Donal wrote:
"Frank" wrote...
We've talked about cats, too; but have yet to charter a cruising
cat to
see if we find the experience enjoyable in the same sort of way we
enjoy monohull sailing. We're gonna do that sometime soon.

A friend in my sailing club is moving back to a monohull - or "half
a
boat". He's finally convinced his wife that they would enjoy sailing
more
if they could sail to wind. He's spent the last 5 years telling us
that his
cat could point as high as a monohull!!
My gut feeling is that if your wife actually enjoys sailing, then you
should
ignore catamarans.
Also, before you buy a big boat, take into consideration the fact
that your
kids will be gone in a few years. You will have to park it with only
your
wife as crew. I'd love to buy a Malo 42, but I don't think that my
diminutive spouse would be able to hold the lines while we tied up.

All good comments and I appreciate 'em. A cat is at the far end of
possible consideration for us and, if we went that way or went for some
generic used charter boat, it would just be for the couple of years
while we're cruising with the girls. Then we'd unload it to buy our
"real/retirement boat", a Freedom 38, which is the world's easiest
single-hander.

We both do enjoy actually sailing, so no crab crushers would make even
our most inclusive list of possibilities. I did a lotta deliveries in
the 70's and 80's of boats up to 50 feet, sometimes single-handed; so
having my wife along always feels like I'm loafing. With the kids added
to the mix, it almost feels like a competitive race crew! Well, almost.


For most labor-intensive activities, my wife's on the helm and I'm
doing the heavy lifting. Does your wife not like to be at the wheel? I
always find it slightly painful to sit in an anchorage and watch a 6'2"
240-pound ex-linebacker with a delicate grip on the helm yelling at his
5'2" 100-pound wife on the foredeck wrestling with a CQR almost as big
as she is. What's wrong with this picture?

Frank