Sababa
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2022
- Messages
- 401
- Vessel Name
- Sababa
- Vessel Make
- Maritimo 52
Skipped out on forty degrees and rainy in the PNW for my first trip to the Bahamas and first bareboat on a Moorings power cat for my kids’ winter break week. Air temp is 82, water temp is 78, and the view to the bottom is so clear off the swim deck that it looks like we are hovering in space. Win! Win! Win!
The Moorings people (and everyone here) were super nice and helpful. Not so helpful that they remembered to provide the snorkeling fins we requested but we were in a hurry to get underway. We also didn’t get the upgrade to a newer boat we were promised and there were lots of little broken bits (latches, door pulls, etc.) on board. Finishes are IKEA kitchen quality and it must be tough to keep all that fiber board in good repair with all the abuse it gets.
The only major item that we discovered was out of order after leaving the dock was the watermaker. They said they had a technician in Staniel Cay who would take a look at it but he never showed up. Not a big deal given the tankage and the length of the trip, but it would suck if we’re were going to be out longer.
Skippering the cat is very different from even the twin-screw monohulls I am familiar with, mostly in a good way. The ability to pivot and maneuver in close quarters with the engines is uncanny. And that’s fortunate, because the tiny rudders are completely useless below about four knots.
The lack of pitching in a moderate head sea crossing over to the Exumas at 16 knots was welcome. But the price of the cat’s natural resistance to rolling past ten degrees is an uncomfortably hard stop at eleven.
Bottom line is that while I’d never want to own one of these beasts they are super user friendly to charter with a family in unfamiliar waters.
The Moorings people (and everyone here) were super nice and helpful. Not so helpful that they remembered to provide the snorkeling fins we requested but we were in a hurry to get underway. We also didn’t get the upgrade to a newer boat we were promised and there were lots of little broken bits (latches, door pulls, etc.) on board. Finishes are IKEA kitchen quality and it must be tough to keep all that fiber board in good repair with all the abuse it gets.
The only major item that we discovered was out of order after leaving the dock was the watermaker. They said they had a technician in Staniel Cay who would take a look at it but he never showed up. Not a big deal given the tankage and the length of the trip, but it would suck if we’re were going to be out longer.
Skippering the cat is very different from even the twin-screw monohulls I am familiar with, mostly in a good way. The ability to pivot and maneuver in close quarters with the engines is uncanny. And that’s fortunate, because the tiny rudders are completely useless below about four knots.
The lack of pitching in a moderate head sea crossing over to the Exumas at 16 knots was welcome. But the price of the cat’s natural resistance to rolling past ten degrees is an uncomfortably hard stop at eleven.
Bottom line is that while I’d never want to own one of these beasts they are super user friendly to charter with a family in unfamiliar waters.