Which Is Which ?

[Peter Richardso]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Keep talking to "guys", and pretty soon you'll learn that you shouldn't buy ANY boat.

I'm surprised you don't already know that cats are dangerous, flip all over the place, can't cross oceans, shouldn't be taken out of sight of land, etc etc....

This particular fellow had just got his cored monohull back in the water after a about 11 months on hardstands getting the whole hull relaminated he noticed small bisters in the hull when he first bought it (not sure when)but he was assured that it was solid glass only to find out later that it wasn't wow what an expensive exercise, his advice to me was never buy a cored hull as you never know what is really happening under that glass.

As far as to say you shouldn't buy any boat, an old sailing mate of mine believes that there are only two great days when you buy a boat, the day you buy it and the day you sell it.

[Panaseaya]

Leave the money with me and i'll sort things out for you. Guaranteed!

[Peter Richardso]

Originally Posted by Panaseaya

Leave the money with me and i'll sort things out for you. Guaranteed!

I'm sure you would Abdu Sai Pulimaleg

[Cheechako]

The bahia and venizia were not the quality of the lagoon in the 90s. I looked at them all.

[Peter Richardso]

Thanks for that, this is shortening the list. At this stage its lagoons v's leopards with more preference towards leopards with the perry hanging in there.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I am currently in your position, I am looking for a cat between 38 and 45 foot, I found Yachthub to contain a lot of cats, from all over,
I am currently in the process of buying a 34 foot Gemini from Fiji, I was looking at a 38 foot prout at Sandringham, but internal area is probably the same as the Gemini, A lot more expensive for the prout,
Fountain 36 foot, new is $400,000 AUD. Gemini 34 foot, is $300,000 AUD new, Seawind is about $500,000AUD new,
Just some thing for you to go on.

New 1000XL2 (35ft) is $299,000 ATM. Normal Retails is $341,000.

[webejammin]

We love our little 02 Gemini 105Mc and you can find great used ones at a great price.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by webejammin

We love our little 02 Gemini 105Mc and you can find great used ones at a great price.

How do you find it handles, Do you live on it at all, What problems have you found with it,
I have just bought a 2003 model, Sight unseen.
I bought it from just research on the internet,
I still have to sail it back from Fiji,
Any advice would be appreciated,
Any little tricks that the vessel is prone too.
Mine was a good price for me, But about the average that they are going for,

[webejammin]

Yes my wife and I live on sailing vessel 'We Be Jammin'. along with a full sized piano key board 2 guitars,banjo, dobro, bass , fiddle and mandolin the closets are nice and big. We have been having our first going crusing yard sale a couple of weeks ago but we've been living aboard for almost a year. We purchased in San Diego last Oct and didn't get her trucked up the coast to Portland Or untill Nov. We didn't want to buck the fall weather and waves crusing north. We have had little problems other than corrosion on the elect pannel on the ground connection. We love our screecher on it's furrler and we can get average speeds of 10 kt's very easy in 15 to 20 kt breezes. Our best speed was 14 kt's but the thunder storm winds of 30 mph blew out our top main batten but it was a blast without surffing ocean waves. I have read that if your surffing big waves you might to put your centerboards down a little to break and keep good control at 18kt's

The very first thing you need to buy if it doesn't have one is a speed knob for the wheel. One of the first things to practice is spinning the boat 360 deg without moving foward or back to get used to docking and the speed knob really helps turning the wheel complete in each direction quickly. Most bigger cats have 2 motors and spinning is easier but on the Gemini after a little practice it is easy. You'll use this move to get in and out of marinas under good control. Also docking with the centerboards down really works even in a stiff breeze and if there up you'll slide side ways too easy in tight places.

Sorry I'm putting things down as I think of them.

There is a Gemini group on Yahoo.com it is a more serious group and have gone thru about all maintance and modifications and have a lot of info to offer.

We love the way the centerboards lift the leward hull and level out the boat and if you bump a whale or a reef they fold up to get out of the way.

We had some condensation under our bed mattresses and bought a product called HyperVent that puts about .75 inch of air under the mattresses.

What options did you get ? hammoc seat ? dingy davit ? windless with 35 lb CQR for a good night's sleep ? Garmin chartplotter ?

[Mr B]

Good to hear, especially from some one who has one,
Brand new in September 2003,
Easier to start with what it doesn't have,
Anchor winch. Screecher, Factory one, But it has the rest,

I bought it because the owner had a full Bimini cover made for it, Full Isenglass cockpit enclosure, essential down here in the cold climes, It is in parts, so bits and pieces can be added or taken off depending on the weather,

It has the full factory option dingy davit, Hammock and full canopy over and cushions, removable tray on the transom, Has Kyack brackets on the sides.

Extra solar panels, 4 off, 6 bladed Rutland 913 wind generator. Furuno Radar. Raymarine echo sounder. Garmin GPS, ECDIS, Autopilot.VHF Uniden and a portable VHF. 6 GPH TEC Little wonder. water maker, 1211 hours on the motor, Epirb 406. US Coast guard safety Kit, 9 foot westmarine dinghy W/Yamaha 4 stoke 4HP outboard.


Brand new Jib, never used, Roller furling Genoa, Extra fans for the rear berths, H/C shower on the transom. Two anchors, But I will make one here, one that doesnt let go no matter what ground your in, I cant think of the name of it, AGM batterys, New, and one motor battery.Stainless infrared BBQ,
Drogue sea anchor. Flat panel t/v in the Captains quarters.CD Player and speakers
I was going to get a screecher for it, But now I will buy a sail chute for it instead. $2200-00 AUD all inclusive, ready to fly,

Much better for the long trips and not as much hassle using it, weighs 8 KGS
28 feet in diameter, its a round sail. like a parachute, use it instead of a spinnaker or screecher,

Its the one that Kitesailers use. but bigger, It lifts the bows up out of the water.

So theroretically, a higher speed can be obtained, in lighter winds.

Its called the TERE HAU NUI, Tahitian for smooth sailing,

Plus a lot off other stuff thats included

Multihulls4us has a good description of it, and a full inventory,
Look for,

2003 Gemini in Fiji,

Cheers,
Brian.

[webejammin]

It sounds great. Our boat didn,t have the dingy davit or the hammoc seat which we added easly and it really makes walking the back deck in rough waters really nice, at least if you loose your footing you land in the hammoc instead of falling off. We also added a windless and the CQR anchor with 75 ft of chain rode plus 250 ft of 5/8 " rode. The full enclosure really works nice in cooler and wet weather and we have made sunshade cover for the real sunny weather sence it gets into the 100's F in our summer like today. We got to our home port in mid Nov and got hit by a cold winter storm just a couple of days later and it got down to 5 deg above 0 F for a week or so with ice about 2 inches on the deck and lines and we survived really well with 5 small ceramic heaters one in each corner of the boat and one keeping the cockpit and motor warm and working. The rest of our winter was in the 20's and 40's F and we were living aboard all winter.
I moved our almost new Garmin 5208 chartplotter and HD radar from our old boat before selling it. I sailed it from San Diago to Catalina Island and back on a Garmin Hand held GPS with no problems before trucking it north.

I just pulled out the fuel tanks to clean out crap and a little water condensate and it only took about an hour for each tank really easy maintance. We added 2 AGM batteries to the existing 3 and it had never had an internal 110 battery charger just the std solar pannels. Get you an oil change suction pump (hand held) to change the motor oil and it only takes about 20 min to change the oil.
We did change the name because it's name in spanish ment HELL BOY not what we wanted sence we play bluegrass gospel some times, Yes we did the entire name change ceremony.

Keep in contact with me and go to the Yahoo Gemini forum for more details on fixes .

You will be suprised at how easy it sails in 5 to 6 ft wind waves like setting in a big pickup truck driving down a smooth gravel road , we danced in the cockpit when we hit 10 kt's in 29 kt breezes with just the main up. It sails really great and is easy to handle on open water. If you go to the Performance Crusing web site for the Gemini you will find the story of how the company owner and his son sailed from the factory in Annaplois on our east coast to England across the north Atlantic and how they handled huge waves and big winds , surfing straight down big waves at 16 to 18 kt's using the autopilot.

There's a Canadian couple sailing there Gemini 105MC around the world called Slapdash. They started in the Bahamas where they bought there used boat and went west thru the Panama and to Hawaaii and then the Orient where they got put on a ship to avoid pirates near the Red Sea and last I heard there in the Meditranian near Greece having a ball and after hurrican season there headed to the Bahamas to complete the circumnavication. There biggest problem so far has been getting hit by lightning and having to rewire there electronics which could happen to any boat.

Post about your cruse home when you pick up the boat.

[Mr B]

Thanks for the info on yours,
I seen that delivery video of the Gemini going across the Nth Atlantic early on in my looking process, A huge factor in my buying one,

The Gemini's are all the same design since about 2000, If it could handle those seas with out falling apart or sinking or self destructing, That speaks for itself,
I dont intend sailing in those types of seas, But if I get caught out in that type of weather, Its nice to know the boat you are sailing is capable of getting you out of it, Safely and in one piece,

The Southern Ocean runs right across the bottom of OZ, then Bass Straight and the Tasman Sea is the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay,
I have worked on the docks most of my life in Melbourne as well as up north, The storys the sailers tell me of the seas that they have just sailed in coming from Tassie and New Zealand, and across the bottom,
Makes you not want to go out there,
I know this because I asked how their ships get so damaged, as I have to repair the damage caused by the crossings,
A wave smashing the 10th floor window off the water line, equates to a 70 foot wave, You cant call that a smooth sea, Hahahahaha,

And container ships losing containers over the side to waves crashing into them, Thats a huge wave as well, Stand on the dock and look up at the containers, you are already 20 feet above the water line, and the containers are another 20 feet above you, These vessels cant wait for nice weather, They sail in the crap weather, Time is money and they dont and cant wait for a sunny day to sail, Hahahahaha,

It is an ocean going Blue water vessel with out dispute, I was very impressed with its capability,
Tho I have been told it is only a coastal cruiser, Hahahahaha.

We get the same extremes of weather here as you do, -4C to +45C so the enclosed cockpit is essential for me to live on it. I am not young and tough any more, I need the creature comforts, And sailing in freezing weather is not fun or healthy.

Yahoo Gemini actually want you to pay to join, I dont pay for any thing on the internet,
They have advertisers to pay for that, which I think is a good idea, as the advertisers usually have products aligned to the site you are on, So if you want to buy something, you can see their adds on there, WIN WIN, so to speak.

If you need help to fix some thing or want info on the net, Just type in what your problem is and what it is on, or what you want, The world will reply to help you, Google is your friend, Hahahaha
I just typed in Catamarans for sale, I got fifty sites selling Cats, worldwide, Incredible,
Cruiser forums came up as well. Whats a cruiser forum, and here I am.

The best part is the Survey being done, and now commited to buying it, I can now actually commit to buying things for it, Rather than sitting here thinking about what I can or cant do, or maybe if only, Hahahahaha The wait has been killing me,
I will keep in touch, Happy sailing,
Brian,

[simonmd]

Yes, they have crossed oceans so it can be done but most will tell you that these are coastal boats only. It's reported that the delivery skipper featured in the above mentioned video said he'd never do another but they did indeed make it in one piece.

I own a very similar boat, not a quick or as lively as the Gemini but the layout is almost identical as one of the Catalac designers went on to work for Gemini. I can tell you that you won't be having many huge parties in her but for a liveaboard they make perfect sence and yes, having an enclose 'wheelhouse' is a deffinate bonus especialy if you're going to do some night passages.

One tip i've read on the 105 is to ONLY put down the daggerboard on the windward side, this will reduce the risk of her 'tripping up' in a sudden side gust, allowing the boat to sideslip.

[webejammin]

One thing were doing at this time is to fill the aft bulkheads under each aft stateroom bed there is a small round hatch and a void that is recomended to put empty waterbottles for added flotation, I think about 100 small empty water bottles will fit in each side. This is recomended for off shore crusing.
I would recomend getting a link for your chartplotter like XM weather ( which we have ) to give you satalite weather and what the oceans are up to like big waves will show up too. Best of luck on those 70 ft waves , If it were me I'd stay close to some small islands to get out of bad weather if you need to even if it was a longer cruse.

I didn't pay to join the Yahoo Gemini group, you must be thinking about the Gemini Gems web site that charges, I didn't join that one so try this link : http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ge...sec=dir&slk=11


Are you doing the cruse solo ? That's a long cruse solo, One thing the owner of Performance Crusing and his son had to do was on there Atlantic crossing was to replace the auto pilot in the middle of there trip ( the bearings got to sounding noisy ) but it it is a simple replacement if you need to. I hope your getting some extra crew to help.

[Kapena]

You see very few Gemini's cruising in the Pacific. I saw one in 7 years. Not saying it can't be done, but there are better choices. Look for a beam width ratio of 2:1, bridge deck clearance and a trampoline, all things missing from a Gemini and some features missing from Prout. Interior space and accommodations also suffer compared to modern cats like Lagoon, St Francis, etc. The Gemini's are designed for coastal work. Call your insurance company and see if you can get passage insurance for Oz to Kiwi land. Not sure of OZ regulations but check if this can be certified for offshore there.