SarahSue is a 2006 Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40, 4-cabin catamaran with Gen/AC.
She is available for charter from CYOA, See:
www.cyoacharters.comGeneral Impressions:
The boat is very well kept and everything was in working condition. The ladies aboard REALLY loved the lay-out of the salon and cockpit. There's a nice wide door to the salon, and an adjacent half-door that works together to form a huge opening that facilitates passing food through from the galley to the cockpit table and it also really lets the breeze come through. There are two large hatches in the front of the salon that suck a lot of breeze into the salon if you hold them up and open with the reefing lines coming down off the main. Very handy. The fridge and freezer are good sized. We had food for 7 people for 9 days (4 of 9 dinners aboard) tucked away. There's lots of storage under the seats in the salon. If you run the generator every night you can freeze a gallon of water solid and throw it in the cooler (located next to the cockpit table) the next morning to keep the beer cold. Saves on buying ice. A couple of times this trip we picked up a mooring ball and then transferred the load to the stern cleats in the afternoon to keep the cockpit in the shade. This also brings the most breeze possible into the cockpit. It works well in certain situations and weather. Not good if the weather is unsettled and you expect showers. it's the first time we've ever done this, but the big PR power-boats do it all the time. If the anchorage has variable winds you stand the chance of fouling a dock-line around the props or keels if you don't put out a bow-anchor.
Power management:
Excellent. This can be a headache on mid-sized cats because the generator is sometimes undersized for the largest possible load. However, I'm happy to report that with everything running - including both AC units and the fridge and freezer as well as other stuff we brought (no hair dryers) that the 5KW Northern Lights generator handled it without a problem. It burned about 1/3 GPH. The generator is located under the forward starboard double, and while you can sleep in that cabin, it is of course the last choice. The wood on the bunk gets pretty warm!
Fuel and water:
We ran the generator 12-14 hours a day for 8 days and motored probably 12-15 hours. We burned a total of 55 gallon of fuel. SarahSue holds 66 gallons. She holds about 150 gallons of water in two tanks and there's a cross-over between the tanks located waaaaaaaaay forward in the storage compartment under the settee in the salon. The strategy is to fill the tanks in 'crossover mode' and then turn the valve to off. This then pulls water from one tank. When this runs dry you're down to half. If you then open the valve for a few minutes the levels will equalize, and if you then shut it again you'll again run dry with only 1/4 of your whole supply remaining. There is a working water gauge, but I like this method better. I suspiciously eye any gauge with the thought in my head "liar, liar, pants of fire." It is very possible to do a 10-day charter to the SVI without ever filling the fuel tank.
Sailing/Motoring:
As we get older we sail less, sad to say. SarahSue's upwind performance was pretty good but I didn't get to spend much quality time testing her to the max. We had a bit of "get there itus" and motored up-wind at 2000 rpm (for about 5.5 knots) and often motorsailed cross-wind or tacked down-wind under motor and sail - running typically 6.5 - 7.5 knots. For the most part we had light-to-moderate winds on our trip and were thus inclined to motor. The huge main traveler, running almost the entire width of the deck is great for keeping the battened main shape flat on a close-reach. We'd typically keep the main-sheet very tight and trim with the traveler. The sail-drives seemed to consume about 1 GPH (very rough estimate) worked great and being a catamaran SarahSue handles like a dream around the docks. You must block the wheel with your knee when backing down and simply use the throttles to steer. If you don't block the wheel the rudders will lock over in one-direction or the other. This behavior is not unique to SarahSue.
Odds and ends: There's a deck shower near the port stern-scoop. Great for rinsing off with fresh water after a salt-water bath. The hose could be 3 feet longer, but worked just fine. There's a fishing rod holder both port and aft. We took full advantage. The storage below is adequate, but not nearly as voluminous as in the Belize 43. As they say... more is more. The port-side forward 'torpedo-tube' single bunk is idea for luggage storage. Heads are electric and use salt-water. Never had a single problem with them. The aft bunks had these cool light-weight plastic mats with plastic stand-off dohickies (I really am at a loss for descriptive words) that make your mattress seem much thicker and softer than they really are. I've never seen these things before, but they worked pretty well. You can rent a nice kayak from John Philips @ West Indies Wind Surfing - call: 340-998-4658. He's reliable and has been doing it for years.
SVI Stuff - SarahSue is available for the SVI. Not all CYOA boats are, so you want to reserve your boat early. If all crew is from the US you can clear into the SVI with a phone-call. Very convenient. No fruits & vegetables, garbage, or firearms. You can get fuel and water in Marina Del Ray, but this is about 40 nautical miles dead down wind from the CYOA dock. CYOA requires a second-skipper resume for this trip.
Problems:
Nothing of consequence. Had to top off the generator battery with water, but after that it worked fine the whole trip.
In summary: Great boat, and we'd charter her again.
