Question for Beamy Cat Owners (25ft+)

[nc_cabin_fever]

Greetings,

We have a large family in North Carolina and have been looking for a catamaran that can accommodate us comfortably for coastal and Caribbean cruising.

If you own/owned a beamier catamaran, say 25ft or more - would you do it again? Has the wide beam presented challenges or frustrations for haulouts or getting into marinas?

Once we look north of Florida, it seems the options for haulouts become far and few between. But, I'm trying to weigh this consideration - is it a major or minor concern. Would you buy beamy again, or would you try to go smaller?

Appreciate any suggestions here.

Thanks!

[smj]

The beam on our cat is 24’11”, so not quite 25’ but I’ll state my opinion anyway!
Yes the wider beam makes it much harder to find slips and haul out facilities.
Another huge factor would be the mast height above WL.

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by smj

The beam on our cat is 24’11”, so not quite 25’ but I’ll state my opinion anyway!
Yes the wider beam makes it much harder to find slips and haul out facilities.
Another huge factor would be the mast height above WL.

Thank you smj - and good point about the air draft. We've basically given up on anything ICW friendly at this point, but very true.

Your beam of 24'11" is a great example - is that narrow enough to keep planning simple enough? Would you be leery of having a wider beam given your experiences? For haulouts - you'd be within an inch of max beam here in NC (without fixed bridges).

[smj]

Originally Posted by nc_cabin_fever

Thank you smj - and good point about the air draft. We've basically given up on anything ICW friendly at this point, but very true.



Your beam of 24'11" is a great example - is that narrow enough to keep planning simple enough? Would you be leery of having a wider beam given your experiences? For haulouts - you'd be within an inch of max beam here in NC (without fixed bridges).

For the E coast of the US I’d much rather have less beam and wouldn’t consider a cat that I couldn’t fit under a 65’ bridge.
We hauled at Jarrett Bay last September and will be back in the New Bern area this summer.

[ggray]

We are right at 25 ft, and it is more difficult getting hauled, but not impossible.

There are 3 yards I have used on the southern Chesapeake Bay. I have hauled at two others, one with a crane which is more expensive, and another that changed its equipment to something I wasn't as comfortable with.

I'm not selling, if that tells you anything!

[ThereAndBack]

25ft beam and mast height of 64ft. I'd do it again. The ultimate luxury onboard is space, you can never get more of it. With these dimensions we've lived aboard comfortably 3 years. Sure it creates hassles sometimes, but on a boat, you pick your battles.

[Montanan]

Chubby Cats do have their challenges, but in many ways, they are purrfect.


https://tenor.com/xjGy.gif

[smj]

At 25’x40’ we have more than enough livable comfort for 2, and that’s on an open bridgedeck catamaran. The wide beam gives us stability and a good motion, a large part of live aboard comfort.
I would much rather have a wide beam and an ICW friendly mast than vice versa. The tall mast is going to severely limit your options on the US East coast.

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by smj

For the E coast of the US I’d much rather have less beam and wouldn’t consider a cat that I couldn’t fit under a 65’ bridge.
We hauled at Jarrett Bay last September and will be back in the New Bern area this summer.

We just visited Jarrett Bay a short while ago - and that would’ve been an ideal home port for us. Really wished that bridge opened!

With the market for used catamarans being so tight right now, we are trying to stay flexible - and keep our options open. I’ve looked at boats as wide as 31’ this past month and wondered if say 27’ or 28’ is really going to be much different?

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by ggray

We are right at 25 ft, and it is more difficult getting hauled, but not impossible.

There are 3 yards I have used on the southern Chesapeake Bay. I have hauled at two others, one with a crane which is more expensive, and another that changed its equipment to something I wasn't as comfortable with.

I'm not selling, if that tells you anything!

Thanks ggray!

If you were selling - would you consider anything wider? Given the market conditions - we are trying to keep our options open.

[smj]

Originally Posted by nc_cabin_fever

We just visited Jarrett Bay a short while ago - and that would’ve been an ideal home port for us. Really wished that bridge opened!

With the market for used catamarans being so tight right now, we are trying to stay flexible - and keep our options open. I’ve looked at boats as wide as 31’ this past month and wondered if say 27’ or 28’ is really going to be much different?

I’ll say a prayer for you tonight! [emoji3]
But seriously, we love the cat we have now, very comfortable and the performance is outstanding but I would consider a trade for either a Mainecat 30 or a Seawind 1000 just because they could fit under a 55’ bridge, be hauled by a standard travel lift and much easier to find a slip.
If I had a cat with a 25’+ beam and rig height above 65’ I wouldn’t consider the US East coat as a home.

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by ThereAndBack

25ft beam and mast height of 64ft. I'd do it again. The ultimate luxury onboard is space, you can never get more of it. With these dimensions we've lived aboard comfortably 3 years. Sure it creates hassles sometimes, but on a boat, you pick your battles.

Thank you ThereAndBack! Mast height does help. With my crew of 6 and sometimes 8, we are not optimistic about finding a boat that fits under the ICW bridges - but would be awesome.

I see you’ve got a Voyage - several of the Voyage cats available on the market could fit us but come with 27-31’ beams.

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Chubby Cats do have their challenges, but in many ways, they are purrfect.





https://tenor.com/xjGy.gif

Ok - that’s really funny! [emoji23]

[PippaB]

Our cat is 27' wide, we've kind of gotten used to hauling in commercial yards rather than recreational ones. Seems the typical width of a 150-ton Travelift at commercial yard is 28-30 feet, and that's usually their small lift.

Except for fiberglass work we've found pretty much everything else cheaper, easier, and faster when we haul with the fishing boats. And the yards, believe it or not, are cleaner. A lot of the yards also have reasonable long-term storage, there are lots of fishery-specific vessels that have a short season, stay in the water for a couple of months, and then get stored for the 10 month off season (hard for me to see the economics of it, but must be there, see it all the time).

[nc_cabin_fever]

Originally Posted by PippaB

Our cat is 27' wide, we've kind of gotten used to hauling in commercial yards rather than recreational ones. Seems the typical width of a 150-ton Travelift at commercial yard is 28-30 feet, and that's usually their small lift.

Except for fiberglass work we've found pretty much everything else cheaper, easier, and faster when we haul with the fishing boats. And the yards, believe it or not, are cleaner. A lot of the yards also have reasonable long-term storage, there are lots of fishery-specific vessels that have a short season, stay in the water for a couple of months, and then get stored for the 10 month off season (hard for me to see the economics of it, but must be there, see it all the time).

Good to know - thank you PippaB! So I've been looking up and down the East Coast for options - and really just starting with haulouts. I haven't even really looked into marinas and docking yet. From what I'm finding - it seems like there's a big 800 mile gap in haulouts from South Georgia to basically New York or Rhode Island. Where do you cruise? Would you feel comfortable having your home port in the middle of that gap, given your experiences?

Really appreciate everyone's feedback - thanks!