A cruise to Cuba for the validation of the modifications
All the modifications planned by the executive committee have not yet been completed. At this stage, there are still several weeks of work to complete the mutation of this "Mickey Mouse boat" into a "true transoceanic trawler". However, all the major points have been addressed, if not perfectly completed..
So, the season being favorable for cruising in the Caribbean, the construction site was put on hold, the time for a few months escapade in the northwestern islands, with the visit of Cuba as the main objective. We are there at the time of writing (spring 2018).
Before considering that the only works allowed are those of "maintenance", we will still have to transform :
- a front cabin in office/dressing room
- set up a rainwater harvesting system on the roof of the roof,
- to develop the bulbs/foils intended to limit the pitching and whose prototypes are in the course of "sculpture" in my small workshop before, not finished him either..
Nice odds and ends, which should keep us busy during the next hurricane season, in a few months.
A mast on a motor catamaran!
Just recently, Lady the coquette put a feather in her hat!
A pretty mast came to overcome his cap in a triple purpose:
carry the anchor light
displaying the flags
above all, to silence those who say to us: "and then, where is your mast?
This last one is removable in order to allow Lady't Bee to pass under the bridge of the gabarre, under the road which connects the Grande terre to the Basse-terre in Guadeloupe.
Thus, the Lady is able to go from Pointe-à-Pitre to Deshaies faster than a trimaran of the 'Ultim' class.
A transformation that makes sense
To turn a power cat into a trawler, it is not necessarily necessary to consider all the work we have done on our Lady. Many of these are personal choices and are not necessary. This is the case, for example, of the "Stair Bar".
On the other hand, it is absolutely essential to have the means to sail for several days in a row at a speed of less than 8 knots. This is because of the fuel consumption that results from it, and which conditions the quantity to be embarked, which must be in adequacy with the size of the boat and its displacement.
Likewise, everything that goes towards the reliability of the propulsion system and the quality of life at sea must be optimized if we want to be able to accomplish long crossings.
Why aren't the yards interested in this market?
I would add a very personal consideration.
Do you want to know why no manufacturer currently offers this kind of wonder? I think there are several reasons, the main one being that the market is not yet significant.
Indeed, the "typical" clientele of the "motor-yachts" currently on the market never pushes in the direction of a "reasonable" motorization, quite the contrary. These customers always ask for more speed, more horsepower.
So much so that a common joke in the industry is that a guy who visits a big motor yacht at a boat show and asks about its consumption is told by the snide salesman: "Sir, if you ask that question, it means that this boat is not suitable for you".
In my opinion, the potential clientele of the trawler is made up of former sailing enthusiasts who, with age, feel the need to do "simpler and cheaper" in order to extend their ability to "go to sea" as much as possible, as well as "young retirees" with no maritime experience who would like to try cruising but don't want to learn sailing "late".
For these two types of people (and others) the trawler-catamaran brings a real solution.
