Catamaran Haul - FL West Coast

[Fishman_Tx]

All else fails take a weekend and run her down to Boatyard Multihull Monohull Catamaran Marine Boat Repairs | Bob and Annies Pine Island Sanibel Captiva Florida area
They got a rail system that'll handle 60 tons and 40' beams.

[craig boorman]

Greg, don't remember if it is you or allen that has sail drives but I paid attention when I had yanmar rep change the o ring and seals and it is a snap to do it yourself but you need one of those hammer allen loosener tools in order to remove the two nuts that hold the housing then tap the gap....cant believe how clean and shiney it was inside even though it had a saltwater leak.....rockharbor key is a good place to haul but go in on high tide,,,,good folks to work with.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by svcattales

Thanks Jay. It's hard to find a yard that lets you do your own work anymore. I don't enjoy the hard labor, but some things I prefer to do my self so I know they are done correctly.

It's a sign of the times.

Water front property cost too much and without torte reform I wouldn't want someone doing his own work in my yard?

I can remember the days of yore.

Roger

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by JayH

You may get there and find out your boat isn't exactly as wide as the specs say.
If you only have 1.5" a side, where are the slings going to go?
With so little sideways tolerance, you'll have to go in perfectly straight. Any current or breeze would make that very difficult. You'll need lots of hands to help guide it in.
Any chop or wake could bring your topsides crashing down on the side of the well.
Swinging in the slings could be a big problem.
The splash might be harder than the haul. You'll be dealing with a different boat position in the slings, and a different lift position relative to the well.

I wouldn't do it Greg. My opinion is to let a reputable yard do your saildrives. I'm all in favor of doing as much of my boat work as possible, but sometimes reality makes that impractical. If you're intent on doing it yourself, have you looked at Boat & Tires www.boatsandtires.com ? If I didn't like my haulout options, I'd consider finding a quiet beach and backing onto it.

Jay, Thanks for the input. I have lots of doubts about the tight fit too. The chop & wakes issue shouldn't be a problem because marina has excellent protection on all sides, but wind could be a serious problem. I decided to go back to Cortez and take more measurements all along the well after measuring Cat Tales beam again down to the gnat's behind. If I don't like it, I'll switch to Plan B.

I did check out Rock Harbor (boats & tires) and it would be the best choice facilities-wise, but very inconvenient. The Admiral wants the haul done before we start our winter cruise and I hate to find "surprises" during the haul that I don't have the time, parts or tools to fix and no car to chase down supplies.

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by craig boorman

Greg, don't remember if it is you or allen that has sail drives but I paid attention when I had yanmar rep change the o ring and seals and it is a snap to do it yourself but you need one of those hammer allen loosener tools in order to remove the two nuts that hold the housing then tap the gap....cant believe how clean and shiney it was inside even though it had a saltwater leak.....rockharbor key is a good place to haul but go in on high tide,,,,good folks to work with.

Hi Craig,
I have saildrives too, but they are Volvos. It sounds like a similar process to take out the propeller shaft. I had to make a slide hammer from an auto-store dent puller to do it last time.

Glad you had a good haul at Rock Harbor. I exchanged emails with the yard manager and he sounds like he really knows his business. I just wish the yard was closer to Tampa. Margaret doesn't want to haul en route to Bahamas so we're going to try it at Cortez with a shoe horn and lots of vaseline.

I bet you were relieved when your parts came out nice and shiny after the water leak. That's really good news.

Hope to see you guys this winter in Key West.

[markpj23]

Greg,
I hauled for purchase survey at Cortez Cove - Manta is 21ft even (advertised) but a tad over that as measured. The lift crew knew what they were doing and all went just fine. I'd haul there again without hesitation.

If you've not been in the channel there be aware that it's NOT intuitive. Approaching from the north down the ICW you clear the Cortez Bridge (2nd bridge south of Tampa Bay) and then go towards shore right next to the bridge causeway. The derelict boats anchored to your right are to seaward of the channel you need to use. So you head towards shore (east) and then turn south to take the derelicts to STBD.

The channel was the worst part of the whole thing. Once you're past the derelicts and turn east up the channel again - past the fish docks - you're all set. Just don't wander too far south (right) in the channel as the oyster beds shoal up pretty quick outside of the channel.

Oh yeah - bridges open on a schedule and expect to wait as the transit time between the 2 bridges doesn't seem to match the opening schedule

I say this of course not knowing if you've ever been in there...... so excuse my rant if you've made the trip before

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Greg,
I hauled for purchase survey at Cortez Cove - Manta is 21ft even (advertised) but a tad over that as measured. The lift crew knew what they were doing and all went just fine. I'd haul there again without hesitation.

If you've not been in the channel there be aware that it's NOT intuitive. Approaching from the north down the ICW you clear the Cortez Bridge (2nd bridge south of Tampa Bay) and then go towards shore right next to the bridge causeway. The derelict boats anchored to your right are to seaward of the channel you need to use. So you head towards shore (east) and then turn south to take the derelicts to STBD.

The channel was the worst part of the whole thing. Once you're past the derelicts and turn east up the channel again - past the fish docks - you're all set. Just don't wander too far south (right) in the channel as the oyster beds shoal up pretty quick outside of the channel.

Oh yeah - bridges open on a schedule and expect to wait as the transit time between the 2 bridges doesn't seem to match the opening schedule

I say this of course not knowing if you've ever been in there...... so excuse my rant if you've made the trip before

Mark, Thanks for the good report on Cortez Cove. How many inches did you have on each side of Nauticat when you were in the well? I'm getting hauled at high tide so my rubrail will be above the top of the well and that should give me 2 more inches to play with. The yard manager, Arno, seems very sharp so I'm hoping he and his folks can deal with the tight fit.

We have been into the marina with Cat Tales a few years ago, but thanks for the refresher on the channel entry.

[craig boorman]

What happened to me on a tight squeez once,,a 25' cement well and a 24'3'' wide cat was the group on one side keep pushing off and the group on the other side trying to keep off and the boat got scratched in the tug of war. Wet some towels and hang them off the fat sides so when it does tap it wont hurt.

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by craig boorman

What happened to me on a tight squeez once,,a 25' cement well and a 24'3'' wide cat was the group on one side keep pushing off and the group on the other side trying to keep off and the boat got scratched in the tug of war. Wet some towels and hang them off the fat sides so when it does tap it wont hurt.

Craig, I never thought about a human tug of war problem. I'm hoping to have Alan, Liz, & Margaret to help so maybe we can avoid that issue. Good idea on the towels...with the rubrail above the well the only thing left to touch the walls is gelcoat. Wish us luck.

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by svcattales

... How many inches did you have on each side of Nauticat when you were in the well? ....

As I recall we had 1 or 2 inches between the sling and the side walls. High tide as you have planned is the way to go.

Happy Haul-out!

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by markpj23

As I recall we had 1 or 2 inches between the sling and the side walls. High tide as you have planned is the way to go.

Happy Haul-out!

Mark, Wow that much huh. I think I'll measure the well in millimeters next time. The clearance will sound much better.

Thanks for the info.

[catabroker]

We just hauled a Leopard 45' for survey purposes. The yard was very professional, they took a while but they made sure that all was safe.
The picture shows a Leopard 45', almost 24' wide. As you can see, they can go wider, I'd say 30' or so.

Regards,
Peter Wiersema, CPYB
Leopard specialist
954 260 4913

[svcattales]

We just finished our haulout at Cortez Cove Marina, Cortez, Fl so I thought I would give a report. Our beam was at the maximum the marina could handle so lifting and launching was a little tense.

The fit was going to be so close that we measured the well every two feet to make sure the width was consistent. Then we measured Cat Tales' beam as carefully as we could. The well was 21' 6.25" wide and Cat Tales was 21' 5.25" wide below the rub rail. That would give us 1/2" clearance on each side. At the rub rail she was 21' 7.25" wide so we needed a high tide to put the rubrail above the lip of the well.

When we pulled into the well we still weren't sure whether it would fit, but we had a rising tide so we could escape if necessary. The yard had one person on each side of Cat Tales and gently walked her into the well. They were talking back & forth, "how much clearance do you have? ans. "zero, how much do you have?" "zero also". Despite the zero clearance Cat Tales moved into the well. The aft lift straps were 1/4" thick and they had to move them aft one at a time to keep them from getting jammed between the boat and the well. I really don't know how much actual clearance we had, but I'm guessing less than 1/4" on each side. YIKES!

The yard did a masterful job of lifting C.T. without a scratch and likewise for the launching. I was very impressed by all aspects of the yard and they put on one of the best bottom jobs we've seen in many years. They sanded out the old chipping bottom paint and primed the areas that had gel coat showing. The price to do the hull included the sanding and painting the saildrives/props with non-copper anti fouling paint. Our final bill was significantly less than our last haulout and the quality of work was significantly higher.

The yard let me do my own work to remove saildrives, replace the rubber seals, and reseal the prop shafts. When I needed a part they bent over backwards to get it for me. The yard allowed us to stay on board for the week so we could work half-days (dawn till dark) on the boat. Yards that let you do your own work are getting very hard to find.

I will definitely go back there for my next haul and will recommend the yard to my friends. Pics attached:

[markpj23]

Glad to hear all went well!

Remember, one grounding spoils all that bottom paint....

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Glad to hear all went well!

Remember, one grounding spoils all that bottom paint....

We usually go aground just after leaving the yard, but so far we haven't "hit the bricks."

Mark, thanks for your help on how to change the rubber grommets and fiberglass backing plates for the fairing rubbers. It would have been a lot harder without your help. Check out the backing plates and the old worn out grommet. We were way overdue on the grommets since they were dated 1994...YIKES.