Above is the reason for my delay. I'm redoing the entire cabin. Added 5 person bar around kitchen, nice wood cabinets, bamboo floors, king size bed, flat screen high-definition TV, bamboo wainscotting, all new furniture, and etc. I also installed a wireless trolling motor forward to act as a bow thruster and emergency backup power, a powered jackplate on the outboard to raise the motor for shallow ops, GPS chartplotter with fuel management software, and a bunch of other expensive stuff.

The below is a _link_ that has a sales flyer on it for cat cruisers with some lofty claims that I _base_d my purchase on. Just hit the PDF file that says click here:

http://www.cruisingcatsusa.com/mod_vagabond.php3

I talked to the owner of the dealership. He said that he sells boats that are 5 or 6 times more expensive but which are not 5 or 6 times better boats. He said they are "price point boats". They are built cheap, but strong, and do a lot for what you are paying. He has a 40 footer that he takes into Puget Sound. He said the boat is fine in 3 footers but that who wants to go boating in 3 foot of chop? He is the one that gave me the argument that the boat was good 95% of the time in coastal cruising and that the expensive ones, that he also sells, were good for 98% to 99% of the time but cost 5 times as much or more.

Anyway that is what I've been defending on this site. That my clunker was good enough to do the intercoastal.



This is the crew for the trip.



This is what a Cat Cruiser Hull looks like from the front (above). Below are a couple of pictures of my boat:


dc9loser38926.4432523148

Looks like a boat you will have fun on. I just returned from looking at a 46 foot Three Buoys houseboat on the intercoastal down in Brunswick GA. The guy I was dealing with runs a fleet of 4 aluminum hull cat tour boats with outboards on them.

He has been delivering boats up and down the east coast for 39 years. We got on the subject of taking a houseboat on the intercoastal and people were advising against it. He actually started laughing and replied "On the intercoastal?"

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I would sure like to know what kind he was delivering, I can see Gibsons and Harbormasters and planning hull houseboats but not outboard lake boats and the like. I used to race houseboats. I also have been on the intercoastal when it was rather nasty. The water is sheltered pretty well in Ga. North Carolina is a different bear. I guess I got tired of the whole bow going under, having to tape the hatches etc. We lost a 55 ft Kingscraft which is not a lake boat on the Gulf coast intercoastal a couple of years ago. He had to get pumps from the coast guard before it went to the bottom. He was IN THE INTERCOASTAL. You get 10 fters on THE INTERCOASTAL. Water was over the engines, it had Perkins turbo diesels. We are only trying to tell you guys to use your head. I have been there and done that as OHB has. You guys would have your hands full running the lower Mississippi River with those type boats. You get 10 ft swells on that River. I have the proper boat for what you wish to do. I carry 900 gallons of fuel and displace 50 tons. I can take 12 fters and survive without a problem. All we are trying to tell you is get the proper boat for what you are going to do. One of my boats draws over 5 ft, I would not be going in the shallows as you can. I wanted to do that I would use another craft like a Holiday or Gibson that draws 28 inches. All I can say is use your good judgment and be careful as the weather can change, it can happen in a matter of minutes.

I see your point. If anyone treats the ICW as just a lake they would be asking for trouble. Knowing that it can go from glass to a mess is money in the bank to making very safe passages.

I lived in Alaska for 10 years and people tooks jon boats out fishing on good days in total safety. Those same places could have 40 foot seas on bad days. After 26 years in the Coast Guard and more Search and Resuce than I could ever count, the one sure thing that rang true of the ones who didn't make. They took the attitude that it could never happen to them. Those were the ones who didn't put a life jacket on when things got ugly. Didn't make a simple call to say they might be in trouble. Didn't have a flare kit or an Epirb.

I have also been on more cases where a boat sank from a failed system that allowed the boat to take on water or hitting a submerged _object_ than ever from the seas being to much and the boat being swamped. If water tight integrity is maintained you can't sink it.

From my short discussions with that gentleman he had moved everything from Gibsons, Three Buoys and the like up to Coastal Cruisers. When I asked if he stopped much in Elizabeth City he told me he did the Virginia Cut because most boats he brought up were higher draft and he wanted to avoid the hidden stumps in this area.

I had one lady tell me she was going to Hawaii in a 55 kingscraft from LA. I told her she had a fuel capacity problem and that the boat would never make the cruise even if it did not. I also told her the first thing would be the windows would be knocked out by the water and in 10 minutes it would be headed to the bottom. That was if she made the first 25 miles to the islands. I doubt she would have made that, cruisers select what days they travel. She kept on and I told her to call the Coast Guard and speak with a search and rescue petty officer or officer, she wrote back and said they told her she was dreaming. (The reason I told her to talk to search and rescue personnel was I had a retired Chief Coast Guard, who knew nothing about the rules of the road or boat handling. He was a twidget or to be proper electronics tech. I took a cruise with him for 150 miles, he would have grounded the boat as he could not run the chart. He had us headed to the Stumps and I had to take the wheel.) I had another who was going to take and 18 ft raft type boat on the great Circle, I finally had to refer her to the CG and she apologized and admitted not using common sense. I do not doubt that our good Airline Capt. will make the trip, but if not I can look anyone in the eye and say we warned him. I personally with the money he has spent on that Cat would rather had a Coastal Barracuda or a Gibson for the Same or a little more money than he has spent on this one. We have one here and he is careful about the weather even here on the Tenn River. I am glad we have a man of experience here on the board. I was an Air rescue certified in the Navy. Helicopter Utility squadron 4. I can say one thing watch the weather and have two VHF radios. Good luck

Oh, I am going to make the great circle trip in the next two years. I am going to leave from my place and do it. I will not be going in a 3 ft freeboard vessel. May even take OHB with me, he needs off land for awhile. I will be finished with my refurbish work on the Grebe this year. So a cruising I will go. I have a 63 ft Kelly that would be great for the intercoastal, 5 ft of freeboard , straight drive. Great boat for that. I am selling her ASAP

The longer this thread gets the more I believe that these guys are just pulling our chain about running down the east coast intercoastal in that cat houseboat. I went to that website and saw that it had a sliding glass door facing onto an open flat deck. First big wall of water that they nose into will come right on through that door. Maybe the thing is "unsinkable" like the Titanic was due to its pontoons but they better have a back door open to let the water out.

It is getting a little fishy, I believe OHB may be involved. He spends a fortune on a pontoon boat and it is not ready, then he shows us PICs of a very limited craft as far as rough water goes . i have one just like it at my place. Calm water boat. He being an Airline Capt. he probley has a 50 Ft. Bluewater up there.