TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Going to the dark side: Herding Cats

Ugg.. This thread wasn't exactly highjacked for awhile as opposed to just being taken down a different path for a bit - that I enjoyed. We aren't speaking Spanish here, so I think everyone knows that "vaca" was used in the current urban slang for vacation.

My wife, I will openly call her the Admiral, and she laughs about it. Yes: I captain the boat and it's irrelevant that she was sailing 5+ years before i even started. It's a joke along the lines of "happy wife, happy life".

Let's clink glasses and have another round. I truly asked the question in my original post because this will probably be the last charter we take before starting our "cut the lines" life and I'm interested in if I want to let the "cat out of the bag" (last pun) before we tie ourselves to our monohull.

Thanks to all.

congrats, go with your heart, take the mono <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Do both kids need their own cabin?

You could try the Lipari 41 cat -- has a 3-cabin version - Capt Jay has one at CYOA I believe as does BVI Yacht Charters - reviews on them are quite good as to how they sail. We have a 4-cabin version for our May charter. It will give you a comparison. I say give the cat a try. I still prefer monos but why not check it out? It's just a charter....

We have three with the owners layout and one four cabin. The newest one leaves France any day, it has an ice maker, water maker, Generator and Air Conditioning Perfect for the SVI's. Oh yeah and a really cool name "Narcosis".

Jay

The owners versions are awesome. We were on a moorings 3900 in July. Loved it! That would be the best way to try out a cat.

We're really looking forward to sailing one in May -- we now unexpectedly have 8 on board so it will be tight in the 4-cabin version...but I think we'll survive <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Only if it's because they are both over 6'. As kids on our 38', I'd find both of them, with 2 friends, all stuffed in the V-berth playing games or watching videos.

They will fold up origami style just about anywhere...and be able to sleep.

I just got back from our trip where I flipped over to the "dark side." I have 2 boys who are 6'4" and our last trip on a mono had been a bit tight. I was a little worried about manuevering the 42 foot Cat but if you are that good at manuevering a monohull you will have no problems with a Cat. It was easier to dock, much more comfortable for the 7 of us (3 boys over 6 feet, my husband and I, my daughter and my 83 year old mother), faster speeds on a broad reach and while motoring and a lot more privacy for all of us with the 4 cabins and 4 heads. I am sold and don't know if we can go back to chartering a monohull when we have the kids. Downsides: it didn't sail very well at all on a close reach, tight spaces were a little stressful just because it was so wide. Someone told me it was like driving a tennis court and they were exactly right! You do have to rememember to reef much more often and earlier than a monohull. I'm a little anal so I took an online course about sailing a Cat that was fabulous. It was http://www.nauticed.org/ I say go for it and enjoy your trip.