In reality
a trailer sailer will spend about 90% of its time on the water at
anchor, so
those onboard need to be comfortable. This means room to move about freely,
not
tripping over each other, and not having to move things about to get to items you
need. The two totally
separate
sleeping berth cabins offer privacy for a family of up to five. The
generous 938mm
(3’) wide full
length 1850mm (6’) single
berth in each hull can be increased to 1370mm
(4’6”) wide doubles
with the
optional fold out sides. The starboard berth can accommodate a mattress
up to
2.2m (7’2”)
long. The pod aft seat
can also be utilized as a small berth 1.7m (5’7”) long
allowing five people to sleep comfortably. The catamaran bridgedeck pod
offers excellent all round vision and ventilation with fly screened
opening
quality clears to all sides. Venetian blinds control the sun entering
the saloon
while not restricting the breeze or the view. Hull cabins each have a
large
hatch for excellent ventilation and are fly screened as well.
Comfort
and
safety for children as well as adults is assured as most tasks are
carried out
without leaving the pod. Even anchoring is safe and easy from the pod
with the
electric anchor winch. There’s full standing headroom on the
bridgedeck, galley
complete with sink and pressurised fresh and salt water, benchtop space
for a camping stove with provision for gas bottle storage under, 90
litre (23
US gallons)
12v fridge/freezer, seating
at the table for four and two more on the aft seat, separate head/shower
room with a pop top for full standing headroom, plenty of storage room
and huge
fresh water capacity. There is pressurised fresh water to the vanity
basin in the head/shower and to the deck shower located at the stern of
the starboard hull. I have fitted a chemical toilet as it’s suitable
for use
on longer road trips but a marine toilet can be fitted instead.
No more
one up
all up, Dad can be cooking breakfast while Mum and the kids sleep in.
And the
same goes for the kids bedtime, when Mum and Dad can enjoy some time to
themselves, with the kids tucked away safely in their own cabin. Wide
flat
decks allow good access around the boat and there’s
easy access to the stern
landing from the tender or after a swim
with the transom ladder. There’s even a deck shower and an icebox for
bait.
Large PV solar panels on the roof supply the 110A deep cycle AGM
battery with
plenty of power for everyday use including the brilliant 12v 18w
fluorescent
lights. On that note the next
generation of cheaper printed PV solar panels will be ideal when they
become
readily available, as Casa Cat has plenty of roof area to accommodate
them as they are likely to be less efficient than the Kyocera panels
currently fitted,
and at a
great weight saving. After using the boat I have found that second
solar PV panel is unecessary, as the biggest consumer of power, the
fridge/freezer, is very efficient. This is a great weight and cost
saving. For those rainy days front and rear roof overhang
enable
the clears to still be opened enough to ensure good ventilation, and
rainwater
collection is available from the roof to top up the water tanks. All
instrumentation is situated in the table support, right in front of the
helmsman and the VHF and stereo are at hand overhead. Another advantage
of
the
catamaran design is the 2m x 2.7m (6’6”x
9’)
trampoline, providing an ideal lounging area and perfect for storing
the tender
rather than towing it when underway.
For the times when conditions are ideal
for
everyone onboard to enjoy a pleasant sail the easily handled unstayed biplane
sailboard masts
and wishbone booms are more than adequate for the job and do not
require the use of
winches.
The masts and booms are simple and quick to erect, and readily available
second
hand for those wishing to save money.
I have chosen battenless sails for ease of furling the sail around the
mast, but you may decide on a more powerful rig for increased
performance. As the masts are unstayed and located on the hulls, the
usual stresses imposed by a bridgedeck stayed mast are non existent.
The very strong hull to bridgedeck connections are attached to
deep and substantial box beams on the pod. Being essentially a
motor sailer she will be no world
beater
under sail, but she will sail well downwind and across the
wind. You can't expect to sail closer than fifty degrees to windward.
Of course Casa Cat can be built as a power trailer boat only, for those
that are not into sailing.
ON ROAD
The total mass of 1.62 Tonne (3571lb) shown
in the
specification was actually
measured on a government approved weighbridge for my comprehensively
fitted out
boat as per the specifications and as seen in the photos, safety gear,
solar panels, electric
winches,
mattresses, odds and sods etc, bar fuel and water. It includes 25kg (55lb) of
6mm anchor chain
that was
carried in the spare wheel,
(it is now carried permanently in the chain locker), but
does not included the anchor which is carried in the
vehicle. Many boats when launched weigh more than the builder
expects. Being well aware of
this I erred on the side of caution and built the trailer
with 15
inch wheels, 12 inch brakes and a 50mm (2 inch) square axle, all adding
weight unnecessarily as it turned out. So there will be a
further weight saving when built with the 14 inch wheels, 10 inch
brakes and a 45mm axle as detailed in the plans. Even with
the
comprehensive fitout and double berth option
there
is still capacity to load another 300kg of gear onto the boat, which is
hard to
imagine you would ever need to do, and any extra load can be placed over the axle, an ideal location.
Of course a basic fitout and/or Gaboon ply
build
saves weight too. This boat was built
using 2440x1220mm (8’x4’) ply sheets weighing 12kg (26lb) for 6mm (¼”)
and 16kg
(35lb) for 9mm (3/8”), using lighter ply such as Gaboon could save
about
100kg. As a general rule most vehicle
manufacturers here in Australia
specify 10% of the maximum Aggregate Total Weight (the laden mass of
the total
trailer
when carrying the maximum recommended load including any load imposed
on the
drawing vehicle when the combination is resting on a horizontal plane)
their vehicles are rated to tow
as the
maximum load exerted on the towball. Towball load of no less than 10%
of the ATM is generally accepted as ideal in Australia for safe towing,
and 10 to 15% is recommended by the California Department of Motor
Vehicles in the US. For example, if you load an extra
180kg
(396lb) over the axle into the boat for a total of 1800kg the drawbar
weight of
175kg (roughly 10%) remains the same and the extra load is ideally
located.
Even with this load the Gross Trailer Mass (the mass transmitted to the
ground
by the axle of the trailer when coupled to the drawing vehicle) is
1625kg, well
within the load carrying capacity of the 14 inch tyres and 45mm axle.
And
for those longer road trips there
is immediate access to the berths and head, and the bridgedeck pod roof
can be raised (by just one person) without assembling the boat,
allowing you use it as a caravan for overnight stays.
