Hello from Down East!
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:32 pm
My wife and I live in Maine and are near the point of downsizing from our house to a condo and buying a catamaran to live aboard and cruise the East Coast to the Bahamas and possibly the lower Caribbean.
We've been monohull sailors and owned a number of monohulls. Our last boat was an Island Packet 40 which we lived aboard for just over a year, cruising the East coast from Maine to Florida. We loved the experience, but my wife ended up with serious knee issues and ended up taking a fall from the companionway ladder. She's since had a knee replacement as well as other surgeries. At the time, we contracted to have a catamaran built for us, because we felt it would be easier on my wife's knees and, understandably, she never liked the considerable rolling of the IP40 in rough seas. However, because of health issues and the arrival of grandchildren, we went back to living on land. We cancelled having the cat built and got our deposit back (a whole nother story, but...). Now the grandkids are going to school full time and we don't babysit much anymore, it's getting close to casting off lines once again.
Have done some research online and for our needs, the PDQ seems to be the way to go. When we were cruising we met folks cruising happily on Gemini's, met one couple cruising on a St Francis 44, and another couple who had just bought a new Leopard 40. Anyway, the Leopard and St Francis or similar boats are beyond what we would want to pay, and there are issues with the Gemini's for me (bridge deck clearance, build quality, and an outboard on the stern).
When it comes to affordability, quality, enough seaworthiness for where we would be cruising, the PDQ seems like the best choice in a limited market for catamaran builders of that type.
There is no better place to learn about a particular line of boats than on the owners site, and starting early can only pay dividends when it comes time to buy.
A catamaran would be a much more enjoyable experience, especially for my wife, who never liked those rolly, occasional, overnight passages offshore. She (me too) would love the large open spaces topside, the shallow draft to get into better, less crowded anchorages, the brighter, non cave like interior. I especially would like the lower cost of fuel when motoring. My wife handles the helm when docking, anchoring, and picking up moorings. She would absolutely love the ability to steer at slow speed using just the throttles to pivot the boat in its own length. No fun backing what is essentially a 45' (dinghy hanging of the back and bow sprit) full keel boat into a slip with wind and current!
Anyway, this site appears to be an invaluable resource for all interested in PDQ's. There are things we would like about both the 32 and the 36. So much more to find out. There's a great, well outfitted 36 for sale right now in Grenada and if we were ready to buy right now, we'd probably be on a plane down there. It should sell soon - very good price for what appears to be excellent condition and some very expensive equipment. Having spent $60,000 on upgrading our IP, we know something about the cost of the extras on a cruising boat. I'm ok with the location of the outboards on PDQ's and there's a reason why the outboards would be a good idea if you want to cruise the Maine coast.
We've been monohull sailors and owned a number of monohulls. Our last boat was an Island Packet 40 which we lived aboard for just over a year, cruising the East coast from Maine to Florida. We loved the experience, but my wife ended up with serious knee issues and ended up taking a fall from the companionway ladder. She's since had a knee replacement as well as other surgeries. At the time, we contracted to have a catamaran built for us, because we felt it would be easier on my wife's knees and, understandably, she never liked the considerable rolling of the IP40 in rough seas. However, because of health issues and the arrival of grandchildren, we went back to living on land. We cancelled having the cat built and got our deposit back (a whole nother story, but...). Now the grandkids are going to school full time and we don't babysit much anymore, it's getting close to casting off lines once again.
Have done some research online and for our needs, the PDQ seems to be the way to go. When we were cruising we met folks cruising happily on Gemini's, met one couple cruising on a St Francis 44, and another couple who had just bought a new Leopard 40. Anyway, the Leopard and St Francis or similar boats are beyond what we would want to pay, and there are issues with the Gemini's for me (bridge deck clearance, build quality, and an outboard on the stern).
When it comes to affordability, quality, enough seaworthiness for where we would be cruising, the PDQ seems like the best choice in a limited market for catamaran builders of that type.
There is no better place to learn about a particular line of boats than on the owners site, and starting early can only pay dividends when it comes time to buy.
A catamaran would be a much more enjoyable experience, especially for my wife, who never liked those rolly, occasional, overnight passages offshore. She (me too) would love the large open spaces topside, the shallow draft to get into better, less crowded anchorages, the brighter, non cave like interior. I especially would like the lower cost of fuel when motoring. My wife handles the helm when docking, anchoring, and picking up moorings. She would absolutely love the ability to steer at slow speed using just the throttles to pivot the boat in its own length. No fun backing what is essentially a 45' (dinghy hanging of the back and bow sprit) full keel boat into a slip with wind and current!
Anyway, this site appears to be an invaluable resource for all interested in PDQ's. There are things we would like about both the 32 and the 36. So much more to find out. There's a great, well outfitted 36 for sale right now in Grenada and if we were ready to buy right now, we'd probably be on a plane down there. It should sell soon - very good price for what appears to be excellent condition and some very expensive equipment. Having spent $60,000 on upgrading our IP, we know something about the cost of the extras on a cruising boat. I'm ok with the location of the outboards on PDQ's and there's a reason why the outboards would be a good idea if you want to cruise the Maine coast.