TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands How do water toys fit on cat?

We will have a Moorings 48ft cat. Would like to have 2 paddle boards and a two person kayak. Would that be way too much stuff? Where do you store them? I thought I saw a picture of someone with their paddle boards somehow stored on top of the davits. Just trying to make sure we don't clutter up the boat too much.

The trick is also doing it without them interfering with the hatches opening. We were unsuccessful. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

The company that is renting you the equipment will know where to store and have the proper strapping.

You are going to be friggin exhausted by the time you get here!!!! Time to relax..

Hahaha!! But the planning is half the fun of my vacations! I love the research- ask my friends, I drive them nuts with lists and spreadsheets.
The planning just gets me more excited. Meanwhile my husband would just as we'll grab his wallet and passport and figure everything out when we get there.

I called Moorings to ask them about what would fit comfortably but they didn't seem to be too positive about it.

You can fit all that on a 4800 with no problems. Personally I think you will find it overkill. I would drop at least one paddle board.
G

We rented the same fleet of water toys on a 52' cat once and used bungee to lash them to the lifelines on their side. Probably not the best long-term solution, but worked well on our charter.

Matt

We had all the toys on our last trip 2 kayaks and 2 boards. I think we used paddle board once and kayak once. They're basically in the way strapped to the deck lifelines.

Our group mainly enjoyed snorkeling/diving. usually take dingy to where you want to dive. Those raft tube things are a big hit for floating around and easy to store.

Advise - cut your toys in half.

We rented a 46' CAT from moorings with 2 boards and 2 kayaks. It worked fine.

When we were on the moorings 58 last year, we had paddleboards and kayaks. I think we used them once. If you really think you'll use them, just go with the paddle boards.

And on the 48, you could store all of them without any problems.

Yup....have done the same thing....rented some very cool floats last year - 4 of them - we took them out twice the entire trip. This year, everyone is getting swim noodles and they'll be happy with that <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> since I've heard the Lipari is not a champion for storage space <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

The other option is some cheap inflatables. We've done that and used them - if they didn't get used, we just brought them back home with us. light and easy to store in the bag.

Thank you guys- think we will just go with one or two paddle boards. My husband will probably do that every day, he does it almost every day before work at home. Then we will have a second for the kids to use- all of my kids love paddle boarding when the water is calm.

I was going to look for some cheap floats when I do my last round of shopping for the trip this weekend- just floating around tied to the boat sounds like my speed!

I wouldn't bother with the kayaks unless someone is a big kayaker. On our last trip, I did see a lot of people using paddle boards in the mooring fields. They looked like they were having fun, especially with the dolphins swimming around at Cooper.

Momx3 - we're renting 2 luxury floats and a few "water bunz" from here.
http://www.bviwatertoys.com/water-floats/. They have noodles for rent too. They'll deliver them to your charter boat.

And I'm just like you - the planning is a ton of fun for me too! We should compare spreadsheets someday <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Too funny - those are the exact same things we ordered last year -- the lazy bunz and the floats -- they're fun -- you'll really enjoy them if you use them.

I was going to look for some cheap floats when I do my last round of shopping for the trip this weekend- just floating around tied to the boat sounds like my speed! [/quote]


We bring a couple of cheap floaties then pass them along to the next crew. That's the best way to spend the day...

Bridget, good to know! They look fun and like they won't take up that much space.
When we went to Bora Bora, I brought two blowup floaties. After my husband almost passed out from blowing them up, we used them every afternoon for floating just off the dock from our bungalow. Total relaxation!

I hate to say it...but they are NOT tiny - they're kind of awkward and bulky and store in net bags. They took up a LOT of storage space....

We added some kayak/SUP brackets to the stanchions which accommodate one kayak or two SUP's. It puts them outboard of the lifeline which keeps the deck clear.

We also love the inflatable Kona loungers, great for on deck or in the water.



Magma SUP/Kayak Brackets

You can use the lazybunz as seats as well - so that could definitely be a solution....

Exactly what I was thinking <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Just make sure you don't lose them overboard <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

We had two SUPs and one two-person kayak for our party of ten on a sunsail 444 cat. Plenty of room to Stowe along rails. Slight adjmentment at night to open hatches. We had six kids ages 8-16 who used the toys daily. We opted for the beginner SUP boards, knowing they would be used more for a swim toy for the kids. They had a ball, one paddling while two rode along. Teathered off to the dinghy davits when not in use during the day. Enjoy.