Just bought a cat. Prepairing for Atlantic crossing

[YARGESOL]

Good day to All! Now,I'm the happy owner of the Malcolm Tennant 46 Timeliner catamaran. Survey proved her reputation (besides minor fixing and tuning).
In April myself + 5 friends planning to move her from Fort Lauderdale by the route: Bahamas-Bermudas-Azores-Baleares-Tarragona. In order to prepare for rough conditions I need advises:
1). Gale sale. Storm Jib and/or Trysel ? ATN storm jib looks easy to rise,but expensive and too forward. I think,better rig the storm jib ready in the bag in front of the mast, to hoist with spinaker halyard. Any Pros / contra and sail maker advise,please;
2). Jordan series drouge. Looks like a MUST HAVE. Where to get one ? I see one supplier linked to the designer site and some kit for DIY... Any options ?
3).Anchor. She's got 2 Fortress+fisherman. I'm going to replace one fortresss with Bruce,or Rocna. Any other suggestions ?
4). What is a good salami to take aboard as a main appetizer for six strong sailors ? Last time I got one in Publix, was pretty packed,but taste like a sawdust... Thanks in advance and regards!
Vladimir

[Sos]

Congratulations on your new bopat and good luck with the crossing.

The Mantus anchors appear to work very well - see sticky thread - so worth considering.

[YARGESOL]

Mantus looks great...but...very expensive in stainless steel..

[YARGESOL]

Does it make sence to run for SS ?? Or, galvanized will be OK ?

[Sos]

You do not need stainless steel. Galvanised will work just as well.

[Sailingveterinarian]

Roc as on my cat....work great

[Southern Star]

I would think that a series drogue should work particularly well on your boat as the cockpit is extremely well protected aft. You will, of course, need to install some chainplates (I believe the Jordan site has the specifications). There should be no problem with a kit as I expect the cones will be identical to the ones used by Ace Sailmakers (Jordan provided the specs to anyone who wanted them, free of charge).

As to a storm jib - yes the Galerider does set fairly far foward, but as you have no inner stay/chainplate, I suspect that it will be your only choice.

Anyway, congratulations on your new boat and fair winds for your delivery!

Brad

[pbr]

Sea anchor would be first then maybe a drogue.

[mark_morwood]

There are many opinions on sea-anchors versus drogues on catamarans, but my reading is that there are more people recommending drogues as #1 approach and maybe a sea-anchor as #2. For what it is worth, a number of sources, e.g. Catana, recommend against sea-anchors, but I have never heard of anyone recommending against drogues to slow the boat down in extreme conditions.

Our choice is to carry a Jordan Series drogue, but no sea-anchor. I have actually used a sea-anchor on a previous boat, but have decided for me that the negatives outweigh the benefits.

[Sand crab]

Most of the Italian salamis are really good but so expensive. May I recommend beef jerky? Keeps a long time, light weight, actually pretty low in fat but high in sodium. I like Oberto's especially for the price. Costco has it and it's just about everywhere else.

[YARGESOL]

Mark morwood, thanks - started to prepare the drogue;
Sand Crab - Jerky is a great idea(forgotten this american speciality). Not running to italian salami - I shall have plenty of Chorizo and Spanish Fuet in Spain, where I'm heading to. Therefore, any advise on American domestic (not imported) salami and smoked sausage, as well as hard cheese will be appreciated. I can't trust in labels...

[Stumble]

I would suggest once you get the big stuff out of the way, and think the boat is getting close to ready hiring a professional catamaran captain for a few days to go over the boat and make suggestions. There are a number of them around, but a quick call to Gunboat, Lagoon, whoever is local to track down an experienced heavy weather captain would be pretty easy.

There are all sorts of things that are just hard to do over the Internet...

Stocking a rig down bag, abandon ship bag, med kit, heavy weather kit, ect... I like to have all of these pre loaded and stored ready to go.

Once they are done, take the boat out in as bad a storm as you can find locally for a few days. Sea trials on nice days are great, right up until you get a storm at sea and realize the hatches all leak, or the jib tracks aren't backed properly, or the reefing system doesn't trim properly, or....

[YARGESOL]

Stumble, thanks for advise. Will consider