use the VHF to alert the authorities by keying the mic when the kidnappers aren't looking.

But you lost me at the 62 footer.

[goat]

https://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Dummi.../dp/0471791431

You're welcome.

goat

[John_Trusty]

@Tetepare - Thank you so much for giving me a chuckle at my desk on this grey spring morning! Brilliant.

[grantmc]

Enjoyed Tetepare's little narrative and I read the manual on cellos very carefully and am now a qualified cellist (see I even know to leave out the O). So I'll apply to join the local chamber orchestra latter today.

But the scenario painted of a couple of idiots trying to zoom off in a boat without a clue I see at the local boat ramp most days through the Summer.

I didn't realise what a serious boat a Lagoon 620 is (after a bit of an internet search and looking at 620 porn). So bought new, what at least $US2M approx.? and monthly costs more than I earn a year probably.

Ignore the ability to get the boat started, underway and out of the harbour.

Stealing a boat like that would require the services of a specialist thief.
You'd have to get past the marina security ie. locked gates, cameras and security guards.

And the boat would have a serious security system in its own right, a GPS tracker, and of course AIS. So access to a smart phone would give the boats exact position in about 15 seconds from anywhere in the world.

So could Tyrone not have a lover, who say works as the bad guys skipper? A love interest allows a bit of spice and if per chance your book becomes a movie there's much opportunity for nefarious nudity. Maybe the bad guy also wants the woman (sorry I'm stereotyping as Tyrone may prefer Steve over Eve). So that allows a bit of attempted rapey and that would certainly boil Tyrone's veins. But at least then she/he (the captain) would have access and knowledge?

The plot thickens. Maybe we could write the book here on CF as a joint venture? Elias would then be our guide and editor. Now where's a cello I can try my new skills on?

[snort]

May I suggest they steal something less conspicuous? How about a 60's Piver trimaran. Nobody will care or even notice that it's gone, making escape much easier.