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The Turners · 30-09-2011, 17:54

Quick intro... Hey y'all, my name is Shawn and my wife Katy and i i are new to the forum and and wanted to introduce ourselves before we began to pick ur brains for info, that being said, here goes

We currently live on the water in a floating house that we rent, Katys family offered to buy us a house for our wedding, we want a catamaran as a live-aboard instead, so here we are. The plan is to make the permanent break from land in about 2 yrs so now begins the buying process. We have been given a budget and have been looking at what seems like every 38-44 ft cat available for sale in the world, looked at all the different layouts, and the one thing I've trouble nailing down is who builds them the best, accommodations, layout, and price aside? This cat will essentially be our first house as a married couple and we will be constanly moving around the ocean and the last thing i want are major issues when were not in home waters. Working full time we don't have the schedules to be able to charter our final choices for a week like I've seen many people suggest. Thanks in advance for any info

Richard Jordan · 30-09-2011, 18:07

Welcome Shawn and Katy. Many people looking for a cat like you, so there must be something to it.

The Turners · 30-09-2011, 18:34

Richard,

Being in the industry, do u have an opinion on this?

**David M** · 30-09-2011, 18:39

Best is a pretty subjective term especially when it comes to boats. There are more opinions than there are boats. Two production companies that are considered better than average by most people are Catana and Privilege. Of course you can buy a good brand but find out the boat was not very well maintained. In order to avoid purchasing such a boat you will want to hire a marine surveyor who will be able to find problems with a potential purchase.

I want to make sure you know about Yachtworld's listings.
Advanced search for new and used boats and yachts. - YachtWorld.com

Richard Jordan · 30-09-2011, 18:50

I like MaineCats.

The Turners · 30-09-2011, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by David M

Best is a pretty subjective term especially when it comes to boats. There are more opinions than there are boats. Two production companies that are considered better than average by most people are Catana and Privilege. Of course you can buy a good brand but find out the boat was not very well maintained. In order to avoid purchasing such a boat you will want to hire a marine surveyor who will be able to find problems with a potential purchase.

I want to make sure you know about Yachtworld's listings.
Advanced search for new and used boats and yachts. - YachtWorld.com

David,

I understand your point, and couldn't agree more about how a boat (or anything mechanical) is taken care of. Katy and I plan on hiring a surveyor when we narrow down our choices, as for my original question, I was referring more to new vessels, who's is the best built brand new from the boat yard? We are not buying new but I figure if we start with a brand thats known for quality construction, and, like you suggested, hire a surveyor, we'll find a cat that was not only built well, but maintained well also, don't think we can go wrong there

Thanks for the input guys, keep them coming please

colemj · 30-09-2011, 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Turners

and the last thing i want are major issues when were not in home waters.

WAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA!!! HOOOHOOOOHOOOO!!! (wiping tears from my eyes).

Thanks for that laugh!

You are getting a boat. B-O-A-T is an acronym for "major issues when not in home waters".

Or something like that.

Really. It will never stop breaking down. You will be working on it almost always.

And if you have the right outlook, it won't bother you too much and you will have fun in nice places anyways!

Mark

The Turners · 30-09-2011, 20:05

Haha, I think it's "Bust Out Another Thousand" I know that it's always gonna need something, I've had many other smaller boats and currently have a jet ski, and an old one at that, so I know what it's like to have a whole in the water at the end of the dock to throw money into, but as with anything there are steps to minimize headaches, which is what I'm trying to do

cat man do · 30-09-2011, 21:32

Who builds the best boats or who designs the best boats?

Might be worth clarifying that first as I have seen some beautifully built boats that are totally ***** designs.
And I have seen some very poorly finished boats from the drawing boards of some of the worlds best designers.

The best built boats are not necessarily the best boats to sail on and I would far rather sail own poorly finished boats than the beautifully built ones in my example given above.

Cosmetics detract nothing from a boats performance and sea keeping abilities.

The Turners · 30-09-2011, 21:51

I am talking about quality, sturdy construction. I want a boat that is built strong and built to last, cosmetics can be updated and/or fixed

For example, center console boats, Parker has always made a good boat but they are very plain to look at whereas southport builds a beautiful 28 CC but I've seen professionally maintained southports that were 2 yrs old but looked like they were 10

cat man do · 30-09-2011, 23:09

I think you need to give us a budget first

I get the feeling that what you consider to be the best will be different to what I consider to be the best and I imagine the price of both could differ greatly.

Also you need to tell us what your expectations will be
Fast cruiser
Cruiser racer
Straight out liveaboard and no care about speed or sailing ability

The Turners · 01-10-2011, 01:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by cat man do

I think you need to give us a budget first

I get the feeling that what you consider to be the best will be different to what I consider to be the best and I imagine the price of both could differ greatly.

Also you need to tell us what your expectations will be
Fast cruiser
Cruiser racer
Straight out liveaboard and no care about speed or sailing ability

cat man, i read the article in your sig, lots of good info in there, thanks for havin that up there

our budget is 250k and by no means do i expect to be able to afford the best, i thought id get some first hand info from those who are living on and maintaining them, and go from there

the boat will be our home so making sure miss katy is comfortable is at the top of the list, we want to cruise long distances and see as much of the world as we can, but im not really worried about goin fast

joemac4sail · 01-10-2011, 02:39

Hi there With that amount of money to purchase I would suggest an Amel Super Maramu, its probably one of the best built production boats out there. If the Maramu is to big, look for a late model Santorin. They are fantastic cruising boats and built to last.
Regards Joe

Factor · 01-10-2011, 03:02

The OP said

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Turners

....we want a catamaran

You said

Quote:

Originally Posted by joemac4sail

Hi there With that amount of money to purchase I would suggest an Amel Super Maramu, its probably one of the best built production boats out there. If the Maramu is to big, look for a late model Santorin. They are fantastic cruising boats and built to last.
Regards Joe

Why?