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To some yachtsman, the thought of owning a catamaran is just
a distant dream, mainly because of the overall cost and problems of
berthing space. However, a cat charter provides a realistic opportunity
of sampling a slice of that dream, or, simply having a go for that
matter. Better still, you could go on a Moorings flotilla charter
in the British virgin Islands on board one of their Robertson and
Caine 45ft catamarans.
PBO featured such a charter in the March 2003 issue, and although
the skipper was an experienced and knowledgeable cat sailer, for the
rest of the crew it was a first time experience to sail and live on
board a cat. Alastair Garrod, Gill Tolen, Jane Scott and partner Chris
Smith share their thoughts and first impressions of this unique charter
in paradise.
Alastair Garrod PBO editorial staff, sailed nothing but 30-40ft mono
hulls all his life and since starting to sail in the early 70s has
never given catamarans a second glance till now.
The
Cat
After a week on board a modern cat, you realise that the advantages
they offer outweigh those of a monohull by some considerable margin.
As you might expect from a cat, the central accommodation span housed
an enormous saloon with a galley comparable to a modern 2 bedroom
house. In addition, the saloon had one large central dining and seating
circle which in a fashion was also repeated in the cockpit. In contrast
to a monohull, the cockpit and saloon shared a common level, leaving
you to effortlessly waft through from one to the other via a set of
sliding French windows. Such a feature made both the saloon and the
cockpit behave almost as one unit. In the sleeping cabins, the double
bunks were noticeably high up. This is because they were too big to
fit within the narrow internal hull mouldings so they’re positioned
high within the coach roof moulding, and of course, a high bunk meant
a large void beneath for locker space and storage. A decent sized
cat like this could boast four independent double cabins at each quarter,
and each with separate en suit heads and showers. This meant total
privacy and independence for say four couples or two average families
- something a monohull of equal size could never achieve.
Under sail, the first noticeable thing that impresses you is the incredible
turn of speed as soon as the wind catches the sails, and then the
speed itself. I found we averaged 10 to 12 knots, and compared to
monohull performances, it made the scale of the charts seem much smaller
as we soaked up the distances in a relatively short time. The motion
of a cat is much shorter and sharper and when working up on the foredeck
I often found my self resorting to be on all fours since my body gyroscope
couldn’t read or anticipate a boats motion. When sailing mono
hulls, its impressed upon you to stow items securely away, especially
valuables like cameras. Stupidly, sheer habit drove me to stow my
camera equipment below after taking a picture, despite the fact that
a free standing vase of flowers remained on the saloon table for the
entire week! At times you needed to remind yourself that cats don’t
heel over!
The BVIs
The variety of scenery within this small group of islands perhaps
makes them the most beautiful and diverse group of islands in the
entire Caribbean. From the tropical lush green high ground of Tortola
to the 28ft high strip of sand making up Anegaga, and then there’s
the rock boulders of the Baths to the wind swept beaches of Jost van
Dyke. The islands are surrounded by a relatively kind sea that makes
them suitable nursery grounds for flotilla charters and idyllic for
swimming and snorkelling. All these attributes mean one thing - tourism!
and most of the islanders try to cash in on it which regrettably,
makes the BVIs (like most of the Caribbean) very expensive. Much of
this expense is due to almost everything having to be imported and
the rather more liberal spending power of our American cousins. The
Moorings is a top rate professional outfit with a superbly maintained
and prepared fleet of yachts and there’s very little to fault
them. The staff are friendly, helpful, charming and come across as
highly professional individuals. If you wanted to niggle, nothing
is for free and there’s a charge for almost everything. After
a long flight getting their, you really could do with a free welcome
starter pack to settle you in for the first night. But, with Moorings
you’ve got to pre order and pay for it. For most people such
a charter holiday like this will be a once in a blue moon experience.
But was it all worth it, was it good value for money? To answer this
you would have to personally asses the values of a good holiday. For
me its memories. In my life time I’ve been on many holidays and
charters and most have drifted away from my mind, but the memories
of this Moorings BVI charter is an experience I shall never forget
and too me that’s good value for money, despite the cost.
Jane Scott and partner Chris Smith.
Jane is PBO’s Advertising Sales Executive and both herself and
partner Chris, are currently looking into purchasing a boat. Or are
they? After this charter, will they now consider downsizing the boat
of their dreams and share their enthusiasm for sailing with the odd
charter every year?
Jane Scott
My sailing experience has been limited to monohulls, so booking a
holiday on a catamaran was going to be interesting.
Upon our arrival at the Moorings BVI base at Tortola we boarded Aspen
Dreamin' our 45ft Robertson & Caine catamaran, I was amazed at its
sheer size. Four large double cabins all with ensuite heads, plenty
or storage and an immense amount of headroom. The kitchen area was
fantastic, all 'mod cons' included - chest freezer, fridge, double
sink, four-burner stove, oven and all the kitchen utensils you could
desire. Plenty of indoor and outdoor dining areas and still room to
sunbathe not forgetting the two huge trampettes at the front! This
was unadulterated luxury compared with my previous experiences on
monohulls.
The BVI's were beautiful - the scenery was breathtaking - something
I had only seen in holiday brochures. With white beaches and crystal
clear seas I had truly found paradise. Our days were spent 'flying'
across the open ocean. The winds never dropped and the sun shone constantly.
We put Aspen Dreamin' to the test easily reaching 12 knots. Each day
we met our flotilla at a pre-arranged lunch spot and evening mooring.
I was surprised that there were no marinas in the BVI's so we dropped
anchor each night - a skill we mastered to perfection by the end of
our week. We snorkelled alongside turtles, tropical fish and bravely
with a barracuda! I totally unwound and enjoyed exploring the beauty
of the BVI's.
Living costs were quite expensive and the local cuisine was average
but this didn't matter when we were enjoying one of the best holidays
of my life. Cost wise it compares favourably with a Caribbean hotel/beach
holiday and is suitable for families with young children, couples
and groups.
One day soon I hope to visit paradise again!
Chris Smith
Mono or Multi? One of sailing°s dilemmas. Prior to our BVI holiday,
my recent experience had been fairly evenly split; a week between
Anglesey and the Scillies on a 1970's 27ft Telstar trimaran owned
for many years by my elder brother Paul, and 5 days around Poole and
the Solent on a 1980's Sadler 34ft for my Day Skipper practical. I
am now looking at buying my own sailing boat, but what sort? I had
sought much advice, but opinions are polarised between, "My legs are
the same length so I don't want to travel everywhere leaning over"
and "Multihulls can't point, and just aren't proper sailing boats."
Of the two mentioned, the Sadler would have to win, the Tri being
particularly compact below, but the BVI's was going to be the decider;
aboard a modern catamaran amongst a fleet of modern monohulls and
other cats.
At 45ft long, any cruising boat is going to have a reasonable amount
of room, but the Moorings 45 catamaran is huge; four large double
cabins with en suite heads and showers, a kitchen (galley implies
cosy) larger than my own at home with full size sinks, hob, oven,
fridge and separate chest freezer, a saloon area to seat eight comfortably,
a cockpit you could hold cocktail parties in, and lots and lots of
deck area and trampolines for doing very little on. With two 56hp
engines to push you along or simply charge the batteries we were certainly
well catered for.
The compromise surely had to be sailing performance or certainly looks.
The monohulls in the flotilla, particularly the longer yachts, look
sleek and purposeful, capable of slicing through water and air. Our
catamaran looked more like a fortress; they are just so very different.
Pushing such an inventory along demands a big rig. Conventionally
laid out with furling genoa and main with lazy jack stowage things
are as you expect them to be, but the forces involved are somewhat
greater. Raising the main from the bottom of the mast was a two-man
job, preferably big men at that. Once up, there are plenty of winches
and cleats for trimming, but with such large sails and constant strong
winds get it wrong and you can remove the skin from the palms of your
hands. I have proof.
The British Virgin Isles are sailing heaven. Breathtaking anchorages
separated by deep blue seas with constant 20-knot trade winds; it
doesn't get any better. The cats are well suited to this kind of sailing
with plenty of room to manoeuvre in and out of bays and very little
traffic between the well spread out islands. The Hamble could be a
bit different. At the flotilla briefing each morning, the monohulls
were often recommended to put a reef in due to the strong winds but
the cats were just told to get it up and get out there! Sat on the
windward bow, with both sails up and beating along at around 12+ knots,
you could really feel the power transmitted from the sails as she
pushed through each wave, never remotely feeling unsafe or over pressed.
The penultimate day of the holiday was spent in a fun race for all
of the flotilla fleet, around and between various islands in various
directions to the wind. Despite all starting together, it quickly
became apparent that this was two races, multi's and mono's. All of
the catamarans were well ahead of the monohull fleet and remained
so, upwind or down.
So are multihulls better? From my little experience they are faster,
roomier, and more comfortable. They aren't suited for racing around
the cans or pottering around the Solent, but if anyone has a Moorings
45 or even a Fontaine Pajout they want rid of, preferably moored in
the BVI's, I am your man!! I shall keep looking and hoping.
Gill Tolen.
Works in the travel industry and has never sailed or set foot on a
yacht before.
Was this charter a gentle baptism of fire into the leisure of sailing?
Will Gill trade in her beach sandals for a pair of decks shoes from
now on.
Having never sailed before the thought of spending a weeks holiday
on a sail boat was an exciting yet daunting prospect, although the
idea of doing this in the British Virgin Islands made it seem much
more of an attractive proposition. The catamaran was far more spacious
and well equipped than I had imagined, and was more than adequate
for the 5 of us on board with all modern facilities - private bathroom,
well equipped cooking area and plenty of dining space - my only concern
was how to dry my hair - (but even a solution to that one was found).
The days were spent sailing with the flotilla to set destinations,
after learning not to go below deck during this, I soon learnt how
to avoid the sea sickness. I really enjoyed this time and found the
experience totally relaxing - sunbathing, swimming and enjoying the
fantastic scenery in the BVI's - even learning some basic sailing
skills from the crew made this a refreshing change to a beach holiday.
The BVI's itself had some of the most breath taking scenery I had
seen and really reflected the ideal picture of paradise that you only
ever expect to see in photographs. The living costs for food &
drink were expensive and the standard of meals in restaurants was
only average, however eating your meals in the open air and then dancing
on the sand in the moonlight somehow seem to make it all pale into
insignificance.
My only disappointment to this holiday was the disposal of raw sewerage
into the areas you had moored, and I found this quite disgusting and
it did deter me from swimming.
Overall this holiday was a fantastic experience and I would certainly
do it again, it is suitable for all different types of people but
best done in my opinion as a group, The cost for a week was not expensive
compared to an all inclusive package beach holiday to the Caribbean
and it was well worth it for the experience and a great way of travelling
around to visit other destinations. Life on the ocean wave is something
I will definitely be considering for my holiday next year. |
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