50' Catamaran

[Fanie]

Hi Guys,

Someone I know phoned me saying there is a 50 ft catamaran (x 8m) that hit a buoy in the water and got the hull damaged. No idea how bad. It's in a dry dock in Maputu. It sounds like the boat is partly stripped (don't know to what extent), but the inboard motors are gone to start with. Don't know if the mast and sails are there.

The fee's are too expensive for the owner and the boat is to have, aparently for free.

The guy who phoned me about it says he will arrange to move it to a yard where it can be fixed.

Could this be something that is worth persuing ? I feel a 15m boat is slightly on the large size for me personally.

How about if the boat has to be refitted ? What's involved and do I look at it or let it go by. The biggest drawback is probably that I'm 450km away from the boat.

[Brian@BNE]

Well sounds like its only 3 hours drive away (for typical SA drivers anyway) so I'd say worth a look. Fixing the damage shouldn't be too difficult. More important is who designed it, and whether it has sufficient bridge deck clearance and high enough l/b ratio to not be a dog when its back in the water.

I reckon 15m is the perfect size for a cat that you could cruise with and liveaboard for a time.

Based on what you guys have said in the past about pilfering in your part of the world, you'd might have to be quick to ensure that anything bolted on stays there! There is actually huge value in all the fittings. In fact, it could be a good deal if all you do is salvage those and 'dumpster' the hulls. Take tools with you in a truck to bring back as much as you can immediately.....

[cavalier mk2]

Sounds like the owner did the math..... Missing gear in those sizes is expensive and dumpstering hulls that size can take lots of work and money, even if you sink them.

[PAR]

I remember an ad I say that went, "free boat, with purchase of engines and trailer". A hull shell is real just a container for the equipment and propulsion systems. It's worth a look, but don't get your hopes up until you price out replacements.

[Angélique]

I remember an ad for a free project, the guys from SA can read it, here a rough translation of the sad why part...

‘‘I give away this boat because I already tried to sell it for a year after 10 years of not working on it. Now it's in the way. When I started the build I was married and had two young children. Now I'm divorced and don't see joy in sailing such a large boat all alone...’’

This kind of thing is told us many times by PAR and others here, this is just an example of it.

About "free" boats, most of the time if it was worth while... it wasn't for free for any stranger to pick up, first count ALL the expenses to get it ready in the water, then "free" might not be cheap after all, it could be more expensive than a similar second hand ready to go boat . .

The mentioned boat is the 10.82 x 5.80 m Wharram Tangaroa MK-IV in the bottom right corner of this PDF.

But sure, "free" boats are tempting though . .

Cheers,
Angel

PS - the PDF is from CTC Nieuws #221, May 2008.

[Angélique]

Hey Fanie, what are you doing, did you already "bought" the boat . .