I have to agree with Privleoplag, if your guests are gonna get seasick on a smaller boat, they'll get seasick.
That being said, I've chartered with the moorings the last 8 years, starting with the 474 PC and the last 3 years on the 514 PCs. The 474's were great boats, but the 514's are just incredible. The increase is room, especially the walk through in the
salon to the front sitting area, really enables several couples to have their own space. Most of the trips were in the BVI's, and we normally hit the south drop and the atlantic if the
weather is not too bad. Only once have I had to turn back in with my guests getting a little wobbly, quartering into a southwest
wind and a little rough. Certainly not much roll on the big cat, but the pitching was a little much for them. The first trip on the 514 was in the Abacos in
Bahamas, and of course it was very smooth. Went outside at Tilloo Cut but it was fair
weather and nothing to worry about.
The big yanmar's are great
fuel sipping engines, and I usually run at the 7-8
knot cruise and troll much of the time.
Fuel is one of our lowest costs for the trip. First note of caution: If you run those big V-8's hard at the end of the day, make sure whoever is staying in the aft cabins likes a heated
bed until about 3 am....myself, I can't stand it and we always take the port bow
cabin next to the
generator so it hums us to sleep. Second note of caution: DO NOT rent an older boat unless you absolutely have to. We always get an "Exclusive Plus", even though it is substantially more. Unless you
charter from a European base which requires a certificate, you will find that the older boats are beat to crap by the Credit Card Captains!!!. I would much rather spend time fixing the
rigging on a
new boat, which I've had to do, than sit waiting for a
service boat to come get us running. Keep in mind that they don't clean out the filters for the
grey water discharge nor the A/C
cooling intake every trip. (More like yearly!), so you can expect to do that yourself occasionally...Unless you like being hot...We also run the
generator constantly unless in rougher seas where there is a chance of not pulling in
cooling water.
We're headed to our next adventure on Saturday, November 10th in the BVI's on a 514 with a 434 following us. I plan on being right in front of the Soggy Dollar with both boats on Wednesday evening, Nov 14th, and all day Thursday on the hook, so check us out on the Soggy Dollar Bar Webcam.
Good Luck if you decide to
charter a 514 PC, they are awesome boats!!!
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