Ahoy Power Cat enthusists! First, an introduction: My name is Drew Dolak. The skipper and I live in SW Florida, an a canal, 10 minutes from the gulf, in the land of 1 foot waters. I stumbled across Georgs' list while doing research for a cruising powercat to place in charter service, and was allowed to join. My boating background is mainly sailboats and have raced on J/24s and Laser 28s, chartered boats as large as 54 feet and cruised for a few years on our Hunter Passage 450, Sailor's Grace. These experiences have undoubtedly colored my perceptions of power boats in general and our Motorcat 30 in particular. Second, background: We have owned our MC30 since April 2005 and no, she doesn't have a name yet. That's a different story. This is our second power boat, the other was a Pursuit 2570 which we used for fishing. We became interested in powercats after meeting the owners of an Endeavor 44 Trawlercat while cruising the Bahamas in 2004. This boat seemed to have all the advantages and few of the disadvantages of our H450 and so our heads were turned and the search began. When we decided that staying ashore for a couple of years was what needed to be done, the research could continue and we could have a powercat at the dock for day, weekend and short cruises. Many boats were studied, many were investigated, lots were visited, but for value, "bang for the buck" we kept coming back to the MC30. We tested the dealers 2003 demo boat on Tampa bay in early April and except for the fact that she seemed to want to go faster, we liked everything we saw. We decided to buy this demo boat as she is very well equipped and priced appropriately. The first thing I did, and I wouldn't do it quite this way again, was to repower. Since we knew she "wanted" to go faster, I replaced the Suzuki 50HP 4 stroke engines with Evinrude 90HP ETEC engines. I figured 80% more horsepower for only 180 pounds more weight was a fair trade. Since the repower I have spent many hours researching and testing propellers and engine setup to achieve what I felt, and still feel is appropriate speeds for this vessel with these engines. In short, we have a WOT speed of 23.6 knots, 13-3/4" x 11" 3 blade aluminum props @ 5600 RPM. That's not a lot of gain for that extra 80 horse power, is it? This is an ongoing effort, and I have several options yet to pursue before I call a halt to this effort, but 30 knots does not seem to be an attainable goal now, IMHO. As I mentioned, the boat came well equipped, in addition to all the standard equipment: 3 anchors, 4 fenders, 6 docking lines, remote control spotlight, VHF radio Garmin 188C chartplotter, depth sounder, 4 bow bimini, Air Conditioning, Sea-Star Hydraulic steering, cockpit cushions, under helm ice bucket, waste holding tank and macerator pump, bottom paint, and Kevlar beaching shoes. Besides the ETECs and associated gauges and helm controls we have added: SeaStar front mount hydraulic cylinder, twin Racor fuel filters, Navman 3100 fuel efficiency monitor, Raymarine Sport Pilot plus Autopilot, Ocean Air ScreenShades, 4 Caframo fans, custom SeaPost helm seat, rod storage in port berth, rod holders on bimini frame, trolling clip on transom, replacement of passive head vent with Nicro solar/battery vent, side deck steps, charts, first aid kit, tool kit, galley ware, head, galley and deck supplies for cleaning, fishing gear, butane stove, water hose and 30 amp electrical cable, sport-a-seat, and a 2" memory foam pad on the queen+ berth. All of the above adds pounds to our boat and the specified weight of 4500 pounds is probably exceeded at this point. And that might have some effect on the speed??????? ;) Third, findings and impressions: Work: As far as messing about in boats, this vessel is pretty easy to work on. Except for checking the batteries. Everything is built well with an eye kept to making the boat as light as possible. The super structure is foam cored, so water migration is a non-issue, though care must be taken when selecting the length of fasteners, as they can fully penetrate the cabin, as when mounting fans. :( I still have a leak at the head pump and will replace the screws with through bolts to insure a seal at the gasket. I've linked up the chartplotter, autopilot and Navman to NMEA 0183 and have yet to do the VHF. I'm dissatisfied with the autopilot operation and still have work to do there. These are more prop changes in the near future so I have yet to fill calibrate the Navman 3100. We had to replace the helm seat after I broke it off at the boat races. The SeaPost was pricey at $600, but is very comfortable. The SunScreens were an easy install and keep the cabin much cooler. I highly recommend them. I plan to replace the MR16 and MR11 lamps in the light fixtures with LEDs to save the batteries. And maybe an additional battery is in order. I have my weather eye out for a 2000W Honda generator and a watermaker to complete our cruising self-sufficiency. Comfort: I have hit my bald head on the head entrance insufficient times to learn not to. The access to the batteries for checking water levels requires disconnecting and removing the batteries. With me at 6'-1"/233# and the skipper at 5'-6" the Queen+ berth is a tad too small for our sleeping habits, and a tad to firm for the skipper. Someone is going to sleep in a hull. I think we were spoiled by the 5'-8" wide innerspring mattress we had built for the H450. If we can get past the sleeping comfort issue we'll be OK for short cruises. The cockpit is not as comfortable as I'd like. All the curved surfaces make it difficult for me to find a place to fully repose. I'm used to dozing while the skipper drives and I don't have anything to fix. :) The head space is good, the galley is spacious, the 12VDC refrigerator works very well, the A/C is quite satisfactory, the basin galley fixtures are good, though I'm thinking a cockpit shower will need to be added if we spend any time in the Bahamas. The fuel gauges are a POS. I have a dowel I use to sound the fuel tanks. There has to be a better way. She loves to cruise anywhere from idle at 800 RPM tp 2000RPM. This is 3 to 8 knots. She has an ugly vibration at 3000RPM, and loves to passage at 4000RPM for 17-18 knots. On a recent cruise up the Caloosahatchee River with speeds all over the place we averaged about 4 Nm to the gallon. With 70 gallons on board that make for a 280 mile range. Certainly enough for us to get Key West or Marathon and then to the Bahamas. I wonder if we could do the Thorny Path? I new Bimini is on order as the "standard 4 bow" bimini requires stepping through the "Vee" of the fore and aft main bows to enter/exit the vessel and to get to the foredeck. The added side steps make all the difference in the world, but by changing out to separate forward and after bow assemblies we can improve safe access, allow for increased head room, have side grab rails, and clear vinyl around the helm. This latter is important in any kind of sea above 2 feet and above 10 knots, as the MC30 can throw up some spray. Finally, opinions: Our MC30 is a work in progress. After all, it's a boat. I have had good support from our dealer, interesting and informative correspondence with other owners, dealers and the designer, Jerry Kostanski; and outstanding support from Kris a the Bond Yacht factory in Poland. If I had it to do over? The Buzzards Bay 33 and Sea Sport 3200 are very nice at twice the price. WorldCats, ProSports, and Twin-Vees are fishing boats. The Glacier Bay is beautiful, but is priced in the range of a used 40+ foot cat. Does she do everything? No. Can she go anywhere? No. At least not for ocean crossing. For the shallows she is great! We've grounded her three time so far and have not had to get out to push or call the tow company. She's a keeper. Now if we can only find the right name......... Drew Dolak