Retirement / Your version of a dream retreat/house/cabin/etc....

:up: Oh, how I love that place.

 

I've been on one while docked. I was really impressed with the amount of space. I also like the idea of it remaining relatively flat (not heeled over) while under way. I will charter various boats in time to see what I like the most once I get to that point. I have a west wight potter 14 and am stepping up to a Catalina 27 this fall/winter. I've got 18ish years to baby step my way up to what ever boat we settle with. I've also got 18 years for those really nice modern $1MM cats to depreciate.

 

NOT a boat guy, but I couldn't help myself to Google 50' Catamaran, Utbube kicked up one for sale and OMG, I was impressed. Still NOT a water guy but wondered what something like that sells for. lol!

 

The thing about a big cat is you're going to have 2 of everything to maintain, engines, fuel systems, AC, heads and then wait till you try to find a slip or someplace that can haul it for bottom paint. Everthing doubles, you better have a pocket full of coins. It's a huge expense to sail flat, you're talking about a boat that's built to accommodate 6 to 8 people.

 

Well then, paging Nazif's phat boat.

 

Couple more things....slip space for a big cat is $$$$$, you can only put them at the end of the dock because they're as wide as the Nimitz.

Stability. You're correct that they don't heel much, but of you every get one in heavy weather and by some chance capsize, you're in trouble. They are not self-righting like a monohull which you know I am sure. With that said, they're so fast that you can usually out sail the weather.

Maneuvering and anchoring. With no draft to speak of and a shit ton of freeboard (that's sail area even with bare poles...) cats sail on their anchors and also are prone to blowing around. When we were in the inner lagoon of Bora Bora we had a Lagoon 50 (charter captain no less who should have known better) try to sail off his anchor and hit us. Scuffed up our chartered Benateau 43 but could have been waaaaaay worse. The wind picked up just as he pulled up the anchor and he lost control. Dumb move, but with a monohull would have been easily recoverable.

 

My place.

 

I want to start a pizza restaurant within walking distance of my beachfront condo. If that doesn't work out, I'll be the grumpy S.O.B. that answers the phone when you call to order stands for your grandkids' bikes.

 

Hope you have better luck killing them, than you have road racing, asshole!

 

Ok, a few words about multihulls, catamarans in particular. A modern cat is going to have either keels or boards. The boards can either be pivoting centerboards or vertical daggerboards. In the case of keels they are unballasted , on custom boats it’s not uncommon for them to be hollow adding buoyancy. Cats normally have an engine in each hull which gives you unparalleled maneuverability . On the one cat I captain the overall beam is 22 feet with a 30 hp diesel in each hull. You can spin the boat 360 degrees in almost its own length. Most of the production cats that you are going to see are built for the charter trade (Lagoon, Fountain-Pajot, Leopard, St. Francis, Privilege etc.) They’re not really all that good as a sailing vessel, but the hulls are very robust and they typically come with hot and cold running pleasure, AC, stone countertops and TV sets. They can and do take quite a beating. Unfortunately they’re usually incredibly heavy because of this. If you do some searches there’s a number of designers that do custom or one off type work. Google Chris White designs and take a look at some of his Atlantic series catamarans, look up Tony Grainger (he’s out of Australia),John Shuttleworth ( England) or John Marples ( Maine) . A typical cat by Chris White in a similar size range to a Lagoon 50 is going to displace a little over half of the Lagoon while carrying more sail area and be a better sailing boat in all respects. Very interesting interior and deck layout also. He has a book or two available, most likely through his website, though I have seen one on Amazon. Another great and informative read, though a little out of date is The Case for the Cruising Trimaran, by Jim Brown.

Pat

 

Let's see if I get this right. Our retirement plan.

 

Thanks for those designer names. I know what i'll be doing for the rest of the day...
Catamarans seem to get a lot of hate, but they also seem check a lot of boxes for cruising. living space while docked at your destination, shallow draft, Speed to out run storms and redundant engines are the big ones.
I kinda get trimarans sailing wise, but in a cursing situation it's the same as a mono space wise and all the pain of a cat when finding docking. Is it really that much faster than a catamaran to warrant the loss of all the living space?

 

Wow some great stuff in this thread, I'll throw in a downer for some balance. I had a small building in SE Mi and spent many years renovating it for personal use (not 'flipper' work, good work), loft on top, retail on the main floor, workshop on the bottom. It was intended to be 'the place' for the long term. The rear overlooked a river and big park, the front was a downtown with coffee shops, restaurants, grocers, etc. For us a great environment and a great home base for future travels.

After having a retail tenant for many years we (wife and I) thought it might be worth trying to start something on our own so we could be independant, so we started an art gallery showing only original motorsport related work. The intent was that it wasn't a labor-based income stream so we could eventually be hands-off, not internet based so we couldn't be off-shored/undersold, and also we could subsidise any motorsport related activites by doing some promotion as part of it (running our logo on race bikes/cars, putting up flyers at events, etc). We were setting it up all out of pocket while being very aggressive with paying principal on the note and were on track to being completely free and clear in a couple years.

Then, before we had a chance to open the gallery doors to the public a nightclub/dive bar opened up next door and their 'music' came right through the common brick wall. Acoustic engineers said no chance of reducing the level without extensive work to both spaces either side of the wall and the nightclub wasn't interested in that. Luckily the city noise ordinance was very thorough and explicit, unfortunately ordinances require enforcement, and no one, either elected or appointed city officials, or enforcement, was willing to enforce the ordinance. We made the mistake of going to court, and as a result we obliterated our savings, and were forced to sell the building at a huge loss. Now most of my tools are in storage and we're renting for the foreseeable future. Coupled with some in-law health issues, retirement is not part of the plan at this point.

On the plus side, I kept my composure throughout the process and so I am not incarcerated for administering appropriate justice myself. It was not easy. When a little, loud nightclub owner, by himself, bangs on the door an hour after last call to complain every time we called the police, after my wife and baby daughter have been crying because of his noise, restraint/self control barely describe the iron discipline required.

Gallery:

 

Everything is a compromise.....

 

Yeah, cats do get a lot of hate, some of it deservedly. Let’s be serious, a fair number of them won’t even tack under sail. If all you want is a dockside condo, then it can be great. You’ll want AC, a generator, washer, dryer, dishwasher and seating for 10 for dinner, you’ll be using it as a home, not transport. We rarely dock, and never overnight. If you want to actually travel in this machine a little research is in order to be sure you get something that really moves.
Trimarans actually have less space than an equivalent size monohull, and they don’t carry weight very well. It’s a more minimalist approach to cruising. A tri is much easier to sail with a small crew or singlehanded, and is easier to push hard. Yes, I think they sail better than a cat, or a monohull for that matter. Your opinion might vary.

 

This is where I dream of living when I retire:

http://pinecreeksportingclub.com/index.php?id=71

Maybe not that particular house, but something like it, in a community like that.

 

Better picture, or at least closer view. I'll try to get an interior picture, give you a better idea of room aboard.

 

Why wait till retirement age to make it happen?

About 3 years ago me and my wife started planning for living out of an RV and seeing the country. Took us 2.5 years to fully realize it (sold our place in January of this year). Living in a 45' motor coach, following the sun and seeing places that we want to see as well as places we may never have even thought about. Not retired, but with planning we made it happen.

We have meet a lot of really interesting people and are seeing a lot of this country that we wouldn't have been seen had we not taken the chance. We are finding more and more young(ish) people are going this route (by choice).

If you want to do it, you need to really be prepared for it. You can't take a lot of shit with you and living in tight quarters isn't for the couple that have two beds. 475 sqft of space gets small and cluttered. We dumped a 3250 fully furnished house with a 3 bay garage, 24'x36' shop. The stuff we kept fits in a 5'x10' storage unit or fits in the coach with us.

Very liberating as well as fun.

That and if CAN be cheaper then maintaining a mortgage, four car's, 10 motorcycles, enough lawn care equipment to run your own landscaping service and all the bills that goes along with it. not saying it's free, but our run rate was cut down to about 25% of what it was before.

 

Prevost.......living large! Is it a Liberty or Marathon? Our friends had one and the fridge crapped out..had to take the windshield out to replace it. It also had more batteries than a WWII submarine but it was a damn nice coach.

I remember Frank from Liberty when he brought one of the super high-end conversions to ACC. He said "Monte and Bonnie, you guys need one of these. If I hook you up direct and we're careful with options and you trade out every couple of years, I can keep you difference figure down to about 250k"