Update: Going to the Bahamas in January

[Sea Yawl Later]

Thanks for the tip on Morgan's Bluff. I do like Rose Island, we spent 3 days there. It's close to New Providence but seems like your all alone. We stayed on the NE beach on a 38 Lagoon.

Once I get to Nassau I'll take my time and piddle. I don't care to "powersail" once I get across the banks. I feel like I'm there....

Hope to see you guys there late Jan. or early February!!! Iv'e got SSB, I'll listen for yall.

Rusty

[Sea Yawl Later]

Nobody uses a route South of Andros huh? It makes sense to me to not have to beat your way down from Nassau. Maybe the "Thorny Path" is not as bad as people make it out.

I love the bank between south riding rock and the Berry's, I wonder if the Southern bank is as nice.

Rusty

[smj]

There's a spot you can cut through thr middle of Andros. Don't recall where it is but my friend did it with a little over 3' draft so you should'nt have a problem. A.J.

[Sea Yawl Later]

I'll look at that, it might be fun.

RCS

[VirtualVagabond]

A touch off the topic, but I'm interested in your experience sailing Seawinds and Lagoon 380s. Here in Aus we have Seawinds all over the place and L380s are rare, opposite to your part of the planet. How do you rate the two both from a sailing POV and as a potential live aboard cruiser?

[Sea Yawl Later]

Rusty will have to tell you about the sailing. As far as live aboard it is really what is important to you. The Lagoon has great bedrooms the Seawind does not. The Lagoon beds are large and comfortable more like a real bedroom. The Seawinds beds are small. Rusty and I are not petite so the small bedrooms were a real negative on the Seawind, but everything else about the Seawind I love except it doesn't have a separate shower. The Seawind has the large Salon that you can actually walk around in and the table is very usable. The Lagoons table was tight and it got used mainly for storage. I didn't care for the galley arrangement in the Lagoon either. I love to cook and I didn't have the storage I would need in the Lagoon. In the Seawind I have turned the starboard front bunk into galley storage. I am not a minimalist and I have many of the conveniences of home on board. As I have said before I am not a "real" cruiser. I have accepted that fact and have dealt with it .. The bottom line: to have the generous bedrooms you give up living area. In the Lagoon I also liked having a separate shower from the head. Bedrooms and the separate shower were HUGE pluses for the Lagoon but I felt for the long term I would get stir crazy in what I felt was the confined living space.

[SearenitySail]

There is a French Canadian couple who did the Bahamas last year on a Lagoon 35 catamaran from Lake Champlain to Florida and across. They have posted a blog (google translation):
Google Translate

They left the boat in Florida this past summer and are doing the Bahamas again this winter, but are going to cruise the Florida Keys first. You might pick up some ideas by going back and reading their blog from last year.

Their email is yvonchiasson@hotmail.com

Have a great trip.

[VirtualVagabond]

Thanks for the feedback Linda. I'll look forward to Rusty's sailing comments when he has a moment.
SearenitySail - Thanks also for the tip on the Canadian couple's blog. I'll check it out.

Vic

[Sea Yawl Later]

First let me say the SW1000 is a 33' boat so we are comparing it to a boat that's 100K more expensive and a full 38'er. That tells you right there how good the Seawind 1000 is. We are talking apples to satsumas here, and the fact that many people make the comparison validates the SW's design. I'll like a decent apple, but a perfect satsuma is hard to beat! The SW beats the Lagoon hands down for me, here's why;
#1 is Beachability. I love the front ladder and walking down onto the beach in the early morning without having to load up in a wet dinghy and crank the motor.... spoils my mood... I enjoy placing my anchor on dry sand.... allot.. If your an outdoor "beach" person the SW1000 is just the bomb.
#2 is the outboards. I love the simplicity and the pureness of sailing a boat that can actually BECOME a sailboat and not drag drive gear through the water all the time. If your into the "man stuff" like economy of motion and purity of use... you have to put another chip on the Seawind 1000's side. If an outboard fails, unscrew it and spend $2,500 for the latest model and go again. It's a 10 year motor.. easy. The diesel snobs won't agree, but that's cool. Drag them props around man! Just because they cost more doesn't make them better. Will a diesel last longer, usually... but I know of several volvos that bit the dust way before my Yamaha's will. You want to be a "real sailor".. real sailors use diesel engines you say... I beg to differ, to be a "real sailor" we would have to sail everywhere we go, without a motor!
#3 The above deck living space is incredible for a meduim sized boat. The 1000 provides the possibilty of ENJOYING cruising without spending a quarter of a million dollars. The prouts and even the 105's don't come close to the Seawind's room and overall performance.

I personally would have to step up to a Lagoon 440 to beat the above decks liveability of Seawinds 33'er. The 380, even the 410 try to do too much by dividing the living area and you end up with small areas that are cramped. Now the bedrooms are nice, but I don't want to stay in the bed all day... The 380 deck design is sort of like wanting the amenities of a 4000 square foot house and putting it all into 1000 square feet. To make a nicely liveable divided indoor salon with a nice outdoor cockpit, it takes over a 40' boat, period (unless your under 5' tall and narrow).
The 380 sails well, I thought it would wash around bad in following seas because of the wide volumous sterns, it does a bit, but not bad. I thought the downwind would suffer because the shrouds are placed so far aft, the main hits them quickly, but the boat does fine downwind. I found it a better sailor than I expected, so I'm not throwing stones, but it weighs what.... twice as much as the 1000. If the 1000 didn't do what it does so well, a 380 would be a good choice, but remember, the Lagoon is an Apple... much more juice.. and it's often compared to a little 33'er! Would I rather have a closed salon, yes.. but not if it's too small with no floor space, you have to go to a whole new stratosphere to have a comfortable indoor salon with a nice cockpit.

Some quick notes in conclusion:
While we love the open backed salon, some consider it a big negative, sort of one step above a day sailor, not a "real" crusier. I think it's jealousy....lol

Seawind makes bigger boats too, they sail a little better than the Lagoons, (Probably much better in big seas) but they still don't do what a 1000 does because they try to stuff 10 pounds of potatoes into an 8# sack. The design for the size is just so right with the 1000. It's like choosing a fillet mignon intead of a big ole rib eye. You'll just be happier with the better cut...

If the salon didn't make a huge bed, the 1000 would be hard to choose over a 380 for a long term cruiser, but it DOES. Everything below is smaller on the 1000 except the head. I like the shower/head in the 1000, it's huge for the boats size. Is the SW "conventional" no, and that's why I like it. If you want to park in a boat slip and use it like a condo like 90% of the owners do, the 380 is your guy. And I'll tell you, I'm not throwing sticks at the 380, it's a nice boat, but we are comparing a 33'er to a 38 here so who's the winner..... Would I trade tomorrow if a guy offered the keys to his 380 on an even swap... that's easy.. nope. Well, that might be a stretch because I'm no fool. I'd trade.. then sell the 380, buy me another SW 1000 and have the money left over to cruise free another whole year! Ain't life good!

[FSMike]

Rusty & Linda -

Welcome aboard. As far as the South end of Andros goes, best get the Explorer charts before you think any more about that route. You will need those charts anyway, along with Steve Pavilidis' guide(s). Lots of coral and pretty much zero facilities at the very South end of the island. Search the forum for "Andros Island, Bahamas?". Intentional Drifter gave me some advice about that area but he's the only one. I hope to spend some time there this coming year but it depends on various things.

Another route to the Exumas is to run down Tongue of the Ocean from Northwest Channel then turn East using the "Decca Channel" to the Pipe Creek area. This requires an overnight sail but you can run the "Decca Channel" in the dark safely. It can be a great time saver if you are trying to beat a front to the Exumas and don't want to risk getting stuck in Nassau. If that interests you let me know and I can look up the lat&long positions for the dolphins placed along that route. You would have to clear in before NW Channel (or at Morgan's Bluff) to do this unless you wanted to hurry straight to Georgetown, which isn't nearly as much fun as taking your time.

There is yet another route in one of Pavilidis' guides which takes you from Tongue of the Ocean to Warderick Wells. We've done that a couple of times. It works best if you don't forget the guide book with the compass course in it. You can guess how I know that.

Have a great trip!

[Sea Yawl Later]

We are really glad to be part of the community of cruisers. It's not where you go or how you get there .. It's all about who you go with.

I challenge anybody about that; If you could buy the boat of your dreams for $10 bucks, and it came with more stuff on it than you thougth it had, your boss said take the year off with pay and you left with the wrong person you would certainly regret having that "opportunity"

When I was very young, my life would be complete if I had that next car, or my brothers Harley. Let me tell you it's not about "stuff" I guess it's easy for me to say now that I have had the "Stuff" (my brothers Harley included) but after all that, it's about people. Somebody to love and somebody to love you. There is no substitue for a good friend.

We so look forward to meeting all you wierd sailors. We have chosen to count ourselves one of those wierdos and stay on a boat with less square footage than our garage back home. Why do we do that? again.. it's not about stuff. Now don't get me wrong.. my wife is packing enough crap on the boat to support 2 troops of boy scouts for a year! If WW3 happened in February we'll be good to go until V-Day. but seriously we hope to meet some special people on similar paths to share the joy. I'm kidding aoubt all the crap honey....

We are not minimalists, we are not die hard salty dog scallywags that think nobody should go to sea without their particualr goals or values... We know what we are in for and choose to do just that! I'll have fun and work on my catamaran in the some of the most beautiful places on earth..... lol.
all the time wondering why they still make those narrow rolly ones...

[VirtualVagabond]

Thanks for the input Rusty. Mid 2010 is our break free time, give or take a little for the sale of the house etc. I'll be looking at SWs in a new light and if we go that route, I'll tell the sales guy to flick you half his commission....! :- )
Vic

[Sea Yawl Later]

I'll need it by then!!!! Thanks

I did lots of looking, renting and trying different boats before I bought. Those are my thoughts, thoughts are kind of like belly buttons, everybodys got one but they don't usually match.

[stevensc]

If you folks do head East on the GICW you may want to stop at the city dock in Houma, LA. mile 57. There are not many if any choices for anchoring along that stretch, if it looks like you will and need anything let me know and I'll try to be of help. I live not too far from Houma and keep my boat there.
Steve

[Double-Wide]

Linda & Rusty,

We left Kemah 2 years ago in our Seawind for the Bahamas. I stopped in Marathon to wait for weather and then jumped off from Pumpkin Island just inside Jewfish Creek (Key Largo). That made an easy day to Bimini, then Chubb & Nassau. Several friends tell me that Morgan's Bluff is a better check in point and then with your draft crossing the bank to the central Exumas is not a bad sail. Some people use the old Decca towers as a guide. Make sure you have all of the Explorer Chart Books before you head over, they are invaluable.

Have you joined the Texas Offshore Multihull Association. Mike the Comodore has a Seawind 1000. You can find them on Yahoo Groups.

WE are on our way down the East Coast on our way to the Bahamas but are now waiting to see where Ida is heading. I hope we meet up with you in the EXumas. Make sure you make it down to Georgetown, it is really a great group of cruisers there. Plus you can get to Long Island, Conception or Cat Island in a day.

Good Luck
Cameron