Small catamarans

[SteveG58]

I would like to hear if there are couples / families that have done some extended sailing on small (30 ft) catamarans?

We would mainly mainly be in the tropics but still have to get there!
What have you found to be the biggest drawbacks (if any). (I am aware of the obvious overloading.)

Many thanks
Steve

[valhalla360]

We spent 10yrs on a Gemini (34') and then a few years we had a Catalac 10m. It's a great option.

Biggest downside would be heating and cooling are more problematic but nothing horrible.

Otherwise, almost everything is better compared to a monohull of similar size.

[SteveG58]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

We spent 10yrs on a Gemini (34') and then a few years we had a Catalac 10m. It's a great option.

Biggest downside would be heating and cooling are more problematic but nothing horrible.

Otherwise, almost everything is better compared to a monohull of similar size.

Great thanks. Cooling is interesting. In some smaller cars electric motor AC has become fairly common. Will have to look into that.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by SteveG58

Great thanks. Cooling is interesting. In some smaller cars electric motor AC has become fairly common. Will have to look into that.

We had a 12k BTU air/con unit and it struggled to keep the inside cool in direct sun when the temp got into the 90's. A car air/con unit will be much smaller and likely totally ineffective as the volume is so much larger than a car.

It basically acts like a greenhouse. On the positive side, on a 50 degreee day in the winter, the sun would often warm the boat up into the 70's.

[SteveG58]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

We had a 12k BTU air/con unit and it struggled to keep the inside cool in direct sun when the temp got into the 90's. A car air/con unit will be much smaller and likely totally ineffective as the volume is so much larger than a car.



It basically acts like a greenhouse. On the positive side, on a 50 degreee day in the winter, the sun would often warm the boat up into the 70's.

Thanks for that info!

[svstrider]

My wife & I lived on a 10m Crowther cat for 3 yrs and day sailed east coast of Australia between Sydney and Lizard Island off Cooktown and back 4 times.

Downsides - loss of momentum when running into a wave. Whole boat stops and needs to regain speed.
- slamming. Depends on bridge deck height but will be a problem if you overload it.
- cooling was never a problem. You don't want the hassle of an airconditioner. You will need a large generator to keep your batteries charged. They weigh a lot and are another engine to maintain / fix in exotic locations. Just anchor and avoid marinas. Make sure you have adequate hatches and 12 V fans.
- heating A small cat warms up nicely in a few minutes when you boil the kettle for a cuppa.

I wouldn't be keen on crossing oceans in <10m cat BUT plenty of Geminis have done it and lived to tell the tale. Good news is that it is less boat to antifoul when the time comes.

[Fore and Aft]

Have you read Children of Cape Horn? The Swales were a family of four in a 30 foot cat who sailed Uk to Australia and back home via Cape Horn!
A fat modern multihull still gives you a lot of room and half the maintenance costs.
Cheers

[belizesailor]

An early small cat cruiser was James Wharram of course....3 aboard on his early epic voyage.

Ive cruised my Wildcat 35 extensively, for a period with wife and multiple pets aboard (3 cats, one parrot). Slightly bigger than your question and its more of big boat layout in a smaller cat, so maybe not representative. I really like some of James Wharrams design ideas, but maybe add boards for better windward performance, and the idea of cruising on a small cat appeals to me, but probably means I would be doing it solo! [emoji6]

A good friend of mine has circumnavigated on a small Wharram cat, although solo:


http://www.roryandcookie.com

[boatman61]

Here's some UK built small Cats that have cruised extensively with couples and sometimes with kids.. Heavenly Twins 27, Catalac's, Iroquois, Prouts.. as long as you are prepared to accept restricted headroom in the saloons and a slightly 'camping' lifestyle they're great boats for leisurely cruising.. they've gone all round the Med and E Atlantic coasts.. some have crossed to the Caribe and some have circumnavigated.
Its not so much the boats.. more your adaptability.

[Boatguy30]

An opening hatch in the front of the cabin will solve most of the cooling issues. Also a galley down layout with cabin side potholes to vent stove/oven heat. A 30' sailing cat can't take the weight of A.C. and a generator

[sailjumanji]

Know several couples cruising either full time or most of the year on Seawind 1000's (33 ft) catamarans. My wife and I did for four months in 2016 - from Texas to Florida, two months in Bahamas, and then back to Texas. We have 8k BTU AC installed on the port side - master sleeping quarters and head - that we use at infrequent marina stays. Its nice to be secure with everything closed up and air conditioned, gives the boat, clothes, bedding, etc. a chance to dry out, and sometimes slips are not aligned to wind! Another owner has a 16k BTU AC installed to cool the entire boat, and it can be run with a Honda 2000 generator. Yes, I have witnessed it, and it doesn't have a soft start on the AC unit. The Honda is very compact and easy to stow, and miserly on gas use (I think 0.9 gal in 10 hrs).

What's the downside - you guessed it, stowage. We had plenty of room for two, and food stores, clothes, kayaks, etc. We carried enough spare outboard parts that I think we could have almost built a motor! And spare house water pumps, wind instruments, autopilot - we were pretty much ready for anything to break. (And aside from the autopilot belt, nothing did!) The dinghy conveniently hangs from davits with solar panels. The boat has refrig, freezer, and watermaker that all ran from solar panels/batteries. (The working watermaker allowed us to carry much less water, and as well spend more time in remote cays.) Propane runs on-demand hot water, stove and bbq, and there is a spare bottle. The salon is exceptionally large for similar length any boat. And it sails well - we used very little gas in our two months in the Exumas. But cruising longterm with a second couple - to me - would be a bit crowded. Think about clothes, gear, extra food stowage. The starboard hull has two berths, so sleeping space was not an issue. But I just think everything that second couples bring aboard with them can make it crowded. That said, we are not full-time cruisers - just get away for 4-5 months about every other year - and we could probably refine some things. I know we returned with about half of the canned goods we left with! And I could MAYBE cut down on some outboard spare parts.

I think how much boat is required is really dependent upon how much space you need for comfort. Some people are comfortable with tight spaces; some aren't. I tend to lean more toward sailing characteristics too. I like to sail. I wouldn't own a boat that wouldn't sail well. Regardless of length.

[BobHorn]

Bought an Endeavour Cat 30 about five years ago. Had A/C and a small single cylinder genset. 90 gal fuel, 90 gal water. Very roomy in the hulls, sit down only in the salon. Sounded ideal. The wave slap under the bridge deck was so bad we only owned it for two months.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SteveG58

Great thanks. Cooling is interesting. In some smaller cars electric motor AC has become fairly common. Will have to look into that.

Originally Posted by valhalla360

We had a 12k BTU air/con unit and it struggled to keep the inside cool in direct sun when the temp got into the 90's. A car air/con unit will be much smaller and likely totally ineffective as the volume is so much larger than a car.

It basically acts like a greenhouse. On the positive side, on a 50 degreee day in the winter, the sun would often warm the boat up into the 70's.

Just so you know, thats not a problem specific to small cats, its a general issue on cats because of their spread out layout (as opposed to a big basically contiguous space in a mono). Its can really be a challenge to keep the large deckhouses of bigger cats cool in the tropics. Most I captain in charter have multiple AC units and a big ass genset to run them.

But, big or small, sun awnings and lots of opening hatches can make a huge difference. Ive got sun awnings that roll up under the boom and deploy to cover the entire deck house...makes a huge difference. Sitting in the deckhouse right now, high noon in the tropics, sun awnings down, a good breeze, and its quite comfortable...outside its getting pretty toasty.

[mikedefieslife]

I'm living on a 35' Prout. Plenty of room for me as I'm on my own, but I could see how it would work for a couple.

In the marina here there's a couple living on an 8m Catalac, and another on a Gemini. The later have a lot of kit but the boat seems to cope with it just fine.

There's the Youtube couple Kittywake sailing around in a Heavenly Twins 26 (the 27 is a better version).

All of the old British cats have crossed oceans. Few if any have reported serious problems. They tend to be a heavily constructed bunch. All however will slam when the waves are forward of the beam (regardless of weight), and it is violent.

Weight shouldn't really be an issue if you install a watermaker. Then you can carry 150kg of water rather than 300kg, which then means a genset, AC, and good freezer at 20kg is a not a problem.

[SteveG58]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the valued input. Decisions Decisions!