Disclaimer -- this letter is from a catamaran dealer;

Dear Power-Cat list,

There's a long-held saying in the sport of kings:  "horses for
courses."  In other words, even the best "mudder" can be a terrible
performer if selected to race on turf. And vice versa.

Boating is much the same -- one is always best served by finding a
vessel that BEST suits one's particular boating needs.

So, what does this musing have to do with catamarans?

Well, as America's longest-serving catamaran dealer (nearly 30 years),
it has been my observation that an increasing number of boaters are
buying $200K to $500K cats (both power and sail) .... but then seldom
leaving their dock or moorage. Admittedly, this remains a small minority
of cat buyers, but it's definitely growing. Frankly, at first it struck
me as remarkable that ANY buyer of that price cat would then keep it
tied to a dock or mooring.

My error was that I was thinking the "only" use for a catamaran is to
cast off and motor it to other points.

As it turned out, foolish me!

When I've spoken with these cat owners (some of them my own clients),
about their deliberate "non-cruise" decisions, I discovered that these
folks enjoyed being ON the water, but had little interest (and sometimes
none) in moving ACROSS the water. But, as a dockside boat-design choice
they selected the catamaran configuration, rather than a monohull, due
to the cat benefits most of you readers already know and appreciate:
(a) greater stability, (b) and, foot-for-linear-foot, greater room.

This got me to thinking -- how MUCH of the price of a $200K to $500K
power cat was devoted toward safety or seakeeping capability, NEITHER of
which was being used, or even necessary, for these above owners who are
seeking a purely dockside (or flat-water) liveaboard? (And, conversely,
how much of the design requirements necessary to create a safe cruising
boat are antithetical to pure, simple, dockside living?)

Of course, the number of people purchasing a cat designed, first and
foremost, for safety and seaworthiness, but then only using that vessel
as a liveaboard is small. (Then again, the number of people buying ANY
catamaran yacht is, relatively speaking, small. So, we're simply
referring to a tinier niche in an otherwise already small-niche market
place.) So, as I put pencil to paper, I began to see that the answer to
that question (how much of the $200K to $500K price is devoted SOLELY to
safety/performance/offshore capability?), was, in a word . . . a LOT! In
fact, it began to appear to me that the answer was anywhere from about
40-to-75-percent of the cost was spent specifically JUST for the
safety/performance/offshore capability.

One discovery led to another, and before long I found myself considering
an entirely different set of design parameters IF THE SOLE OBJECTIVE was
a catamaran-hulled liveaboard, for which NO offshore nor seakeeping
capabilities were required. In fact, it then began to make sense to
create an actual home-like structure (albeit marinized), and then
securing that onto a pair of sturdy catamaran hulls. Suddenly you could
have all those home-like items, features, and ergonomics in a 44' to 46'
design, which you cannot get in ANY same-size cruising powercat. PLUS,
whereas a, say, 45' cruising power cat (fully equipped) might run you
about $450K to $700K, you instead could get that more comfortable,
home-like catamaran vessel, same length, for a WHOLE lot less. How much
less? How about (fully equipped), for $150K to $200K max -- a savings of
$300K to $500K!!

And what does "fully equipped" mean?

Full size, home-like appliances  (stove, oven, microwave, 22-cu.ft
dbl-door fridge-freezer, big front-load washer-dryer, dishwasher) plus
forced-air ducted heat, 16,000 BTU fireplace, radiant-heat tiled
bathroom floors, 45" HDTVs, king-size beds with full standing headroom
around three sides, 9-to-12-foot long closets, minimum 7'to 9' headroom
plus living room with cathedral ceiling...PLUS a 200 sq.ft. added
sleeping/storage lofts], big front-and-back decks, and so on. And all
for only about $170K!!

In fact, I don't know of any million-dollar cats that can provide all of
those items!

And, after I sketched out some ideas following those parameters, I
wondered if mobility could be included? Well, with sturdy hulls (foam
filled for complete unsinkability): tapered bows; reinforced transoms
for the addition of twin 60-to-90-HP outboards (including a foredeck
stearing station with controls, an anti-splash panel beneath the hulls,
& C.G. running lights) . . . sure enough:  an option for flat-water
"cruising" under power could be offered too (speeds of 5 to 8 knots).
Actually, the hulls could be built to easily withstand seas, but -- like
even a multi-million-dollar shoreside home -- the sides of this
cat-hulled home would NOT be designed-nor-built to withstand the force
of breaking seas.  THAT'S where much of that added $100K to $300K is
spent in the typical power-cruising cat. But if you're going to
primarily remain dockside, that type of construction is overkill.

Nonetheless, we have canoes and kayaks here on Puget Sound that
sometimes venture for several months and hundreds and hundreds of miles
up along the U.S. and Canadian coast during the summer. They simply keep
a careful eye out for wind and waves, and seek protection in a harbor or
marina when the seas exceed a foot or so. And the catamaran-home I
envisaged would be at least that careful when underway.

I first began thinking about this "dockside home on catamaran hulls" in
December of 2009, and now, 7 months later, we're about to launch the
first Eco-Sea Cottage. It's 44' x 15', and includes a living room,
bedroom, kitchen (again, larger than that in any $500K cruising cat),
bathroom with big shower (or bathtub), plus a 200 sq.ft. 2nd-level
sleeping/storage loft. As I'll be the first to admit, it's a vessel of
limited appeal. For ANYONE seeking to do ANY serious cruising, this is
NOT the desired OR appropriate vessel. Then again, if ones current
budget were $350K or $450K for an equipped cruising cat, you could get
an ESC for, say, about $170K (in which you'd spend 90% of your time),
and add a $150K cruising cat to keep docked right alongside . . . and
that might turn out to be the best of both worlds for some boaters, at a
cost no more than for that larger, lone cruising cat (which will NOT
give you anywhere near as much dockside comfort). The sizes range from
34' to 60' with prices from $110K to $250K.

Having written the above, I'm nonetheless convinced that the majority of
my company's catamaran sales will continue to be the known-and-proven
bluewater cruising-cat models.

And yet....and yet.....I've gotta say that MY next purchase (because I'd
LOVE to live right ON the water...BUT in a vessel with true, home-like
comfort), now that I've seen the finished product, it's likely that MY
next vessel (and this will be my 19th or 20th since I began boating as a
young boy), is likely to be an Eco-Sea Cottage for liveaboard usage
..... and yeah, with a modest, 25' to 30' power cat docked right alongside.

Of course, as the adage says, "the proof of the pudding is in the
tasting."  I'll know a lot more about the ESC in another 2 or 3 months
from now, during which the first Eco-Sea Cottage will have been
exhibited at the August powerboat show in Seattle, and the big
sail-and-power /in-the-water show in Seattle in September. During those
months we'll be "messin' about" with this first ESC . . .which, as that
little character in "The Wind In The Willows" so aptly put, is just
about the finest thing to do no matter what type vessel you do that
"messin' about" in.

To see what this odd-duck power catamaran is about, you can visit the
website at:                www.Eco-SeaCottage.com

Fair Winds,

Rod Gibbons, pres.
Cruising Cats USA

They're called 'houseboats' Rod, and we have dozens of em floating around
here.  I think you're a bit late in the game to be suggesting that you
invented them.

Rod:
Not taking anything away from your product, and giving you the benefit of
any doubt about it being better built and/or higher quality than the similar
products, I have considered the idea of the live-aboard vessel with the
smaller cat run-about for retirement in a few years.  It may be ego or it may
even be because my engineering mind can't get around the sea-capable barrier,
but at least for coastal living, I've haven't looked at anything less than a
50 or so Carri-Cat for house-like space and amenities.  Your proposal looks
great for lake and river living, but I hope I don't see these things showing
up in the Keys.  I'd hate to see the same traffic jam on the ICW as on 95
during hurricane threats.  Nice looking water-living concepts.  Good luck with
your product.

--- On Tue, 7/13/10, Rod Gibbons rodgibbons@mindspring.com wrote:

From: Rod Gibbons rodgibbons@mindspring.com
Subject: [PCW] What if a 44' power catamaran were purposely built NOT for
cruising???
To: power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 2:22 PM

Disclaimer -- this letter is from a catamaran dealer;

Dear Power-Cat list,

There's a long-held saying in the sport of kings:  "horses for courses."  In
other words, even the best "mudder" can be a terrible performer if selected to
race on turf. And vice versa.

Boating is much the same -- one is always best served by finding a vessel that
BEST suits one's particular boating needs.

So, what does this musing have to do with catamarans?

Well, as America's longest-serving catamaran dealer (nearly 30 years), it has
been my observation that an increasing number of boaters are buying $200K to
$500K cats (both power and sail) .... but then seldom leaving their dock or
moorage. Admittedly, this remains a small minority of cat buyers, but it's
definitely growing. Frankly, at first it struck me as remarkable that ANY
buyer of that price cat would then keep it tied to a dock or mooring.

My error was that I was thinking the "only" use for a catamaran is to cast off
and motor it to other points.

As it turned out, foolish me!

When I've spoken with these cat owners (some of them my own clients), about
their deliberate "non-cruise" decisions, I discovered that these folks enjoyed
being ON the water, but had little interest (and sometimes none) in moving
ACROSS the water. But, as a dockside boat-design choice they selected the
catamaran configuration, rather than a monohull, due to the cat benefits most
of you readers already know and appreciate:  (a) greater stability, (b) and,
foot-for-linear-foot, greater room.

This got me to thinking -- how MUCH of the price of a $200K to $500K power cat
was devoted toward safety or seakeeping capability, NEITHER of which was being
used, or even necessary, for these above owners who are seeking a purely
dockside (or flat-water) liveaboard? (And, conversely, how much of the design
requirements necessary to create a safe cruising boat are antithetical to
pure, simple, dockside living?)

Of course, the number of people purchasing a cat designed, first and foremost,
for safety and seaworthiness, but then only using that vessel as a liveaboard
is small. (Then again, the number of people buying ANY catamaran yacht is,
relatively speaking, small. So, we're simply referring to a tinier niche in an
otherwise already small-niche market place.) So, as I put pencil to paper, I
began to see that the answer to that question (how much of the $200K to $500K
price is devoted SOLELY to safety/performance/offshore capability?), was, in a
word . . . a LOT! In fact, it began to appear to me that the answer was
anywhere from about 40-to-75-percent of the cost was spent specifically JUST
for the safety/performance/offshore capability.

One discovery led to another, and before long I found myself considering an
entirely different set of design parameters IF THE SOLE OBJECTIVE was a
catamaran-hulled liveaboard, for which NO offshore nor seakeeping capabilities
were required. In fact, it then began to make sense to create an actual
home-like structure (albeit marinized), and then securing that onto a pair of
sturdy catamaran hulls. Suddenly you could have all those home-like items,
features, and ergonomics in a 44' to 46' design, which you cannot get in ANY
same-size cruising powercat. PLUS, whereas a, say, 45' cruising power cat
(fully equipped) might run you about $450K to $700K, you instead could get
that more comfortable, home-like catamaran vessel, same length, for a WHOLE
lot less. How much less? How about (fully equipped), for $150K to $200K max --
a savings of $300K to $500K!!

And what does "fully equipped" mean?

Full size, home-like appliances  (stove, oven, microwave, 22-cu.ft dbl-door
fridge-freezer, big front-load washer-dryer, dishwasher) plus forced-air
ducted heat, 16,000 BTU fireplace, radiant-heat tiled bathroom floors, 45"
HDTVs, king-size beds with full standing headroom around three sides,
9-to-12-foot long closets, minimum 7'to 9' headroom plus living room with
cathedral ceiling...PLUS a 200 sq.ft. added sleeping/storage lofts], big
front-and-back decks, and so on. And all for only about $170K!!

In fact, I don't know of any million-dollar cats that can provide all of those
items!

And, after I sketched out some ideas following those parameters, I wondered if
mobility could be included? Well, with sturdy hulls (foam filled for complete
unsinkability): tapered bows; reinforced transoms for the addition of twin
60-to-90-HP outboards (including a foredeck stearing station with controls, an
anti-splash panel beneath the hulls, & C.G. running lights) . . . sure
enough:  an option for flat-water "cruising" under power could be offered too
(speeds of 5 to 8 knots). Actually, the hulls could be built to easily
withstand seas, but -- like even a multi-million-dollar shoreside home -- the
sides of this cat-hulled home would NOT be designed-nor-built to withstand the
force of breaking seas.  THAT'S where much of that added $100K to $300K is
spent in the typical power-cruising cat. But if you're going to primarily
remain dockside, that type of construction is overkill.

Nonetheless, we have canoes and kayaks here on Puget Sound that sometimes
venture for several months and hundreds and hundreds of miles up along the
U.S. and Canadian coast during the summer. They simply keep a careful eye out
for wind and waves, and seek protection in a harbor or marina when the seas
exceed a foot or so. And the catamaran-home I envisaged would be at least that
careful when underway.

I first began thinking about this "dockside home on catamaran hulls" in
December of 2009, and now, 7 months later, we're about to launch the first
Eco-Sea Cottage. It's 44' x 15', and includes a living room, bedroom, kitchen
(again, larger than that in any $500K cruising cat), bathroom with big shower
(or bathtub), plus a 200 sq.ft. 2nd-level sleeping/storage loft. As I'll be
the first to admit, it's a vessel of limited appeal. For ANYONE seeking to do
ANY serious cruising, this is NOT the desired OR appropriate vessel. Then
again, if ones current budget were $350K or $450K for an equipped cruising
cat, you could get an ESC for, say, about $170K (in which you'd spend 90% of
your time), and add a $150K cruising cat to keep docked right alongside . . .
and that might turn out to be the best of both worlds for some boaters, at a
cost no more than for that larger, lone cruising cat (which will NOT give you
anywhere near as much dockside comfort). The sizes
range from 34' to 60' with prices from $110K to $250K.

Having written the above, I'm nonetheless convinced that the majority of my
company's catamaran sales will continue to be the known-and-proven bluewater
cruising-cat models.

And yet....and yet.....I've gotta say that MY next purchase (because I'd LOVE
to live right ON the water...BUT in a vessel with true, home-like comfort),
now that I've seen the finished product, it's likely that MY next vessel (and
this will be my 19th or 20th since I began boating as a young boy), is likely
to be an Eco-Sea Cottage for liveaboard usage ..... and yeah, with a modest,
25' to 30' power cat docked right alongside.

Of course, as the adage says, "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting."
I'll know a lot more about the ESC in another 2 or 3 months from now, during
which the first Eco-Sea Cottage will have been exhibited at the August
powerboat show in Seattle, and the big sail-and-power /in-the-water show in
Seattle in September. During those months we'll be "messin' about" with this
first ESC . . .which, as that little character in "The Wind In The Willows" so
aptly put, is just about the finest thing to do no matter what type vessel you
do that "messin' about" in.

To see what this odd-duck power catamaran is about, you can visit the website
at:                www.Eco-SeaCottage.com

Fair Winds,

Rod Gibbons, pres.
Cruising Cats USA

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