Currency Exchange Rate

Has anyone noticed the US Dollar is falling. I thought it would be interesting to keep track of how much things change over time. I started tracking on 2/14/08. I imagined buying a Catamaran for 500,000 EUR. After all most of the Cats are in other countries, so why not compare the US dollar to the EUR.

If you bought a Cat for 500k EUR on 2/14/08 it would cost you $731,903.10 US. If you decided you wanted to sell the Cat today for what you purchased it at ($731,903.10 US) it would only take EUR. This is a difference of 18,163.96 EUR after only 15 days. If you waited and bought the boat today in US, you would have to pay $27,548.27 US more today then if you bought the cat 15 days ago.

This sure makes you think twice about buying a Catamaran over seas now rather then waiting. I am hopeful that by the time I am ready to buy that the US Dollar is beginning to improve. On the other hand if I buy now it will cost less today then if you buy tomorrow. I guess there is more then one way to look at it, but with a large purchase like this, it is important to do your math. Make the wrong choice and you end up with a purchase that will depreciate in value very quickly. Make the right choice, and it may not depreciate as quickly. This is important to me since I suspect I will at some point be upgrading to a new boat.

I used the Universal Currency Converter to gather the information above.

Catamaran speed prediction

The more I read about Catamarans the closer I become to knowing what the right boat will be for my needs. I am leaning more towards the need for speed rather then the need to live on the boat. Although there is still a chance I will end up living on my boat, the more ideal solution for me, for now, is to live on land.

I have recently learned more about how to determine a Cats potential for speed. In a nutshell you want to find a boat with the lowest Displacement/Length Ratio (D/L) and the highest Power to weight Ration (SA/D). The Gunboat, Outremer and Dazcat are examples that tend to rank at the top of it's class when comparing displacement and length which means they have the potential to out sail most if not all of their competition.

Based on my current line of thinking, I won't need a washing machine on board. At my age my sailing will most likely be limited to one or two week excursions. The majority of the time will be day and weekend sailing adventures in the San Francisco Bay area. I envision the provisions needed will be similar in experience to the RV trips that we currently do. So our equipment needs will be small. Space will not be critical and we can keep things on the light side. After 5 or 10 years my situation may change and I can consider upgrading to something more comfortable for long term sailing.

I expect to participate in some racing and will enjoy being one of the fastest cruising cats on the bay. The boat will need to be a good ocean capable boat though. Accommodations need to be functional and comfortable but not extravagant. Heating will be necessary. AC would be nice as well however I am up in the air as to how important it will be. Will have to way the pro's and cons. I want my boat to be green and take advantage of Solar, wind and water power generation. If would prefer not to have to run the generator to stay cool. I will blog more on the topic of going green later.

Jury duty service completed

The Jury trial of which I was an alternate juror ended rather abruptly today. The defendant saw the writing on the wall and entered a plea of not guilty on two counts. One was for vehicular manslaughters and the second was for fleeing the scene of the accident. So the jury didn't have to deliberate and the trail ended a few days shorter then predicted.

You can read more about the case here. The testimony wasn't looking too good as things progressed for the 30 year old female. She was driving on a suspended license in a direction that didn't make sense based on her testimony that she was going to a grocery store. She fled the scene and then went home and apparently drank some Vodka and OJ most likely to cover up the fact that she was drinking prior to the accident. I won't go into more details, but I believe justice was served. Not sure though if 4 1/2 years is enough time though. She will most likely get out sooner with good behavior.

Anyway, now I can get back to life as usual. As soon as I catch up on things that were put off in as a result of jury duty. I have more details to report on my catamaran quest.

New Thoughts on a Cat Purchase

I have been reading the Multihulls World Magazine. It is the 2008 buyers guide version. It has opened up my mind to other options to consider when purchasing a Cat. There is more then one brand out there that allows you to have it shipped in pieces for assembly here. This would require a significantly smaller investment initially and allow me to customize it to my specifications. This might be a good option for me. More research is needed, but it does give me food for thought.

The article was on a cat called Spirited 380. Essentially it is a build it yourself Cat Kit. I could see going this route if you have a tight budget. You could theoretically assemble the cat to a point that would allow it to sail safely and work on the rest as time and money allows. This does peak my interest.

ok. I am off to Jury Duty. Fun!

Jury Duty

I have Jury Duty. I am the last alternate. Might last two weeks. I had hoped to have more time to add to my blog. Looks like it will have to wait for now.

Advanture Cat Trip April 2007

We rescued a couple guys on a kayak on this trip. They were taking on a lot of water. They were using an hand pump just before we picked them up. It was cold and they were soaked. I am sure they were grateful. I should have took more video of the rescue.

The Plan!

That was enough history for the moment. Lets talk about the where I am going to park the cat. The cat I imagine owning eventually could be as much as 50 feet long and 25 feet wide. This limits the locations and availability significantly. Renting or purchasing a slip in a crowded marina doesn't sound too appealing; however I am not completely against it yet. So the plan at the moment is to purchase some inexpensive waterfront property.

I have found a waterfront location that would suit the needs. I don't expect any issues parking a big cat there. There are no draw bridges in the way from the property all the way to the Ocean. Most cats have very little draft so they can go anywhere a small boat can go. The idea at the moment is to pay cash for the land. Most of the properties I have seen here would most likely fit into my plans financially. Trouble is the property would at best contain a fixer upper to live in or maybe just a boat dock. I don’t see this dream happening anytime soon if I have to have another huge mortgage to pay just to purchase the waterfront land. Many of the structures that fit the plan are dumps or there is no home at all. Some have floating homes which would just get in the way of the cat. So I expect to have my work cut out for me.

The location I have settled in on is not to far from where we are now and wouldn't change our commute times much. Plus as it turns out my wife and I will both be working from home most of the days of the week. It is centrally located in the waters I would enjoy spending time in. It is the best I can find given our needs. I don't need to live in a fancy house. It just needs to be functional for now. My priorities are covered storage for the land toys and vehicles and enough water frontage to keep a big Cat.

I am still undecided. Do I plan on living on the boat or do I renovate the property that comes with the land or build some inexpensive but functional housing (Prefab or something similar?), or both. Trouble is, one of the previous would come before the other. Can I wait if needed to buy the cat or will I decide to live on the cat so that I can enjoy it sooner rather then later? Throughout this whole process it is very important that I never allow us to be in the terrible financial shape that we are in now.

I have been saying “I” a lot, but the decision isn't solely up to me. I am still nursing a troubled marriage. We have a 3 1/2 year old and a 12 year old in the house to think about. We are at least a year away from making any move so there is time. The housing market has to improve significantly to make this dream a reality. The good news is that so far my wife seems to be on board, but she hasn't been told everything that goes through my mind. I don’t know how she will handle rough seas yet. She has been in the ocean, but it was flat calm out there at the time. I am hopeful that the patch will do the trick. If not then we will have issues to resolve.

So why a Catamaran?

To be clear I am referring to a cruising class multi hull sailing Catamaran. The type of Catamaran I am speaking of has been referred to as a luxurious condo on the water. Whether you need more clarification or not regarding Catamarans, then this video is a must see.

If that doesn't make your heart beat a little faster then you might not be human. If you are into Cats and speed like I am you might even be a little aroused after watching.

I still think I need to explain more though as to "Why a Catamaran?". This dream only started a year ago although it feels like it has been longer. It was February 2007 and my marriage was on the rocks and for the 1st time since I married I was beginning to become the pessimist rather then the Optimist. This change of heart was a wakeup call and it got my wheels spinning. To add to the issue, our finances were heading south due to the worst Real Estate market crash in 20 years. Living pay check to paycheck and watching my net worth shrink day by day was depressing to say the least, however at this point in the story I wasn't yet clinically depressed. I still had my whit’s about me and thoughts of my future began to formulate.

I was the morning after a really bad argument with my wife. I had a long drive to get to a tech class I was attending to improve my abilities at work. I was coasting down a hilly road and as I rounded the bend I noticed in the distance a motorcycle cop roll into the middle of the street. I knew instantly that I was busted. I slowed and pulled over as directed. I knew better then to speed here as this was a common area that local cops used as speed trap. He was nice and let me go saying that he only gives one warning per day and I was the lucky recipient. Whew! Like I didn’t have enough to worry about.

On the drive to class and throughout the day every free moment I had was concentrating on my future and what I would do and what it would be like as a single guy. As class went on through the day one of the guys in the class mentioned he was staying in his second home which was a large yacht parked in a slip in a nearby harbor. When I heard this a light went on. During breaks I was already perusing used yachts for sale. Why not live on a boat?

I love the water. I have often thought of living on the water. I have spent 1000’s of hours on the water from wakeboarding to deep sea fishing so why not live on the water. I asked the man about his experience on his second home on the water. How much would it cost? I make good money. If I lived on a boat I am thinking that the expenses would be low, so my mind was working overtime to figure this out. I needed an option should my marriage fail and at the moment in time I was all but checked out. I make good money so I could live on the boat inexpensively, on the water and still be able to afford my child support obligations for my 2 1/2 year old at the time.

This seemed like a good plan. I could fish off the back of my boat and take it out for trips on occasion…..wait….that could be expensive. After all gas prices are going through the roof where I come from. I could afford to live on the boat, but didn’t think I would enjoy taking a large yacht out on excursions due to the extreme fuel expense. I was brought up and continue to be frugal with my money, so gas prices really hit a nerve. I wouldn’t be where I am if I were bad with money.

So the yacht idea quickly moved to a sailboat. It wasn’t long before I began to read about sailboats. I was already a fan of catamaran powerboats. I had read an article explaining how much more fuel efficient they are and how much smoother they are when running so it was only a matter of time before I would read about cruising catamarans. I hit the Internet hard and began to fall in love with them. I think the Gunboat video solidified my dream.

A couple months later I attended the Strictly Sailboat show with my wife and looked at the three Cats that were on display. Attending the show allowed us to receive a free subscription to a sailboat magazine. We took a short and free sail on a monohull that day with my wife. I enjoyed it, but this was new to my wife. She has some fears to get over. The boat heeled way over a few times and there was a look of fear on her face. She is a trooper and got through it, but this is another reason to go with a Multihull. We took a 2 hour trip on a 50 foot charter catamaran later that month. I was sold on a cat and my quest continues today on an almost daily basis. Much still needs to happen to make this dream a reality.

The Introduction

This is the story of my current life and the culmination of a dream. This blog isn't just about a cruising catamaran sailboat. The Catamaran is merely a vehicle I am obsessed with which I have lead myself to believe will make my dreams come true. This blog will be therapeutic for me, but I hope that others will enjoy and share in my experiences and learn or be inspired. It is a log of my life and the trials and tribulations that impact our daily lives. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes. Perhaps you will have advice for me as well.