Cat vs Mono for ICW

Back to the topic, Richard Woods wrote about your topic, and dang if you do not write like you might be he ....

http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs/6-powercats/190-skoota-power-cats

 

Richard is a member, I just posted that as an example for the OP to look at, may be better plans around for the type of thing, I would in fact be interested to see what else is around for people interested in a build of this specific type of boat.

 

In another thread he started, richardf, the original poster here, explained that "I am less than 2 months from my move to Jacksonville, FL and a house which is 7 minutes from the ICW on Beach Blvd. I have a good fishing skiff (I built a Spira Seneca). The wife wants an ICW cruiser that we can overnight on." http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/request-your-input-my-design-47644.html It looks like he is now investigating a broader range of boat types than he initially considered.

 

No he is not me!! I only just saw this thread as I have been cruising Desolation Sound, BC in my own Skoota 28 and am now on my way home

You can see more on that trip here

http://woodsdesigns.blogspot.ca/

and some videos on my Woods Designs youtube channel

I have done the ICW 7 times in sailing catamarans. Much of the time was spent motoring. No problem anchoring or going into marinas. But a powercat would make more sense.

My smaller Skootas can be trailed behind a car as they fold for transport. My Skoota 28 can be dismantled and taken as one load on a truck without a wide load permit. We did that ourselves as our boat was built 40 miles from the launch site.

In a couple of years time we will transport our Skoota to the Great Lakes and do a Great Loop trip, with time out in the Bahamas

In haste as I am in a library right now and I have to leave to go through the pass at Dodd Narrows at slack water ( the tide runs at 8-9 knots at other times) so hope this is enough to keep the thread going

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

I agree that either can work just fine, but I think the cat only becomes attractive compared to mono at a certain size. I've seen a family of seven living on a 26' mono and traveling the ICW. A 26' mono can be a live-aboard if you want it to be. Many are. I bought my 28'er off a family of five that had outgrown it and were moving onto a 32'er. I don't think cats are as practical at that small size because the hulls aren't much good as living space. If you start talking about 30-35' boats, that changes and it really is just a matter of your preferences. Cats can offer the privacy of separate hulls, and some extra room on deck for light junk like bikes. I think if you wanted to actually cruise 40 miles everyday, though, a long, lightish, low-powered mono can match the deck area of a cat for equal installed power and cruising economy. Arranging a/c can be more of a pain in a cat. I depends on the GA. I think cats in general are a bit more expensive to fit out with the same amenities, but there isn't that much in it.

 

This is all very useful, informative information for me. Thanks.
By the way, I just finished my first read through (not study) of Gerr's "The Nature of Boats". Five more times through and I will be an expert! Seriously, it is a fabulous book and must reading for anyone interested in boat design. One of my favorite quotes from the book is:

"... for the only way that a description of this art could have been written would have been in poetry, for this method of geometric procedure is nothing more nor less than an orderly arrangement of curves and dimensions to result in a shape of complete harmony ...." from The Common Sense of Yacht Design, L. Francis Herreshoff.

Gerr's book just brings out that there is so much more to this business than a computer, especially with smaller, personal boats.

It is interesting that he never mentions the catamaran except in a brief discussion of super high speed craft (Sea Sleds: surface effect vessels).

The more I study the cat platform, I think the lack of a single volume space for the comfort of two people on overnight trips, the wide beam necessary to eliminate interference drag, and the difficult maneuvering into a narrow dock space is just too much of a negative. For day trips with 4-8 people it would be a great platform.
I keep going back to Paul's Cooper Jr as my ideal boat. I would rather have an Ellis 24, so I don't have to build it, but they are astronomical in price. Plus, I see Paul's as much more economical to operate.
The ICW marina which is only 7 miles from my new Florida home (Beach Marina) in Jacksonville, charges $10 per foot/month for a slip on a one year contract with no power. I don't have a lot of discretionary money but I can afford $240, or so, per month. I really don't have room at my new home for a 24 foot boat on a trailer.

I am now down to one month until the move. The Seneca is already there in the garage. I can't wait to start exploring between St. Augustine and Fernandina Beach. Plus, all of the fishing in between.

Richard