Returning to multihull sailing need advice

[Armyduck]

Hi everyone,

Im in the army in aviation, and enjoy the freedom flying provides. However with gas prices continually on the rise flying forever is not an option. Growing up I spent several summers sailing on sunfish and hobbiecats which instilled the same freedom I enjoy today living as a bird. Im looking to get back into sailing, its been a good 10 years since I touched a boat. I know its not something I can jump back into over night, Im aiming for ~3-5 years to be where I want to be when I end my time in service. Im looking for advice on getting back into the sport/lifestyle and just lessons people have learned. I am from Ocean City, NJ and want to liveabord a cat there or near there when I get out as theres the freedom to cruise, Im aiming for trips along the coast across several states and biannual trips to the islands. A perfect world would be an endstate of charters along the eastern seaboard.

I understand I should not buy something for where I want to be in 5 years, but by the same token I want something that I can get proficent crewing solo while going out for a weekend with friends and wont be a massive learning curve/skill gap when the time comes to jummp to something capable of cruising the distance. For now im looking to sail Lake Ontario and the St Laurence sea way eventually leading to trips between the lake and NJ. I have the price range now of 30-100k and I get theres fees on top of just paying off a boat like mooring and maintence.

[Therapy]

Try a Gemini.

gemini Boats For Sale

[senormechanico]

Corsair makes cats and tris.

Corsair Marine Trailerable Trimaran - Yacht Models

You can get a used F27 or similar for not a lot of money as they're pretty commonly available.
Dragonfly boats are $$ but upper end of the comfort, fit and finish quality scale.

Dragonfly Trimarans by Quorning Boats of Denmark | welcome

Dragonfly boats for sale - www.yachtworld.com

That ought'a get you started.

Steve

[Armyduck]

Has anyone considered or know the viability of living on a cat in the winter up north, water temp a few degreese above freezing and air temps like -10F to 40F

[ShaktisBoy]

Originally Posted by Armyduck

Has anyone considered or know the viability of living on a cat in the winter up north, water temp a few degreese above freezing and air temps like -10F to 40F

Im not sure about some of the older model cats but I can tell you ours gets cold fast if the temp drops.

[Armyduck]

I would have thought newer cats made out of fiberglass and styrafoam would be more resistant to temperature changes since thats what home insulation is made out of. A oil filled electric radiator in each hull with a fan for circulation to regulate temperature.

[robert sailor]

Winter is where that extra space works against you

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by Armyduck

I would have thought newer cats made out of fiberglass and styrafoam would be more resistant to temperature changes since thats what home insulation is made out of. A oil filled electric radiator in each hull with a fan for circulation to regulate temperature.

Thermal insulation, as with some sound insulation systems, works due to dead air spaces trapped in the material or between layers of materials. That is, by making the material less dense does it become effective as insulation. Wet suits made of closed cell neoprene works under the same principal.

Of course, you could go the other way and go really dense in order to capture radiant heat. In this case, you want as close to zero voids as possible. But with that mass comes weight which is what you want in a building on land but not on a boat.

A fan would tend to cool the air according to Bernoulli. Of course, eventually you would get to the desired temp, it would just take longer and consume more energy to do so. That is prolly more theoretical because you could just up the BTUs for a given space which would offset any induced inefficiency. And that inefficiency is prolly measured in milliAmps and a few dollars on your energy bill for a 40' boat. Better than a blower fan is a low V fan to draw the air at low velocity from the heater toward the fan.

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Winter is where that extra space works against you

Segment that space into several smaller spaces. Smaller spaces come up to temp in less time although depending upon material used to segment the space, the smaller space has a more rapid heat loss.