Sailing a Catamaran for the First Time

Yesterday we rented a Hobie Wave from Paul at Caribbean Villas. I've sailed several different dinghies (Laser, FJ, Flying Scot, Luger Leeward, etc) but all monohulls. I was a bit nervous taking the whole family along for my first trick at the tiller, especially given the wind was blowing about 15 knots when we set out. We were also joined by a fellow named Gustavo and his son Alfonso, visiting from Mexico. He heard we were heading north and wanted to come along, so they rented a boat too and we convoyed up the coast.

Ready to set sail

Nervous (but happy) skipper at the tiller

Fortunately, my anxieties about sailing a cat were unfounded--the Wave is super stable, and our experienced crew did a great job sitting on the windward hull and keeping us flat and fast. Sailing a catamaran in that much wind was absolutely exhilarating, it is hard to believe a 14' boat can move so quickly. Our wake looked like a powerboat's, and we got soaking wet from the spray flying off the bows and the occasional wave that would come up through the trampoline.

The crew

The water was beautiful! We saw several rays swim under the boat.

Flying along the coast!

Our destination was Mexico Rocks, which is about 6 miles north of San Pedro town. We got very close to our intended destination (in less than an hour!!) but the boys were hungry and getting cold from the strong wind and constant soaking. So we tied up to the next buoy we came upon, let the sail flog, and had a picnic on the trampoline. Lochlan was feeling a bit seasick, so I hung out with him while Amy and Liam went snorkeling. Unfortunately this section of the reef was not great, and the wind waves made swimming challenging. I snorkeled for a bit too, but then some menacing looking storm clouds were building so we headed back for home.

Loki at the helm, running from the storm.

The hardest part about sailing a cat was tacking. We got stuck in irons on the first two tacks, but by the third tack I was starting to get the hang of it. We only had to make one jibe on the way home, and it went very smoothly--no pitchpoling on this outing!

After we made it back to the beach (safely!) we bought a block of hours from Paul, and we will definitely be sailing on a cat on the next sunny, windy day.

When we got back to the beach the boys scored some cake from Rebecca's birthday party, and the wind had an interesting effect on Lochlan's hair.