I have hull 64 and was a serious cruising sailor for many years before.
Regardless of your style of cruising you are missing something in not
anchoring out on occasion.  Nevertheless many do and since at least 1/2 of
those who buy trawlers are coming from sailing where anchoring out is the
norm it would be a mistake not tohave the davits if only for resale.  Sooner
or later you will need a dink and the davits are the only practical way to
carry one.
No effect whatsoever on performance. Even if you max out the dink wt with a
10' RIB and 15 hp 4 stroke it still isn't anything more than 250#'s.
Since you are apparently new to davits if you opt for them and a dink
remember especially if you use them with a sizable motor on the dink to lash
the dink so there is no lateral movement.  Puts way too much strain on the
davits.
Also 9' dinks are OK for quiet harbors with 1-2 people aboard but they are
too small, too wet for serious cruising.  If you are less inclined to anchor
out & decide to at least have a dink but don't want to invest in a good RIB
and larger engine.  Get yourself a decent 10' soft bottom (look at one of
the inflable hard floors and bottoms) with a 6hp engine.  Once you start to
putter about in more quiet spots you may find you enjoy having that option.
As for other options...if you are in the south get hatches added over the
berths, galley and head.  Forget the electrical "silent" toilet.  It isn't
silent and is one more thing to break.    Get a good inverter charger -
prosine or large Heart.  Genset for heat and AC when without power is a
must.  Get the larger 1.5 cu. ft convection oven microwave since you
otherwise have no baking oven.  Consider a different model or brand of AM FM
CD player from the Sony PDQ hawks as it is the least user friendly piece of
electrical gear I have ever seen.  The aqua drives and sounddown add on
helps noise and vibration and while $ I think are worth it.  Go with the
100hp engines.  Burn less at lower speeds than the 75's and give you an
added 3+ kts or more at the high end without taking up any more space.  Get
good fuel filters - racor 500's and tell then not to mount them in the
lockers with carpet but leave the locker bear.  If you are in hotter climes
add fans at the factory...never have too many.  Plan on mesh window covers
unless you are cruising in Newfoundland as the all that glass is like a
greenhouse.  Radar is a must for any serious cruiser and the Raymarine
plotter units are good.  The little table PDQ offers on the fly bridge is
small and flimsy ...find a better one.  There are many other things as a
function of our intended use.  You will find the boat very economical to
run, a pleasure in reasonable seas (unless it is really rough it is happier
running at speed over the waves than through them).  The rub rail is
worthless as the toe rail extends further than the rub rail and with slab
slides you will need lots of fenders and at least 2 large fender boards.  Go
up at least twice while its being built and especially towards the end for a
walk through.  PDQ folks are good to work with but aren't perfect and its
better to find errors before it leaves the factory.  Attend PDQ U...an
excellent orientation and I strongly recommend it even if your boat is
coming out after the flottila though the trip south is an adventure. (see
article in Soundings which will be coming out this spring on PDQU and you
can read my Power Cruising article of the trip south off the PDQ website) If
you bought the boat from Rhumbline they are good folks to deal with and know
the boat well.  Enjoy.  Feel free to ask any other questions.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Scotkin" keysmark@bellsouth.net
To: power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 11:15 PM
Subject: [PCW] Bought a PDQ at Miami Show & a Question

Ben Scotkin wrote:

Congratulations, Ben!

What made you decide on the PDQ?

What other cats were on your short list and why did you rule them out?

--Georgs

Georgs Kolesnikovs
Power Catamaran World
http://www.powercatamaranworld.com

George,

I have 2 other power cats, a 26' Glacier Bay and a 34' Glacier Bay 3480
hard top with twin Suziki outboards.  This is a great boat designed for
fishing and weekend cruising.

However, I have twice taken it up from the Florida Keys to to Lake Erie,
taking about 6 weeks each time, and loved the trip.  We want to spent a
lot more time cruising with less emphasis on fishing. So we wanted a
boat with more comfort for extended cruising.

I liked several other boats, but I was worried about dealing with
manufacturers from so far away: South Africa, France, Australia, New
Zealand.  So I narrowed my choices down to Endeavour and PDQ.

We have friends that own an Endeavour and like it a lot.  In fact, they
sold their boat and then decided that was a mistake and bought another
one.  We visited the Endeavour factory & found them to be very friendly
and accommodating.  I thought their smallest boat, the 36', was too
cramped, and the 38" & 40" seemed too big for me.  The biggest drawback
to me, which the owner made light of, was that one cannot see the bow of
the boat. I want to see when I am about to hit the dock.

The PDQ is a more comfortable size for me, and seems, at least, to be
more comfortable and spacious. Quality seems excellent. Although they
will not accommodate customization like they will at Endeavour, I like
the fact that this model has been around for several years and they seem
to have all the problems/bugs worked out.

Ben

Georgs Kolesnikovs wrote:

Ben Scotkin wrote:

Thanks very much, Ben, for explaining your decision to go with the PDQ.

I live about 10 miles from the PDQ factory, so let me know when
you'll next be heading to Whitby.

--Georgs

Georgs Kolesnikovs
Power Catamaran World
http://www.powercatamaranworld.com