What's new
Geoff asked:
I am shopping presently. Five years till I can collect the old pension so looking for what kind of boat to do the Loop in.
I am partial to a power cat but recently have been considering at cat houseboat.
Still trying to understand why they would not be as good as a power cat for the sections of open water along the Loop?
Gary replies:
When I hear your term "cat houseboat" I wonder just what sort of boat you are thinking about. I presume you mean a good sized vessel with the design emphasis on generous accommodations - as contrasted with heavy weather handling. I envision the long boats chartered on Lake Shasta and Lake Powell. These are generally used for vacationing in larger groups, or of course liveaboard situations IN SHELTERED WATERS. We've had two in our marina, both liveaboards, but neither with a catamaran hull. I would never consider taking either vessel into open water, where everyone must be prepared to be caught in heavy weather once in a while.
If the ones you are thinking of have such low freeboard as the monohull houseboats I know, they would seem to be in danger in waves over a couple or three feet.
If they have large patios/cockpits/foredecks that would hold a heavy quantity of splashed water, this too is a genuine liability in rough weather.
If they have large windows and perhaps a sliding patio door near enough to the water-line that any four foot or better wave could put solid water on, that wave would most likely take the glass right out, swamping the boat with hundreds of gallons of water (at 8.3 pounds per gallon), making you a sitting duck for the waves that inevitably follow.
They also have long shallow hulls without the longitudinal strength to withstand pounding in heavy weather without structural damage.
They have particularly flat bottoms that allow significant planing lift, used in transiting flat water to a new anchorage, but Loopers probably spend very little time at uneconomical high speeds. You will want generous fuel storage as well, sometimes the next fuel dock is inconveniently far away.
By now you probably get my drift.
I am writing this from the dinette of my beloved Stray Cat, a PDQ MV34 power catamaran, which I think would make an ideal Looper. I frequently stay aboard for extended periods and know of liveaboard couples. Numerous PDQ 34's have done the Loop, their stories are not hard to find.
Because I make my home in the Pacific Northwest I have not done the Loop. I did deliver my own boat across the Great Lakes from near Toronto, Ontario, Canada-eh? to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; then trucked to Portland Oregon. I have personally taken her through a brutal 8 to 12 foot high short period chop down the length of Lake Erie; several times over the worst river bar in the world, the Columbia River Bar (per Lloyds of London); and likewise several times in the rough waters offshore Oregon and Washington (long ocean swells upwards of eighteen feet high with four to six foot seas overlapped enroute to and from the Straits of Juan de Fuca for example). Properly managed she is a vary safe and capable rough weather boat, well suited for coastal passages.
Ask anyone. You will be offshore for significant parts of the way, and the possibility of heavy weather catching you out sooner or later is almost certain in spite of the most cautious planning.
Yachtworld shows several suitable used boats, mostly in Florida waters already, priced from the about $220K to $380K depending on vintage and optional equipment. I am not trying to say that PDQ is the only reasonable choice for you, but it is the perfect choice for me.
I cannot in any way speak for the Coast Guard, but I can say on a strictly personal basis the way I believe the Universe should function, including some of the things I've learned, and now teach boat crew and commanders as Operations Officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla based in Portland, Oregon.
Gary Bell,
in Stray Cat, a PDQ MV34 berthed in Scappoose Oregon, on Multnomah Channel near Portland, Oregon
accros the dock from Liberty Belle, our 80 foot sidewheeler paddleboat,
just down the same dock from our floating home.
I'm also a prolific fan of the PDQ 34, but I have to confess that it's just a bit too tight for my wide, stiff frame. I banged around it it...probably nothing that I wouldn't get used to, but the enormous advantages of the boat are hard to speak against. Even with the beating I took on overnight stays, I couldn't take it off my short list. It's practical, frugal, safe, sturdy and holds its value. Another looper value may also be the Endeavour 36. While it's a bit short in the bridge deck, the space makes up for the occasional slap. Priced well and easier to move around in. Three doubles! Big head! While not a frugal or speedy as the PDQ, if you're measuring space per gallon, its hard to beat that value. A step up is the Endeavour 44 with its huge, full beam master, and then the PDQ 41 which is wonderful, but way out of my range. Somewhere in there would be the Fontaine Pajot 37 Maryland, but as a looper value, finding one with a good
price and good condition is challenging. Nicely styled though. My two cents.
I'm going to reiterate everything Gary said regarding houseboats for the
loop and the PDQ 34.
We did the Loop on a 40' trawler, and there's no way I'd recommend doing the
same trip on a houseboat. It's just not safe for all the reasons Gary
listed. Despite all our best weather planning there were still times we got
caught in conditions we didn't want to be in - but they were conditions our
boat could handle. Had we been on a houseboat in there's no way the boat
would have kept us safe.
We, too, now have a PDQ 34. It's a 2004 purchased in January, 2011. We
love our boat! We'd been thinking of the PDQ for years (and along with it,
the Endeavor 36 and Endeavour 38). The PDQ was the right boat for us, and
we bought her to take her around the loop a second time, and to cruise the
Bahamas.
We've got a few logs posted from our post-purchase trip home from Stuart,
FL, and then a few cruises on the west coast of Florida (a couple of times
down to Everglades City and one up to Tarpon Springs). They can be found at
www.GoldenTrawler.com
Enjoy!
Paige Caldwell
Email: MPonGolden@gmail.com
Website: www.GoldenTrawler.com
Our 27' World Cat 266 SC is for sale: http://tinyurl.com/3kdgea3
-----Original Message-----
From: power-catamaran-bounces@lists.trawlering.com
[mailto:power-catamaran-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of Gary Bell
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 1:21 PM
To: Power Catamaran Lists; Geoff Smith
Subject: [PCW] What's new
Geoff asked:
I am shopping presently. Five years till I can collect the old pension so
looking for what kind of boat to do the Loop in.
I am partial to a power cat but recently have been considering at cat
houseboat.
Still trying to understand why they would not be as good as a power cat for
the sections of open water along the Loop?
Gary replies:
When I hear your term "cat houseboat" I wonder just what sort of boat you
are thinking about. I presume you mean a good sized vessel with the design
emphasis on generous accommodations - as contrasted with heavy weather
handling. I envision the long boats chartered on Lake Shasta and Lake
Powell. These are generally used for vacationing in larger groups, or of
course liveaboard situations IN SHELTERED WATERS.
Actually Gary the page that I came across that mentioned a catamaran houseboat listed PDQ as one of the manufacturers of such a boat. I would not think to call a PDQ a houseboat at all.
PDQ is on my list of boats I hope will have dropped enough to be in my price range in 5 years LOL. I use to live in Whitby where they did the yearly run from... might have even seen you do your crossing...... but had never heard of them at that time..
AeroCat Explorer model may also be affordable if they get enough built. Not sure how well they are doing there has been nothing new posted on their site.
Price range would be no more then 20 grand.
Geoff asked:
I am shopping presently. Five years till I can collect the old pension so looking for what kind of boat to do the Loop in.
I am partial to a power cat but recently have been considering at cat houseboat.
Still trying to understand why they would not be as good as a power cat for the sections of open water along the Loop?
Gary replies:
When I hear your term "cat houseboat" I wonder just what sort of boat you are thinking about. I presume you mean a good sized vessel with the design emphasis on generous accommodations - as contrasted with heavy weather handling. I envision the long boats chartered on Lake Shasta and Lake Powell. These are generally used for vacationing in larger groups, or of course liveaboard situations IN SHELTERED WATERS. We've had two in our marina, both liveaboards, but neither with a catamaran hull. I would never consider taking either vessel into open water, where everyone must be prepared to be caught in heavy weather once in a while.
If the ones you are thinking of have such low freeboard as the monohull houseboats I know, they would seem to be in danger in waves over a couple or three feet.
If they have large patios/cockpits/foredecks that would hold a heavy quantity of splashed water, this too is a genuine liability in rough weather.
If they have large windows and perhaps a sliding patio door near enough to the water-line that any four foot or better wave could put solid water on, that wave would most likely take the glass right out, swamping the boat with hundreds of gallons of water (at 8.3 pounds per gallon), making you a sitting duck for the waves that inevitably follow.
They also have long shallow hulls without the longitudinal strength to withstand pounding in heavy weather without structural damage.
They have particularly flat bottoms that allow significant planing lift, used in transiting flat water to a new anchorage, but Loopers probably spend very little time at uneconomical high speeds. You will want generous fuel storage as well, sometimes the next fuel dock is inconveniently far away.
By now you probably get my drift.
I am writing this from the dinette of my beloved Stray Cat, a PDQ MV34 power catamaran, which I think would make an ideal Looper. I frequently stay aboard for extended periods and know of liveaboard couples. Numerous PDQ 34's have done the Loop, their stories are not hard to find.
Because I make my home in the Pacific Northwest I have not done the Loop. I did deliver my own boat across the Great Lakes from near Toronto, Ontario, Canada-eh? to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; then trucked to Portland Oregon. I have personally taken her through a brutal 8 to 12 foot high short period chop down the length of Lake Erie; several times over the worst river bar in the world, the Columbia River Bar (per Lloyds of London); and likewise several times in the rough waters offshore Oregon and Washington (long ocean swells upwards of eighteen feet high with four to six foot seas overlapped enroute to and from the Straits of Juan de Fuca for example). Properly managed she is a vary safe and capable rough weather boat, well suited for coastal passages.
Ask anyone. You will be offshore for significant parts of the way, and the possibility of heavy weather catching you out sooner or later is almost certain in spite of the most cautious planning.
Yachtworld shows several suitable used boats, mostly in Florida waters already, priced from the about $220K to $380K depending on vintage and optional equipment. I am not trying to say that PDQ is the only reasonable choice for you, but it is the perfect choice for me.
I cannot in any way speak for the Coast Guard, but I can say on a strictly personal basis the way I believe the Universe should function, including some of the things I've learned, and now teach boat crew and commanders as Operations Officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla based in Portland, Oregon.
Gary Bell,
in Stray Cat, a PDQ MV34 berthed in Scappoose Oregon, on Multnomah Channel near Portland, Oregon
accros the dock from Liberty Belle, our 80 foot sidewheeler paddleboat,
just down the same dock from our floating home.