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Old 02-20-2023, 07:53 PM   #1
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A sad day for me ..........until it wasnt

Well, a major stumbling block has been removed and a big part of our lives will soon be gone.
Our half built 50+ ft powercat is sold
Full ask paid, funds are in the bank and cleared

A sad day in the realisation that the long held dream for a light, long and low powered cat never came to fruition for us.
3 years wasted.

But the upside was instead of 3 years more of crippling work, frustrations and bucket loads of money, we did get several years of life back by grabbing the big girl we have now, getting out here and living the same same but different dream with sanity intact and for that I am grateful.

And also grateful that my ultimate nightmare of cutting her up to be rid of her never eventuated.

Well wishes to her new owner, he has dreams of converting her to a full solar/electric power cat like the Silent 55 but without the $3 million+ price tag
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Old 02-20-2023, 08:10 PM   #2
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Well, that both sucks and is a somewhat happy ending. Cheers?
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Old 02-20-2023, 08:12 PM   #3
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That’s a lot of boat to move somehow
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Old 02-20-2023, 08:36 PM   #4
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This was the dream if I'm not mistaken:

Current build 50ft x 24ft epoxy/kiri powercat designed for 2
Engines 2 x 65hp cummins
Disp: 8500kg DWL full load
Empty: 4700 approx
Estimated cruise 8 knots @ 1L/nm
Estimated max speed 14 knots
Range approx 2200nm @ 8 knots @ 1L/nm
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Old 02-20-2023, 08:39 PM   #5
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Not all dreams are realized. Sounds like your plan B isn't all that bad :-)

Congratulations.
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Old 02-20-2023, 08:42 PM   #6
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Hard to leave an unfinished project behind, but this one seems like a win for everyone.
Good call to move on and enjoy the great boat you have. Hopefully the buyer has the energy, time and resources to see it through and enjoy it.
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Old 02-21-2023, 12:43 AM   #7
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Simi:

Wow, I can see the dream in that photo.

I imagine that when you made the decision to give up the dream project, it was a very difficult decision. Especially with the project half way there.

Getting out with finances intact is a monumental win, especially in the custom-boat realm. I'm wondering if there are any lessons learned that you might be willing to share.

Here's To Sanity,
Mrs. Trombley
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Old 02-21-2023, 01:13 AM   #8
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If it is not too painful I would love to hear more of the origin story. Did you build the hull to this point?
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Old 02-21-2023, 01:37 AM   #9
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Quote:
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This was the dream if I'm not mistaken:
Yep
14 was ambitious imho but the guys who do the props ran the numbers on their program and that's what it said.
8 @ cruise and 12 on the fly on a flat day was my thinking.
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Old 02-21-2023, 01:39 AM   #10
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Always when I dream to the "next" boat my wife make a citation of Saint Augustin :
"le bonheur c'est désirer ce que l'on possède déjà"
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Old 02-21-2023, 07:01 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by Snapdragon III View Post
If it is not too painful I would love to hear more of the origin story. Did you build the hull to this point?
Started with a pile of numbers on a sheet of paper, a "Table of offsets" then lofted the numbers onto a loft floor, ran battens around to get a fair hull shape at that position, transfered them to mylar patterns and made a frame for each hull section.

Then lots of timber strips,glue, epoxy, glass, torment.
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Old 02-21-2023, 07:10 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by long-cours.62 View Post
"le bonheur c'est désirer ce que l'on possède déjà"
Happiness is wanting what you already have - is that close enough?

Yes, no, maybe
Life changes - needs change - shite happens - and then we die.
Sad but true.
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Old 02-21-2023, 07:13 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Miz Trom View Post
Simi:

Wow, I can see the dream in that photo.

I imagine that when you made the decision to give up the dream project, it was a very difficult decision. Especially with the project half way there.

Getting out with finances intact is a monumental win, especially in the custom-boat realm. I'm wondering if there are any lessons learned that you might be willing to share.


Here's To Sanity,
Mrs. Trombley
A haiku of sorts

There is a story there
Have typed it up
Not sure if willing to share yet
Rum
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Old 02-21-2023, 07:59 AM   #14
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I personally know the location of three "dreams" which will never be finished. I talked to the owner of one of them and he said it was not for sale. He keeps it next to his house to remind himself of how stupid he really is. (The design was just plain bad, steel built, too heavy to actually float)

Dreams come and dreams go..

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Old 02-21-2023, 09:17 AM   #15
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Greetings,
Mr. S. I've taken on the odd project that lived to well past it's "best before" date but I've ALWAYS taken away things I've learned and have served me in good stead. Regret is seldom one of them.

Next door neighbour has a small plaque on his outdoor coffee table."The cure for everything is salt water".
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Old 02-21-2023, 09:19 AM   #16
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I wish you all the best. I play the lottery hoping to buy my dream boat too.
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Old 02-21-2023, 10:08 PM   #17
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Sorry to hear your dream had to come to an end, but the consolation isn't that bad....
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Old 02-21-2023, 10:22 PM   #18
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To not dream and act on at least on some dreams = To be bored!

Congrats on all phases you went through... much including the SALE!
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Old 02-21-2023, 10:28 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Simi 60 View Post
Started with a pile of numbers on a sheet of paper, a "Table of offsets" then lofted the numbers onto a loft floor, ran battens around to get a fair hull shape at that position, transfered them to mylar patterns and made a frame for each hull section.

Then lots of timber strips,glue, epoxy, glass, torment.
Good,on balance, to be out of it. Especially when you have a boat which fulfills your requirements so well.
Your design process greatly exceeds the Sydney Harbour Rivercat, reportedly designed on the back of an envelope in the Transport Minister`s office,one afternoon, after lunch.
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Old 02-21-2023, 11:37 PM   #20
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We have "Kitty Cats" now, likely from the same Sydney design office, that replaced the old wooden cross-river ferries that were deemed unsafe, or uneconomic to maintain, or something. Whilst our larger "City Cats" slow to 10 kn going past my marina to avoid unreasonable wakes, the smaller Kitty Cats need to slow to 6kn and probably still make a greater wake. Absolute monstrosities they are!

I'll leave it to Simi to tell more of his story when or if he wishes, but like a lot of things in life unexpected global events played a role I think. The 2007-2008 GFC led to many people needing to tighten their belts. With time, nice-to-have assets like holiday cottages and boats came onto the market en masse. I can't recall exact timing, but certainly by around 2010 boat prices had tanked as there were huge numbers of boats on the market. About then, or not long after, I remember Simi posting (different forum and UserID) that it was now going to be cheaper to buy a used boat than to finish his cat. I don't recall how long his search was, but I seem to recall at some stage some USA boats catching his eye at least. We had a big FX advantage at that time, which I availed myself of, but shipping etc was quite a chunk of change. I might start another thread on my boat import journey rather than derails Simi's cat story.

Once upon a time there was a cat profile pic as an avatar that looked sweet. What would be also nice would be if the new owner was to join TF and share the next chapter. Many will remember Hendo's cray boat re-build thread. Very unfortunate ending, but the re-build benfitted enormously from the insights of TF members.
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