SarahSue is a 2006 Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40, 4-cabin catamaran with Gen/AC.

She is available for charter from CYOA, See: www.cyoacharters.com

General 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.

errata:
Rod holders are port and starboard (not port and aft).

Oops! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Blush.gif" alt="" />

Further errata (I'm on a roll). It's Marina Puerto Del Ray.
I blame the booze...

You must have some ties to CYOA. I have chartered from numerous different charer companies around the world. CYOA is by far the worst charter company to deal with. I rented two boats. A 38 ft lavezzi and a 40 ft leopard. The boats were filthy, had mechanical problems on the second day, they were no help. I had to jury rig it myself and limp along for the rest of the trip. They offered no credit, no refund, not even an apology. My suggestion, as recommended by the owner, read the fine print in the contract. It basically states that they can stick it to you, but you can't sue them if they are liable.

Read trip advisor, it's loaded with bad comments about them.
I would not recommend using a boat from them.

Ah, a brave anon post... hiding behind your anonymity.
How can we take your post seriously? Maybe you're simply a competitor trying to cost CYOA business?

CYOA does not charter either a 38-foot Lavezzi, nor a 40-ft Leopard. Not now. Not ever. I have chartered from them for 29 years, and know that they have never had these two boat models for charter at any time. So your credibility is now in the toilette.

Anon - If you want people to take you seriously, I recommend that you register so we know who you are.

Until then, well, your comments will hold little weight around here.

I have only one experience with CYOA....but I have booked a second trip....that should say something....

I will say that their contract is quite explicit and chase and support seemed limited...that said, I have had no issues with them at all.

I am reluctant to get into this and I won't be drawn into a troll war but let me lay this out. This customer did charter from us back in 2008 though VI Sailing. While his recollection of his alleged problem seems perfect he actually can't remember which boats his group rented. They had an Athena 38 and a Jaguar 36, the two smallest and least expensive cats that we had at the time. Perfectly capable boats but not the Queens of the fleet. Recently he contacted us and demanded a substantial discount/credit for issues he claims to have had in 2008. Despite his perception now that we are the worst charter company in the world he still wanted to book a boat with us as long as we gave him this credit. We went through our very detailed records, asked VI sailing to do the same and could find no history of his issues. Our core staff has been the same for years as well and what ever issues he had didn't rise to the level of anyone remembering them. We did offer him a couple of discounts and when he decided that wasn't a deep enough discount he has gone on a smear campaign against CYOA.

While we try to make everyone happy this guy is outside our ability to satisfy. We aren't perfect but we are good at our job and the numerous repeat customers that I see year in and year out are a testament to that.
Jay Pennington
CYOA Charters

Captain Jay, I think your post is very civil. I also think it's good that you took the time to lay out the situation from your perspective. Anon had his turn, you took yours. As in most situations there are two sides to the story, I personally would charter with your operation without hesitation. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

In my best Maxwell Smart voice....

Ahhh... the old "attempt to extort financial favors by threatening to bash them on every sailing web-site known to man trick, eh?" <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />



Methinks this is not CYOA's first rodeo.

Love Maxwell Smart, fine use of the man's M.O.

I have had a few experiences chartering with CYOA, actually a lot more than a few, but who's counting......wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Great boats, great people, can't wait for December!