60 foot Catamaran for Couple?

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

So much for wanting a fast boat...on the positive side, you can harvest the oysters on the bottom for dinner.

.

Oh-come-on

Have you not heard of jumping over the side and giving the bottom a tickle up?
I used to do the bottom of our cat every Wednesday morning pre race, easy on a boat that draws a few feet .
Used to easily get 2 years

I even do the bottom of out current vessel with a 7.5ft draft every 2nd month or so
Get 18mths to two years from that as well but more pull her out because she's timber, not because of fouling.

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by Sam Woodbridge

Is the person who started this thread a troll? The things you mention dc9loser just don’t add up. But I understand we all can be whoever we choose over the internet.

Sam

Interesting. What doesn't add up? Lol

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Oh-come-on

Have you not heard of jumping over the side and giving the bottom a tickle up?
I used to do the bottom of our cat every Wednesday morning pre race, easy on a boat that draws a few feet .
Used to easily get 2 years

I even do the bottom of out current vessel with a 7.5ft draft every 2nd month or so
Get 18mths to two years from that as well but more pull her out because she's timber, not because of fouling.

Yes, did it on our small cat every month or so on salt water and it still took around an hour...On a 60ft cat, I would expect it to be an all day project and it gets less effective the longer you go between haul outs as the copper content goes down and growth speeds up.

It was always amazing how little growth it took to noticeably impact the cruise speed.

If speed was a big part of going big, not wanting to haul out to clean and paint the bottom is going to eat up a lot of that speed.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I would recommend buying the boat at least a year before you plan to leave and then spend that year getting everything fixed and or replaced that you can.

I'll second that. In fact, I'd say better to buy 2 or even 3 years in advance... 'cause it can take that long to learn every nook and cranny, fix or replace every sub-system, etc.

Originally Posted by dc9loser

Why would you have to haul out during hurricane season?

Go closer to the equator etc. I don't plan on hauling out or using a Marina in the two years, unless I have to.

Sometimes hauling is the best choice, depending on where you are, the specific storm (and sometimes track and wind speed predictions jump all over the map for a while), and your insurance policy.

-Chris

[Chotu]

Guys... just get a diver to scrub the bottom if speeds are slowing down. It’s not expensive at all. A haulout isn’t really necessary except for new bottom paint. They even do your zincs if you have zincs.

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by MIRELOS

60 is bigger than you think; marina space....,maintenance...., replacement of sails and parts...everything will be more expensive. We have been on our Eleuthera 60 since 2011 and never thought of the difficulty of finding marinas and even more important haul out facilities.
It was a big learning curve even though we had many years of sailing experience but we manage have to think everything way ahead. It is very possible, it is very comfortable and fast passages but everything has its price.
I'm in my 70's and my wife is close behind....but we have a great crew (dog).
Enjoy your decision but if you don't have experience with big boats get it now.

Awesome. You have ten years experience on a big cat, exactly what I was looking for.

Costs? What do you spend living on that boat? Are maintenance costs huge?

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by zeitgeist

I don't have much experience, but I've been window shopping around for cats planning into the future, and one thing I came across is charter ownership, which might fit your situation in the "readily admit I need some 'learning'" area. The idea being you buy a vessel new, the charter company makes money with it for 5 years and reduces your costs. The big plus to you is for the next 5 years you can go practice on your new vessel for 4-12 weeks out of the year, and the charter company is taking care of the loan payment, maintenance, berthing, etc.

Also, you end up with a vessel at a reduced cost.

Thanks. Thinking about this actually.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by dc9loser

Costs? What do you spend living on that boat? Are maintenance costs huge?

Sometimes maintenance costs are based on sub-system (AC? water pump? engines? etc.) and access... more so than strictly the size of the boat. OTOH, as the boat grows sometimes, not always, access to sub-systems improves.

We had to do an unplanned water pump replacement. $393 for the new pump, including expedited shipment to a port we were approaching within a couple days. Did the work ourselves -- two us us, approx 2 hours, OK access -- so probably 6 hours labor including drive time (at approx $110/hour) if we'd hired it done. If access had been better, might have been a 1-hour/1-person job. If worse, could have been 10 hours labor.

Recently had to replace the combo microwave/convection thing. Same size unit available any more? Nope. New unit ($562) needed some woodwork to open up access to the hole it lives in. Took me 3 days, about 3 hours/day, to figure that out -- very much influenced by inadequate woodworking skills and inadequate woodworking tools. Probably a cabinet maker could have done the woodwork (certainly better) in about 4 hours (dunno cabinet maker labor rates).

Maintenance costs are also more manageable if you follow the maker's guidelines, especially true about engines, gears, and generators. Do all the service and maintenance as outlined in their manuals, it only costs what it costs. Skip steps, forego some service, maintenance costs to eventually bring it all back to life can triple or quadruple.

When you have a target in mind, you can probably find engine, gear, and genset info in advance, review the service regimes, etc.

Of course maintenance costs can very much depend on whether you plan to do everything yourself, hire everything out, or mix and match.

-Chris

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by Cabo Jim

Forget worrying about how you are going to handle sails on a 60ft cat. or maintenance costs etc. etc. etc. Where do you think you are going to park that thing? It is hard enough to find a slip for a 40ft cat let alone a 60ft monster. It's like trying to park a semi truck in a parking lot for cars! Give me forty acres and I'll turn this thing around.
Kinda reminds me of the older couple who retired to a 10,000 sq ft house and that's the last they saw of each other, really? I don't care about how many millions you managed to stow away, how much real estate (on the water) do you really need? In short a 60ft cat is going to be a major pain to find moorage anywhere you travel. Truly a huge negative. Did I mention being restricted by bridge clearance.
Happy boating

I live on the water now. Have a 50 foot floating dock with my 40 foot boat on it. 2 other powerboats too.

I don't want to go to Marinas, or even crowded places like the Virgin Islands. I already did most of the ICW in my houseboat. I would never want to do that poorly maintained ditch again, especially in a 60 foot Cat with 5 foot draft.

I want to go off the beaten track. Small Islands in the South Pacific.

I want to be able to carry toys. A big fast dinghy, some paddle boards, scuba gear, dive compressor, etc etc.

I want to be able to accommodate guests comfortably.

My houseboat has a full sized household refrigerator and a king sized bed. It has an upper deck 35x12, a front deck 10x12, lots of room. That is the sailing my wife is accustomed to. The thought of shoving her into a barely double berth in the dark hold of a 40 foot Cat is unthinkable.

For what I want/need its 50 footer vs 60 footer at the same price. The 60s come supremely equipped vs the 50s for about the same price.

I hate deep drafts. That is more limiting than size for anchoring. Why so few shoal draft cats? The Sunwind 1600 (52 feet) drafts 25 inches. Love that boat but as a performance cat, you cannot load it up.

A YouTuber runs one and they aren't making more speed than a Condo-Cat Lagoon 62, waterline length vs overloading a performance cat.

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by Larry Florida

Buy the smallest Cat you are comfortable in.

So 80 feet then?

[jdazey]

Originally Posted by dc9loser

So 80 feet then?

We have friends with a 78' Kelsall. While they face issues with haulouts, they manage well enough. Planning ahead is important. In our discussions, their maintenance costs don't seem to be a problem. They don't need and seldom take guests/crew.



We've been aboard on numerous occasions. The level of luxury will meet your wife's expectations and then some. Our 48'er would not.


https://www.sailtrekker.com/


Cheers,

[contrail]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

We've a friend with a Mumby 44, built in aluminum. He likes it a lot. It doesn't bend when it is lifted on the cat-lifting fork lift, like the plastic ones do, which droop.

Ann

On this occasion, Ann I would disagree and say that is a big generalization.

[dc9loser]

Originally Posted by jdazey

We have friends with a 78' Kelsall. While they face issues with haulouts, they manage well enough. Planning ahead is important. In our discussions, their maintenance costs don't seem to be a problem. They don't need and seldom take guests/crew.



We've been aboard on numerous occasions. The level of luxury will meet your wife's expectations and then some. Our 48'er would not.


https://www.sailtrekker.com/


Cheers,

80 feet was a jest, lol.

The 62s Ive seen are scary big. Great to hear folks are managing it well though!

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by dc9loser

I live on the water now. Have a 50 foot floating dock with my 40 foot boat on it. 2 other powerboats too.


For what I want/need its 50 footer vs 60 footer at the same price. The 60s come supremely equipped vs the 50s for about the same price.

The inital purchase price is only part of the equation. No way a 60 foot boat costs the same or less over longterm compared to a 50 footer.

[jdazey]

Originally Posted by dc9loser

80 feet was a jest, lol.

The 62s Ive seen are scary big. Great to hear folks are managing it well though!

Oh, I got the jest alright. An 80'er is just way over the top, and yet.......
Cheers,