Scott,

I am very surprised at your anti-cat diatribe.

Power cats and sailing cats are very different platforms but they
have huge advantages over conventional monohulls under many
circumstances. They are far more efficient and considerably faster,
not to mention their great layouts and open spaces; and while for
monohull sailors they have unusual roll characteristics at least they
don't pitch wildly like the Nordhaven and other "fat" monohulls do -
nor do they require stabilizers to be comfortable while at sea.

My personal preference is for a long, thin steel monohull with no
reserve buoyancy forward, a very sharp entry, twin diesels and a
single screw. I've personally seen fiberglass passagemakers and
sailboats burn to the waterline and grind themselves into oblivion on
coral reefs in short order. I'm not quite ready to take my family out
around the world on a high speed fiberglass cat design but I would do
so far before I would relegate my passagemaking to a Nordhaven.

When you go to sea in your boat you are going to find that beating to
weather with your bluff bows and significant reserve buoyancy and fat
beam is going to make you pay a huge price for your seagoing
apartment where the designers are cramming as much living space as
possible in a short space. You'll travel up and down as much as you
will forward and I hope you and your wife develop cast iron stomachs
because pitching in your boat with its substantive vertical and
horizontal acceleration and deceleration will make you sick, and keep
you sick, an order of magnitude more than the cats you disdain.

I speak from experience. You need to make long ocean passages on
various designs to reach definitive conclusions. Too many people read
the hype, buy into it and become converts without any experience in
alternatives, settling for a conventional production boat they can
afford. There is nothing wrong with unconventional if you have the
experience to evaluate it.

Of course, one can make the point that going to sea in anything is
far worse than not going at all.

All the best...

Bruce

---=====
L. Bruce Jones                 U.S. SUBMARINES, INC.
President POSEIDON UNDERSEA RESORTS LLC
Tel: 208/687-9057                      Fax: 208/441-7478
E-mail: bruce@ussubmarines.com          http://ussubs.com
http://poseidonresorts.com

"Design, engineering and construction of submarines and submersibles"
"Developing the world's first sea floor resort."

---=====

Bruce,

I don't have the passagemaking experience you do, but my opinions and
thoughts stand on their own.  Honestly, I've observed the traits of cats I
pointed out on many occasions.  Ever been to a marina and seen where the
cats go?  They are all end ties, because they won't fit in the slips.  How
many end ties are there overall?  A small fraction.  Just wait till you pull
into a west coast marina and say "I'm a 40 by 40 foot boat and want a
starboard tie, got a place for me tonight?  Or worse yet, "hello, I'm
wondering what the wait list is for a 40 foot cat?  Oh, really, 200 years,
well better put my name down...

I've never been in a cat (below 60 feet) that had a nice stateroom,
someplace I would want to call home.  On the other hand, these big fat
monohulls have great accommodations, part of the enjoyment equation.
Finally, there's all kinds of hype about cats delivering a ride that's
second to none.  If my memory serves me, the editor of Passage Maker
magazine was injured when he was flung across the cockpit of a cat in the
Gulf Stream.  Where's the legendary ride in that boat?  I just get sick and
tired of hearing how amazing cats are from a few people who have other
motives for pitching the benefits of the design.  I don't like em, never
have since the 18' hobie I had as a kid turtled in Choctawhatchee bay.
Couldn't turn that boat over to save my life!  Anyway, great thing about
opinions, everyone can have one and enjoy it to their harts content!

Oh, by the way, your idea of a slim monohull is fantastic.  I can't afford
the moorage for it, but for a world cruise, I think you have a winner!

As far as my big fat Nordhavn, well I guess I'll just have to sit and wait
for a good weather window so we aren't puking during our passages.  I'm sure
we will get some weather and I'm sure both of us will get sick at some point
in time.  No one has convinced me that a cat is going to rule this out with
enough certainty to overcome the other objections I've shared.  Perhaps
there will be a large number of cats in the FUBAR rally?  If they are so
great I'm sure we will see more and more of them out there getting it done!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, they are appreciated!  I'm also glad you
didn't try to convince me I really should consider a submarine for the
voyage, I bet they ride really nice!  Take care, Scott

PS, do tell us more about your boat, I'd really like to hear about it!