-------- Original message --------
Subject:
From: Roy Rogers <roy.skipperroy.rogers@gmail.com>
To: Roy Rogers <roy.skipperroy.rogers@gmail.com>
CC:
Simon, -and Kim.
You are correct. It is the same ankle I injured so long ago. Your memory serves you well. I'd forgotten about that whole episode until the podiatrist observed that one ankle was not the same as the other and asked about old injuries. (I didn't remember the incident with Mike until you mentioned it!) I couldn't tell the doctor much about it except to say I recall it was x-rayed, I think, and was not broken. But it was a long time in healing. Over the years since I've run 3 marathons, at least a dozen half marathons, and I can't count shorter events, like 10 K and 15 Ks. Never mind the countless miles of usual exercise. So it's surprising to me that it should become an issue now.
I'm staying home today. I've arranged for another captain/instructor to take over for me today and perhaps tomorrow. I've got to get rid of this congestion and cough. These students are scheduled to be on our new Leopard 44 catamaran on Wednesday and Thursday. I've got to be healthy for that. There are only 2 of us at Sailing FL qualified to run that boat and the other guy, Patrick, can't really take off from regular duties to go on a training cruise.
You asked about catamarans. To be honest I hadn't sailed them much until last year. In the VI I once did a 4 or 5 day charter on one and recall that I thought then that the space was nice, but it didn't want to point very well, and the motion was very different from a mono-hull. Here in Florida, there was a Lagoon 36 in the fleet that I sailed back from Isla Mujeres, Mexico last April. The next month I sailed it again, this time back from Key West. Both trips were occasioned by regattas that took the boat first to Mexico, then to Key West, and after each I was detailed to skipper the return trip.
The trip from Mexico turned out to be a mostly light air and then becalmed affair. The crew for that were 3 graduates from our sailing school who wanted an advanced off-shore experience. I didn't say this to them, but we didn't really get that. It was a calk walk. We motor-sailed until the fuel was nearly gone, then sat waiting about a 100 miles from the FL west coast until wind came up enough to get us to Venice and a fuel dock. That trip was not a fair assessment of the catamaran's sailing characteristics. But again the space was nice. And I like close maneuvering with twin-screw powerboats, which is what a catamaran is when not sailing.
The trip from Key West was much better sailing. That trip begins with an 80 mile open water passage to Marco Island. After that, the rest of the trip is either near-shore, or inside the Intra-Coastal Waterway. Crew on that trip was Cathy, and our friends from Berlin Germany, Carsten and Viola. This trip was supposed to be pleasure as much as business. We had a whole week to do the trip. I've done it in 32 hours, on a Catalina 445, in 20 to 35 kt winds, which stands as the charter company record for a mono-hull.
After getting down to the boat we hung out in Key West for a couple days being tourists. (It's an interesting and fun place – for a couple days.) We set out before dawn with a forecast of 10 to 15 out of the E. And that's what we had once we cleared the NW Channel. The seas were just a couple feet at first, while we were still relatively close to the chain of keys. But as the Keys fell away to the east the seas built up and became 4 to 6 feet. That's when the ride became uncomfortable.
Here's my take on catamarans. Compared to a mono-hull of similar length, they offer amazing amounts of space. On a long 30 something and into the 40s, you usually get 2 staterooms in each hull, often each with its own head, a huge galley and salon area - great for dining and entertaining. Outside - a huge cockpit plus another huge space forward with a trampoline connecting the two hulls. I can see why catamarans have become so popular, and numerous, in the charter fleets. They are great for that. You can pack them with friends and not feel as crowded. Also, catamarans are appealing to people who are intimidated by the heeling motion of a mono-hull. In an anchorage and in an easy seaway, they are a very smooth, stable ride.
But, in larger seas I find their motion uncomfortable. Think about this – with a mono-hull there will be rolling as well as pitching, but the sails and keel help dampen the motion and provide what I find to be a predictable roll and pitch. On a catamaran, there are two connected hulls that encounter seas in an unsynchronized way. Often the hulls are trying to respond to different demands. The result is, in bigger seas, a motion that is short and jarring. It may not roll a lot, but the pitching and jarring wears you out. Like riding a hobby-horse, or a dirt bike in the Baja 1000.
My current students, a physician and his wife, come to us with next to no experience, but with the idea of buying a catamaran to live on and then in a few years go cruising on. I admire their spirit, but have said this. Before you buy, go down to the Caribbean and charter a catamaran like the one you might buy. Get it out in open seas in 15 to 20 kt winds, 6 foot seas, which are typical down there, and see what you think.
I understand why people are attracted to catamarans: the space, notions of the stability. But after that Key West trip, Cathy agrees with me; we'd never buy one. They're awfully expensive to buy and maintain, and not really all that comfortable in big seas. .
We no longer have that Lagoon 36, thankfully. It was worn out. But a couple months ago we got a brand new Leopard 44. That make and size have become very popular, especially in the charter fleets. It's huge - 23 foot beam – a challenge to get into its slip. It looks very sleek and modern. It's a half million $ boat, but honestly, I remain unimpressed. I find many aspects of it's finish to be chintzy. We've discovered voids in the decks. Stringers are separating from the hulls. It's just months old, and except for the trip around from Ft Lauderdale where it was commissioned, it never sees rough water. But the manufacturer seems to be standing behind its product. It will soon be taken out of service for a week, minimum, of warranty repairs. My students and I will probably be the last to sail it prior to that.
I should lay down for a while.
RR
No comments:
Post a Comment