Scarlet's Annapolis Review

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Scarlet,

BTW, I thought Southern Star's post was excellent I have tried during our boat search, to pay attention to the feedback from those who have "been there done that" as they say here in Oz. Pay attention to the essentials of a good, safe, suitable boat first and once you have ALL the essentials covered, THEN you can work your way through second order priorities like hotel needs, colour of the woodwork etc.

I agree! Southern Star always does a great job at analysis! He is my "guru"!!

[SailFastTri]

Once you sail a tri you're spoiled for other boats. Nothing sails as well.

Once in a while I long for this feature or that in other boats (everything is a compromise) but when I think about the trade-offs I can't think of any other type of boat that I'd like to sail as much. It'll be hard to give up my tri but eventually I'll move on. Maybe a cat but more likely I'd downsize to a 30-something foot trawler or tug when/if I lose my agility. For as long as possible the joy of it will keep us sailing.

You want a great cruising boat that's comfortable at anchor? Cat.

You want to keep to schedules, inside helm, turn-key and go? Power.

The list goes on. Everyone has to choose their compromises.

[estarzinger]

I have a question which some of you looking at boats and planning to go cruising might want to ask yourself . . . . Why exactly do you want to go cruising?

If it is because you "want a change", then you might consider seriously NOT trying to drag your whole suburban lifestyle (ac and washing machines, etc) to sea.

If it is 'to travel", I can tell you that aeroplanes are a more modern and effective way to do that

If it is to "have a house on the water in the Caribbean", then perhaps getting a real house might be better.

If it is to have "an extended tropical vacation", I can tell you that full time cruising can be quite hard work and is not much of a vacation. And this is especially true with a complex boat. The magazines and books are generally often misleading about this.

There are all sorts of people cruising for all sorts of reasons and I would not be critical of any of them . . . I am just suggesting it is best to actually think thru why you are doing it and what you actually want from it. And then align your plans and boat and fit out to that. Many people do not and just pretty much unthinkingly try to drag their suburban lifestyle to sea.

[scarlet]

Well.. I want to go cruising because I want to sail, and live on a catamaran in exotic locations..

[Kenomac]

Did everyone but us miss the Isara 50 catamaran? Teak decks, luxury throughout, excellent visibility from the top deck helm, no cheap plastic feel like so many of the others. We found it to be the only catamaran we'd trade across for our present boat. Even had hybrid electric engines as an option.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by scarlet

Well.. I want to go cruising because I want to sail, and live on a catamaran in exotic locations..

Ok, great objectives . . . .

#1 then perhaps the actual sailing performance of the vessels should be an important consideration . . . . And no, not all multis are great sailors. There are vast differences between them. And lighter almost inevitably means better sailing.

And #2 "exotic locations" are often remote . . . Simpler might be better for that, otherwise you will be stuck in some "non-exotic" location waiting for parts and repairs.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

If it is to have "an extended tropical vacation", I can tell you that full time cruising can be quite hard work and is not much of a vacation. And this is especially true with a complex boat. The magazines and books are generally often misleading about this.

There are all sorts of people cruising for all sorts of reasons and I would not be critical of any of them . . . I am just suggesting it is best to actually think thru why you are doing it and what you actually want from it. And then align your plans and boat and fit out to that. Many people do not and just pretty much unthinkingly try to drag their suburban lifestyle to sea.

Our present boat that some consider a "complex boat" with all the amenities, is not more time consuming than our past boat which had few. Sure we have a generator, water maker and washing machine, which saves many hours and lots of hassle by not requiring us to lug around dirty laundry via the RIB searching out laundramats in exotic locations. But we decided that we'd prefer to go cruising in style... we did the camping routine back when the kids were young. Done with that.

We carry spares for everything plus the boat has backup systems for everything including manual over rides. All pumps and normal wear parts can be purchased at any chandlery or Oyster will next day anything we need. On our boat, just like on many of the complex showboats, we spend zero time lugging water jugs (huge storage and water maker) lugging fuel cans (225 gallon fuel tank) lugging groceries on a daily or semi daily basis ( oversized fridge and huge deep freezer) and more time enjoying ourselves.

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Did everyone but us miss the Isara 50 catamaran? Teak decks, luxury throughout, excellent visibility from the top deck helm, no cheap plastic feel like so many of the others. We found it to be the only catamaran we'd trade across for our present boat. Even had hybrid electric engines as an option.

I missed it! I guess it was down on the end past the charters.. and we didn't venture in that direction.

I did see it in Miami thought, and it was unfinished.. so, it was hard to form an opinion.. It looks amazing on line! Bryguy is building an Isara 45.. can't wait to see it.

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Did everyone but us miss the Isara 50 catamaran? Teak decks, luxury throughout, excellent visibility from the top deck helm, no cheap plastic feel like so many of the others. We found it to be the only catamaran we'd trade across for our present boat. Even had hybrid electric engines as an option.

I am sorry that I did miss that. I didn't even notice it. It's amazing how people can go to the same show and notice very different things. In photos the Isara looks amazing, but I'm guessing the price tag is north of $1 million, probably closer to 2 mil, so well out of the range of most mere mortals...

[Kenomac]

Surprisingly, the Isara 50 was priced the same as a similar size Leapard and less than a bare bones Lagoon of the same size. Looks like the one at the show, a manufacturer demo just sold on Yachtworld for something less than $900k

[BandB]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

I have a question which some of you looking at boats and planning to go cruising might want to ask yourself . . . . Why exactly do you want to go cruising?

If it is because you "want a change", then you might consider seriously NOT trying to drag your whole suburban lifestyle (ac and washing machines, etc) to sea.

If it is 'to travel", I can tell you that aeroplanes are a more modern and effective way to do that

If it is to "have a house on the water in the Caribbean", then perhaps getting a real house might be better.

If it is to have "an extended tropical vacation", I can tell you that full time cruising can be quite hard work and is not much of a vacation. And this is especially true with a complex boat. The magazines and books are generally often misleading about this.

There are all sorts of people cruising for all sorts of reasons and I would not be critical of any of them . . . I am just suggesting it is best to actually think thru why you are doing it and what you actually want from it. And then align your plans and boat and fit out to that. Many people do not and just pretty much unthinkingly try to drag their suburban lifestyle to sea.

1. Water...we love the water. Lakes, rivers, oceans.

2. We love exploring places, by water. To us the towns are better approached from the water side.

Cars are transportation to us. Planes are transportation to us. Boats are pleasure, magical...far different and more than transportation.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by scarlet

Bryguy is building an Isara 45.. can't wait to see it.

His thread is almost a year old and Isara keeps pushing back the start date of his build. Apparently they haven't started on it yet. His boat is now scheduled to be completed a year from now and be in next years show if Isara doesn't push him back further. Frankly I would have given up and looked elsewhere but on the other hand one does have to admire his patience.

How much it will cost to get the boat shipped from Taiwan to Maryland?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Did everyone but us miss the Isara 50 catamaran? Teak decks, luxury throughout, excellent visibility from the top deck helm, no cheap plastic feel like so many of the others. We found it to be the only catamaran we'd trade across for our present boat. Even had hybrid electric engines as an option.

Saw it. My equal least favourite boat at the show

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by Factor

Saw it. My equal least favourite boat at the show

Details please.

[OneEye]

The salon of the Neel was really spacious. My size problem was entering the cabins and the overall head size.

It's a fantastic boat, but I personally would choose the Helia if I was forced to picked.


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