Can Catanas Sit on the Ground Comfortably?

[Jordan32226]

Hello - I'm in the market for a catamaran for an extended cruise, and I'm seriously considering a 38 or 41 ft Catana.

A question regarding the hull design - can Catanas safely handle being anchored/moored in areas where they are grounded at low tide?

Thanks
-Jordan

[2hulls]

Hi Jordan - with planning, they can be dried out. But to leave a boat on a mooring or at anchor and let it dry out without aid to keep it from landing on the rudders, it probably won't work. Some models have an optional skeg just forward of the saildrives to land on.

I have never tried to do this with my boat and consider it not an option - one of those many compromises made when selecting a non-custom boat.

In any event, if you're seriously interested in Catanas I recommend you join the Yahoo Group "CatanaCats" which will give you direct access to many other owners who can answer specific questions like yours. See >> https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CatanaCats/info Click on "+Join Group" and follow the instructions. You have to have a Yahoo Account. A moderator will have to "approve" your membership - this is done to control spam, membership is open to anyone with a sincere interest.

Dave

[tamicatana]

Catanas can be beached. I can't find the pix but I have seen articles/pictures of 2d generation Catanas (early 1990s) beached.

Please find below link to article in which it describes beaching a newer-model Catana (3d gen or so, not sure of the year)
https://sailorstales.wordpress.com/2...eachingthecat/

[dmmbruce]

The OP did not saw whether his intended mooring was smooth soft sand in a calm bay, or a rocky bottom in an area of strong tides and currents.

If conditions are perfect, I would hope that a Catana can be beached with no problems.

However, where there are sharp stones or boulders, occasional rocks, abandoned chains and moorings, or strongly sculpted banks of hard sand that move with each tide, then there is surely a need for good strong stub keels or LARs keels. My boat has suffered all the problems mentioned and has survived on her keels, but with some damage. I now have strong stainless steel shoes on the keels and have not had any more damage - yet.

Mike

[2hulls]

You're correct, Mike - if you knew or could control where the boat would land and could prevent obvious problems, e.g., a boulder in the way, these boats can beach very well if the bearing surface is spread out so as not to be concentrated on points where internal bulkheads are absent. There are bulkheads spaced as you would expect and when blocking for normal haul out these points are the places to set the boat on blocks. Very straightforward. In cruising trim, i.e., mast stepped, sails installed, and stuff generally stowed where it ought to be, the fore and aft center of gravity of these boats is very slightly aft of the chain plates. That's why when lifted by the chain plates - the preferred method - the boats are almost perfectly balanced with a slight bias aft. This means if beached with the bearing surfaces reasonably distributed fore and aft about the chain plates, there will be very little load on the rudders if they're supporting any load. But to do this takes some good planning and is not something I'd allow routinely while swinging on a mooring, assuming the bottom is not level, is unobstructed, and is reasonably uniform.

Dave

[Flalialal]

1400 a month towards the car, yea I think you can afford it lol. My payments are 400 a month for a fr-s. 20k out the door with 17k miles and 5k down. I havent seen what my insurance .