Trans-Atlantic in a Catalac

[syoung33]

What do people think about the suitablity of a Catalac 8m for an Atlantic crossing (East to West) ?

I'm guessing that as there seems to be plenty of Catalacs in the USA, there must have been plenty of crossings in the past. Does anyone know of any websites/blogs describing these?

Thanks,

Simon

[Tropic Cat]

Yes they have crossed the Atlantic, but I would imagine the crossings occurred before the inventions of blogs or websites. This is what happened with my boat. I'm not aware of any recent crossings of Catalac 8Ms, as folks who buy a boat with crossing the Atlantic in mind, naturally select larger boats. An option which wasn't as available 20 years ago.

As for suitability. A trade wind crossing can be done, but supplies for 30 days at sea would really tax the capabilities of this boat. Can it be done safely..since it has been done, I'd have to say... yes... but as a guy in his 50's I would personally demand more comfort.. It's really too small a cat to cross oceans, especially if it has an outboard engine (refrigeration, battery charging, water making, etc..)

I feel that a Catalac 10M or a 12M would be a better choice.

[syoung33]

Thanks for the reply Rick. Yes I figured the crossings would all have been done in pre-blogging / web days but hoped there might be something out there.

Depending on the weather I think I might take Sea Spirits round the coast to Cornwall this summer, and then possibly Biscay.... I'm not so worried about comfort, my previous boat was a Wharram Tiki 26, and the Catalac still feels like a palace in comparison :-)

Simon

[DaveC]

Even if you never cross the Atlantic, they sure have plenty of room in the cockpit for having drunken parties for talking about crossing the Atlantic!..... and lightning fuzzies, and IPhone Timers, and other things which are lost in the fuzz of the Kali Kai and turpentine.....



-Dave


PS: This is an inside joke for those of you who's brain locked up trying to comprehend...

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by DaveC

Even if you never cross the Atlantic, they sure have plenty of room in the cockpit for having drunken parties for talking about crossing the Atlantic!..... and lightning fuzzies, and IPhone Timers, and other things which are lost in the fuzz of the Kali Kai and turpentine.....

Hey, it's you Cape Dory guys who are bad influences on us poor catamaran sailors.

Remember...what happens on Catalpa...stays on Catalpa.

[boatman61]

As a former owner of a Tiki 21 and 26 in the past I'm of the opinion that the Catalac 8m is well capable of the Biscay and the Atlantic... as you probably know both the 21 and 26 have crossed the Atlantic and they managed to carry adequate supplies... so the Catalac will have no probs...
Just a case of the further you go the faster you go as she gets lighter with each day...lol.
There's them that need "Comfort" in what they've got and them that feel comfortable with what they've got...

But then I'm a Nutter

[sww914]

I think you could do it but you'd need a watermaker and a lot of Top Ramen.
My good friend hiked the whole John Muir Trail when he was 20. He didn't have a lot of money so he did the whole trip on nothing but Top Ramen 3 meals a day for 20 days. It's cheap and light.
I asked him if he still liked Top Ramen. He says, "Dude, I never even want to SEE another F^%&ing Top Ramen;" (he almost never curses)
At one point they hiked down to a town to the post office to pick up their shipment of Top Ramen. There was one restaurant in the town and they'd been dreaming of a cheeseburger for 5 days. The restaurant was closed and they sat on the sidewalk and cried for 1/2 an hour.
I like cheeseburgers too, but they've never made me cry.