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Pnutchuck · 10-04-2011, 17:40

My husband, a professional sailor, has been building this boat for, off and on, 12 years. We're finally ready to make the voyage from Cape Canaveral, Florida to the Bahamas. We're headed for Jackaroo beach, Magelina Sand Bank, South Cat Cay, and if there's a good swell, we'll head for Rum Cay. Obviously, we're chasing the wind and surf. We're planning a relatively short trip this time out as our water maker went haywire. I'm not much of a sailor, but I've got good sea legs and & Keith's a great teacher :-) glad to find this site because I'm sure I'll have lots of questions it's already answered many of them in previous posts!

Charli

Kettlewell · 10-04-2011, 17:43

Beautiful boat!

Del628 · 10-04-2011, 17:47

Congratulations!! You're livin' my dream only I'm goin to the Hawaiian islands and polynesia.. Good Sailing..

Pnutchuck · 10-04-2011, 18:12

Thanks, the down side to this boat, is she's BIG, and if she were all automated that wouldn't be a big deal. We have an 85' mast and an electric drill for the wench that only likes to work for about 15'! We haven't installed an auto pilot yet so, we'll be steering through the night. And to top it off the water maker decided it wanted more amperage than the manual said it did. We only have solar panels and a wind turbine for power. I'd love to say that it was just Keith, our son, and myself, but this boat needs crew. The up side is she's fast!! We took her out for a test sail last week, the wind was 9 and our top was 14.2 mph.

imagine2frolic · 11-04-2011, 08:20

She looks fast, and capable. A watermaker is not really needed, but a huge plus in the Bahamas. 2 with no a/p is doable. Everything is a day hop for your boat. Have fun, and more pics.........i2f

YOGAO · 11-04-2011, 13:25

A very interesting looking boat and 14.2 mph in 9 knots(?) is pretty speedy for sure.

Did your husband do the design himself?

I would like to here what the design criteria were (others may be interested as well).

Fair Winds,
Mike

**noelex 77** · 11-04-2011, 13:49

I never like being overtaken by another yacht, but I will make an exception in your case.
Cruising is a wonderful life . Enjoy.

Pnutchuck · 11-04-2011, 20:19

Looks like the balls rolling! Keith got the watermaker working (although, we won't know for sure until we're out in the open water, teeth grinding). I sent the bahamian government a check for maya's permit (but was in such a hurry to get her to the vet, I forgot to put my fax number in the envelope, stomach tightening). I took Maya to the vet to get her travel docs (but the vet doesn't have international travel documents and just gave me her shot record, i think i'm crowning). Keith bought a micro sd card that's supposed to have depth contours ( but it doesn't, it's only showing markers, so we might run aground, ok, it's an oopsey poopsey!!) But he's bound and determined to catch this northerly coming in on wednesday! Who cares if the cat has papers, if we have no water, if we run aground? We're doing this damn't!!!!

I'll try and get him to get on here sometime and talk about his design. He says it's a self design based on a classic eliptical hull shape (first boat out of mold was the Fury in 1982?). Maybe once we get to the Bahamas, we can slow down and he'll have time to chat. I have an app that'll find local hot spots for us and I got some international data plans so I think we'll be able to send some photos and talk about our stats getting there. I'll be sure to post in another forum more suited to the conversation.

Khagan1227 · 11-04-2011, 20:34

Nice boat!

You are probably worrying too much and when you get down there it will be pretty laid back.

With the speed you are seeing, you shouldn't have a problem making landfall and avoid a night crossing. That baby flies!

Good luck!

radu · 12-04-2011, 02:03

Welcome onboard, Charli !
The boat looks really nice ! Can you post more pictures ?
I wouldn't worry that much about running aground (btw. what's the draught ? ) but about finding a place in a marina

All best,
Radu

Pnutchuck · 13-04-2011, 19:39

Thanks, I'm not worried about once we get there, just getting there. But everything worked out with the Bahamian government and the pet permit. Although, they said it would take 2 hours when I called in the morning, but it took 6! Then when they finally faxed my permit, it was for a jack Russell terrier instead of a cat! I called a 6th time and thanked them for the permit, but it was for the wrong species. She told me that she'd have to type another and that we'd have to wait til tomorrow for the director to sign it. I burst in to tears and told her thar my cat was the only thing holding this thing up and that my husband was so angry with me. I got a new, correct, permit within 20 minutes :-) Suffice to say, we missed the window for Wednesday, but we're all aboard now ready to shove off first thing in the morning! Yippee! Oh and the draughts 24", yes, 2'.