Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Catamaran Charter in the Caribbean

What is a Catamaran Charter Yacht Vacation? It is the most unique and personalized vacation you can imagine! The professional crew members of your yacht will be your captain, chef, tour guide, water sports activities director, nature guide (both above and below the water), and more!

Do I have to share the yacht? No, you charter the whole yacht. You select the yacht which offers the right accommodations for your party, from a honeymoon or anniversary for two, on up to a larger yacht for 5 couples. You can even arrange for two or more yachts to sail together in tandem for larger groups.

There are yachts that specialize in teaching sailing for those who want to add that to their vacation, as well as those yachts which offer SCUBA diving - from instructing those who have never tried it, to offering experienced divers access to our beautiful reefs and coral encrusted shipwrecks.

Catamaran charter is a great way to experience some things you have never done as well as just sit back and fully relax on a beautiful golden beach in paradise!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Charter catamarans to buy catamarans

If you are looking to buy a catamaran, I recommend you charter a catamaran first. If you think you are going to spend $150K up to own one shouldn't you be sure the one you buy actually works the way you think it does - or it says in the brochure?

If you are truly serious about living or traveling aboard a catamaran, then for sure take the time and invest the funds to charter a catamaran so you get the experience on the boat.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Charter A Catamamarn for Fun!

Charter a catamaran for fun in the sun. The list of things you can do from the stables platform of a charter catamaran is long indeed.

A partial list includes but is not limited to:
Scuba diving
Snorkeling
Exploring in the dingy
Visiting unusual out-of-the-way places
Fishing
Skiing
Wake boarding
Kite flying (sitting on a board while the spinnaker sail floats you up and down)
and of course - Sailing!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Some Disadvantages of Catamarans Chartering

We posted about the advantages of catamaran chartering. Now let's look at the other side...

It is possible that anchoring is somewhat more difficult with the anchor chain entering the yacht between the two hulls and that the anchor is often stowed in either hull. However, like anything else you get used to it quickly. Besides if you have never chartered monohull you would never know the difference

Because of its width catamaran charters experience more windage in gusts, which makes it more difficult to raise or set anchor or to dock in windy or gusty conditions. Moreover, it lacks a keel to prevent leeway (which means the boats slips sideways in the water much more easily)

In older catamarans, the danger of capsizing would lead to more reefing and less performance, because a catamaran would not recover from a knockdown or capsize. This doesn't mean a multihull is less safe than a monohull because hull breaches are often not fatal in catamarans. Plus this is much less of an issue in today's modern catamaran charters.

Sailing upwind is a problem, because multihulls don't point that high. (Although it is true a catamaran will not always point as high into the wind as a monohull - a cat will go almost twice as fast so falling off a little stills enables a cat to fly!

Catamarans are difficult to tack, especially in a choppy sea.

Contrary to monohulls which have a ballasted keel, catamarans rely only on form stability, which may lead to motion discomfort and more seasickness in light wind conditions.

There you have it. The pros and cons of multi hull and mono hull sailboats.

I say - go charter them both and decide for yourself!

Charter Catamaran Advantages

Why charter a catamaran vs a mono-hull?

Lots of reasons! Here are just a few!
* The small draft of a catamaran allows you to anchor in shallow bays or very close to the beach, which leads to more privacy and more options to drop anchor. In some places you can step off the boat and walk to shore!
* Minimum heeling and more stability can help to avoid seasickness. Of course the only cure for seasickness is 10 minutes under an oak tree - but we sure can minimize it on a cat!
* More room foot for foot. A catamaran has about the volume of a 10' longer monohull i.e. a 42' catamaran has about the space of a 52' monohull. So, more room on deck and inside with wrap around windows. A charter catamaran is the right party boat but especially the elderly will benefit of the stable and spacious deck with no steps between inside and outside. (Our younger crowd doesn't mind it either!)
* Easier to handle and steer. The autopilot steers very well, because the hulls as well as the two rudders give good tracking, and having an engine in each hull provides for turning the boat in it's own length plus the safety backup of having two engines.
* Somewhat faster as long as you are not overloaded, not sailing close hauled, and when sailing with enough wind.
* More privacy, since the sleeping accommodations, heads and showers are totally separate, located in each hull and in opposite corners.
* Handy storage of the dinghy pulled into the davits aft between the hulls.

Cool huh? Tomorrow let's look at disadvantages.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

What do you need to know to charter a catamaran?

Literally not a thing.

The cool part is many catamarans are captained. You are paying for someone who can guide you in where to do, when to go, the best places to see and things to do.

A captain is also responsible for safety on the catamaran and will allow you to do as little or as much a you like.

Want to sail? Great. Want to lay in the hammock and read books? Great!

They normally will stock the boat before you get there based on your preferences for food and drink, and pre-plan any special events like diving, snorkeling, windsurfing or visits to special places.

Fly or dive in - get on the boat and go. How easy can that be?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Charter a catamaran for the holidays!

Some of us have come to see the holidays as a time to spend a lot of money to participate in a ritual - not a celebration.

The best holiday times were those spent with loved ones for the joy of of the time together and not for the 'what did you get me this year' mentality.

What better way to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones - and how much memorable can it be if you spent the week on a catamaran in the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas or anywhere warm, sunny and subtropical?

Relax, swim, snorkel, sail - far removed from the crazy pace of life.

It's easy to do and less expensive than you might think!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Charter to Purchase a Catamaran

One of the truly great reasons to charter a catamaran is to try it out before you buy!

The cost of chartering makes it relatively simple to visit some very cool vacation spots and make sure the boat you are looking at works for you 'in the field(ocean)'!

With so many catamaran to charter and so many places to sail, there is no reason not to charter first.

Except money of course!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Where to charter a catamaran?

Where do you go to charter a catamaran?

Almost any where there is water! Great Lakes, East Coast, West Coast, Gulf Coast, Caribbean, Down Island, Australia, Indonesia - anywhere!

Just look online and type in catamaran charter to start planning!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Catamaran charter - anyone can do it!

Catamaran Charter
Before you charter a catamaran, there are some misconceptions to clear up. Catamarans are not like monohulls.

There is a huge difference! Catamarans are stable, (they don't rock in the swell), they are very spacious with the two hulls offering 4 or 5 separate sleeping quarters, they are very easy to sail even for beginners, they are fast!, and because catamarans usually have two engines they are very easy to maneuver when docking.

Back in the days when we lived on our boat, the concern about catamarans was th perception they would flip over and you couldn't flip them back up!

Today however, the engineering has the catamarans actually safer than monohulls- all in all a very stable and comfortable platform for glorious sailing in the balmy beach breezes of your favorite destination.

Belize anyone?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Catamaran chartering

So you want to charter a catamaran!

Well me too!

I have built a lived aboard a 36 foot aluminum cutter rigged sailboat for 6 years. In fact my first son was born when we had to pull over into Tortola BVI!

Now 16 years later we want to go back to the cruising life and a catamaran is where I want to be.

What better way to get there than to write about it? I will tell all. Where to look. What is good and what is not. What is the difference and how do you know?

And to start with - how the heck do you charter a catamaran sailboat?