Advice&help needed to make up our minds

[Gunther wurth]

Hey guys and girls, we need some help making up our minds about a monohull or cat to do some cruizing. A few months ago we purchased a 36.5 ft Dean Cat that is in excellent condition with new motors as well, everythings new on her,new winches ect ect. Originally we purchased her to sail around SA,but absolutely fell in love with sailing and now we want to sail the world and live aboard. The problem is she is a little small when family would want to come and visit. It will be me,my wife and 4 year old daughter living aboard. We would really appreciate everyones opinion on which boat and why and the positives and negatives around the options of boats. We love diving and love a good sail and we think outside space is also important. But like everything in live we have a budget of more and less 180k. We are now looking at a admiral 38-40ft cat 2004 and a beneteau ocean 43ft monohull 2011. Your opinions on which living aboard boat ( Any boat ) and nice to sail boat would be of great value!!!! Which would you prefer for living aboard a cat or monohull and why??!

[StuM]

Oh boy, this could get ugly very quickly

OK, I'll kick off. Definitely a cat for space, comfort and performance, both at sea and at anchor.

[boatman61]

You've owned a Cat..
You've loved the experience..
Why change to a mono..??

[Gunther wurth]

I just think you can get a newer monohull boat with newer equipment for the same money as an older cat. I think the bigger cats with higher bridgedeck will sail better than the Dean? I dont like the water slam. I have sailed the Elane 43ft monohull and loved the way it sailed. I am just afraid of space outside. I want a boat that sails also good but then you look at bigger cats and they are very expensive

[justwaiting]

Originally Posted by Gunther wurth

Hey guys and girls, we need some help making up our minds about a monohull or cat to do some cruizing. A few months ago we purchased a 36.5 ft Dean Cat that is in excellent condition with new motors as well, everythings new on her,new winches ect ect. Originally we purchased her to sail around SA,but absolutely fell in love with sailing and now we want to sail the world and live aboard. The problem is she is a little small when family would want to come and visit. It will be me,my wife and 4 year old daughter living aboard. We would really appreciate everyones opinion on which boat and why and the positives and negatives around the options of boats. We love diving and love a good sail and we think outside space is also important. But like everything in live we have a budget of more and less 180k. We are now looking at a admiral 38-40ft cat 2004 and a beneteau ocean 43ft monohull 2011. Your opinions on which living aboard boat ( Any boat ) and nice to sail boat would be of great value!!!! Which would you prefer for living aboard a cat or monohull and why??!

A better question to ask would relate to the experiences of buying a cruising boat to accommodate visitors and how did the expectations turn out in reality.

[Pelagic]

Your first stated reason to change was the need for more space.

A Cat will give you that

[meirriba]

[QUOTE...... A few months ago we purchased a 36.5 ft Dean Cat ....... We are now looking at a admiral 38-40ft cat 2004 and a beneteau ocean 43ft monohull 2011. [/QUOTE]

It seems to me that you misjudge the space on monohull vs. cat.
In my opinion to compare a cat to a monohull by length you need to add about 40-50% to the cat's length to get equal space, i.e. your current Dean is way more roomier than the 43ft vessel you consider.

[exMaggieDrum]

Cat space is very different than monohull space. Berths on monohulls are sometimes more comfortable and sometimes not. It depends on the particular boat. The same length cat, though, has much more usable "living" space but IME smaller cats are cramped in the amas for berths and heads. Costs of cats rise very quickly with length.

I have a monohull right now and one of the big reasons is the cost of moorage in marinas (for now while not offshore). Cat moorage is double for the same length. That's not a problem in anchorages. I can't speak to Med-tie style moorage cost. But moorage cost is usually not as big a factor offshore cruising.

Getting hauled can be a challenge for bigger cats from what I have heard. Big countries with lots of marinas it should be no problem. But smaller countries it might be if they don't have suitable lifts.

The reason cats seem so attractive to me, other than their seakindlyness, is the "public" space in the salon and the aft deck. Even a small cat has better socializing space than the same size mono.

One big factor on cats is two engines versus one. Cost and labor (yours or mechanics) is double. Wiring is a bit more complicated and controls are duplicated, thruhulls, etc.

As noted, the same length cat is way more expensive to buy than a mono other things being equal such as quality, age, condition.

I like cats and I like monohulls. They are just different in some ways, pro and con, depending on what is important to you.

[Gunther wurth]

[buzzstar]

No enough dissension so far, so I'll add these thoughts:

Space = cat. Comfort = cat, most conditions. Safety = mono, usually, and particularly in the extremes of sea and wind. Draft = guess (oh, come on, it ain't difficult). Costs in a marina = mono. Cruising overall = mono. Maintenance ease/cost = mono (but I have no real basis). Over all costs = probably a mono. Available expertise = mono. Now I am bored and want to see the action.

I should add, I like cats when they belong to others, sailing on them for comfort, and only in the mild, not the wild.

[leftbrainstuff]

Your budget is the limiting factor.

You also don't mention if you do your own maintenance or not.

These factors will determine what you can afford.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by exMaggieDrum

One big factor on cats is two engines versus one. Cost and labor (yours or mechanics) is double.

I agree with everything else you said, but most cat owners don't run both engines very often - generally only when mooring/anchoring or getting in and out of a marina. The rest of the time, we alternate engines, so cost and labour are not much more than with a single engine.

[Hoodsail]

Adding another albeit very personal consideration, that being aesthetics, that consideration must go to the correctly chosen monohull.

[sistef51]

One boat, much better than a half one......

[SeaSon]

NO ONE WILL EVER VISIT. they all want to, but they never do. If they ever were to visit, they can stay in a hotel or you can rough it for a few days. But they won't.