OMG, What Have We Done?

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

Well, the clock has started on the countdown. The house is sold, contingencies cleared, and closing is in mid-November.

I can hear the operator coming on the line, "Your fantasy time has now expired."

As those of you who have stooped low enough to read my posts, or gotten so bored that any little bit of stimulation will do, you know that a year and a half ago, my wife and I signed on to buy a Lagoon 420. Of course, at that time no boats had actually been produced and we basically signed on based on their promotional materials and concept.

With time having passed and actual, empirical experience accrued, that is no longer the direction we are heading. While I still very much like the "idea" of the 420, from what I've seen of the actual execution, this is not a boat that I want to use for a long-term, ocean-crossing, budget-conscious, cruise. So, that story comes to an end, at least for us.

The Current Plan:

1. Buy a cruising boat. Soon. We're looking at cats in the 42 to 46ish range.
2. Do whatever retrofitting/outfitting needs to be done.
3. Hopefully, begin cruising late Dec, early January.
4. Spend first 12 to 18 months on ICW, Bahamas.
5. From then, Carribbean, Belize, Panama, Pacific.

So, somewhat incredulous, slightly terrified, but also very excited questions for you all:

1. What did you think you absolutely had to have, that turned out to be useless, irrelevant, or way more pain than pleasure, to have?
2. After having had some cruising time under your belt, what did you discover was a great thing to have (whether large or small) that you did not initially include?

For those of you who have gone through this experience, any wise words? Sage advice? Comforting thoughts?

Thank you.

ID

Oddly, we thought hot water was important when we started out. We haven't turned ours on in well over a year. Also, we thought that TV was important - we barely use it at all.

As to what IS important... that varies with taste. Just get the bare essentials, go out for a week and then come back and buy the things you feel you MUST have. It's easier and more cost effective to just try it out THEN buy stuff than it is to attempt to guess what you will or will not need.

(wish somebody told me this one before I fit the boat out)

[Vasco]

TV? Never had it and don't ever intend getting it. We read. Much more soothing. I'm at home right now and have a gazillion channels on satellite but oddly enough there's nothing to watch.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by northerncat

a dinghy?? cause i hate swimming to shore in croc infested waters
sean

Speaking of which Sean, how is that new little cat dinghy coming along?

Can we have an 11ft version with the motor inside the transom line?


Instead of hi jacking this thread may be worth starting another

Dave

[northerncat]

ive drawn it up using some cad software and im madly trying to get the big one mostly out of the way im planning to start on it in the next month
sean

[Intentional Drifter]

Cat dinghy? You mean something like:
Advanced Cat Tunnel Hull Catamaran by AMI Boats

Or:
Inflatable boats and Inflatable Boat, products from Dux Boats Boats

I'm quite curious about these designs and how they compare to conventional RIBs.

ID

[cat man do]

Something a bit more like this

Mahna Mahna


There is video as well

If I can get one about 11 ft with a bit more beam,a full foredeck, higher sides and a seating set up like my aft view scibbling I could well be up for one.

I think the reason the dinghy in the link has such a thick core is because it would be leftovers from the big boat build, so I was thinking 6 mm gabboon ply or 10mm Nidaplast or foam.

Something alond the lines of the photo would be great, but I have spent a couple of years trying to find plans for one and I think Sean has as well

Dave

[cat man do]

This is another dinghy I have looked at that looked promissing

3.00 Tuff Tender - The ride characteristics of a Polycraft boat compared to an aluminium boat have to be experienced to be believed, the low density Polyethylene used in the manufacturing process is designed to be flexible enhancing the on water perf

Some nice video as well




Nice and stable for fat drunken men

But again, I want a slightly bigger version, and a bit more freeboard

Dave

[northerncat]

heavy though for the poly craft i think, i was actually thinking of a combo of 4mm and 6mm to make mine itll be 1.2 beam and 10ft beam as i only have 3.4 between the hulls where the dink will sit
sean

[migot1]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

Well, the clock has started on the countdown. The house is sold, contingencies cleared, and closing is in mid-November.

I can hear the operator coming on the line, "Your fantasy time has now expired."

As those of you who have stooped low enough to read my posts, or gotten so bored that any little bit of stimulation will do, you know that a year and a half ago, my wife and I signed on to buy a Lagoon 420. Of course, at that time no boats had actually been produced and we basically signed on based on their promotional materials and concept.

With time having passed and actual, empirical experience accrued, that is no longer the direction we are heading. While I still very much like the "idea" of the 420, from what I've seen of the actual execution, this is not a boat that I want to use for a long-term, ocean-crossing, budget-conscious, cruise. So, that story comes to an end, at least for us.

The Current Plan:

1. Buy a cruising boat. Soon. We're looking at cats in the 42 to 46ish range.
2. Do whatever retrofitting/outfitting needs to be done.
3. Hopefully, begin cruising late Dec, early January.
4. Spend first 12 to 18 months on ICW, Bahamas.
5. From then, Carribbean, Belize, Panama, Pacific.

So, somewhat incredulous, slightly terrified, but also very excited questions for you all:

1. What did you think you absolutely had to have, that turned out to be useless, irrelevant, or way more pain than pleasure, to have?
2. After having had some cruising time under your belt, what did you discover was a great thing to have (whether large or small) that you did not initially include?

For those of you who have gone through this experience, any wise words? Sage advice? Comforting thoughts?

Thank you.

ID

here are a few items that we never used...we bought our boat in 1988 and:
#we never used our Life Raft. Looking back we should have bought a large rubber dinghy with sails, connected to a full size diving cylinder for fast floatation. reading how people sat in one of those LifeRafts for weeks without the rmote posibilty to sail and make it back to land. {read THE CRUEL SEA}

# we never used our Flare --except on Xmas . But you really need them.

#Maps, we have about 50 maps from places we never got to...

Here is what we missed EI equipment.

# we forgot Engine spares. we payed dearly when we needed them. once we had to wait 3 weeks till it came by Airmail...

# we forgot to have a translation of our registry Papers and Insurance...arriving in Greece or Turkey...well, it would have been easier to have a written Trunslation.

# we forgot the most important item -FIRST AID. when my daughter had toothace I was desperate,.....you need a first class aid for toothace etc etc...

#we forgot to get some cash in foriegne currency...once, in the Mesina Straits , I had to get ashore to a bank on the water foront...for FUEL!!

I hope this rings a bell.. migot1

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by northerncat

heavy though for the poly craft i think, i was actually thinking of a combo of 4mm and 6mm to make mine itll be 1.2 beam and 10ft beam as i only have 3.4 between the hulls where the dink will sit
sean

Heavy it was, (I went to Bundy for a look) but you cant argue with the stability and lack of maintenance.

Funnily enough (not funny at all) I only have the space for an 11 footer at the back as well as well, so am trying to come up with a way of lifting,rotating and sliding so as to block off 1 set of steps yet leave the other side open and get a 12 to 13 footer onboard as in pic

Dave

Very sorry for the thread drift ID

[prae]

Never regret buying:-
Watermaker
Extra solar panels (500watt total)
Radar/Chartplotter with overlay and ARP
SSB (we have 2) and pactor 3 modem for email. We use this also for sailblog at sailblog.com. It keeps our family up to date
Iridium phone... When you have to bale into the life raft and wonder if the epirb is working... well just call the rescue center which you have already put the no. into the phonebook.
Nesting pots.
BBQ
2 autopilots, one for backup
16 inch dingy wheels
flopper stoppers
complete cockpitb enclosure
davitts
110lb bruce with 400ft chain and 100ft nylon. 110lb bruce on stern.
Two electric windless bow and stern; cockpit electric winch

Not happy with:-
Windgenerator, we shut it down at night because of noise.
Thermos. never seem to use.
slab reefing. would rather have a roller furling boom. Our boom is hard to get at to tie sail down; because of height over cockpit dodger. My wife and I are also short!

[cat man do]

Don't see that ID'll need flopper stoppers

Dave

[TabbyCat]

Here are a couple of things that we got out of our first year cruising East Coast US and Bahamas.

• Good Cruising Guides (ie, Steve Dodge "Cruising Guide to the Abacos", Kraft & Kraft for Cruising Maine)
• Boat Cards - some of the best have a picture of the cruising couple, not the boat
• Food - Especially once you hit the Bahamas the items you are used to finding in a US grocery store are either N/A or quite costly. Many of your "dinners" will actually be pot luck/hors d'ouevres, so stock up on the 2 or 4 hors d'ouvres you guys really like/make well.
• Bread Maker
• Green Marine photo diode anchor light (anchor light comes on automatically while you are having a "Grabbers" on Great Guana Cay)
• Wi-Fi antenna (powerful 8.5 db pole type - send us a PM for more details)
• Filters for your watermaker and you MUST have a watermaker
• Bikes
• Backpacks
• Good walking shoes + good boat shoes - we like Keens
• Books & DVDs - good for swapping with other cruisers
• Games - Dominoes, cards, bocci balls, etc
• Less cotton clothing and more qwik dry synthetics that have a good feel
• Shameless self promotion plug - INSURANCE FROM SUSAN @ IMIS, again send us a message for more details

Good Luck, you will love this life

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Vasco

TV? Never had it and don't ever intend getting it. We read. Much more soothing. I'm at home right now and have a gazillion channels on satellite but oddly enough there's nothing to watch.

I don't condone piracy either the nautical kind or intellectual kind but...

We were over in Sebana cove last weekend and hung out with a bunch of cruisers.

Most of them have a really nice LCD (19 inch minimum), a portable laptop and a portable hard drive - They port GPS outputs to moving maps, they do email and get weather, they store and organize digital pictures and yes they swap map files, video's and all kinds of other stuff.

I like the fact that you have one "set" of equipment with lot's of flexibility.

I had my portable hard drive with me and I swear I didn't swap 20 gig worth of videos with anyone

[Intentional Drifter]

Prae -- love the list, but Dave's right about the flopper stoppers; that's one of the reasons for a cat. Not the only one, but certainly one of them. Question, though: When I think of "nesting pots", I think of the kitchen type of pots. Is this what you were talking about, or have I missed on another nautical term?

TabbyCat -- What's the Green Marine photo diode anchor light? Sounds interesting, do you have a link?

Lots of good suggestions, folks, keep 'em coming.

ID