350km + on a 14ft Caper Cat - Advice?

trail a long knotted rope behind the yacht for when you get knocked or fall overboard.. it would have saved me a swim or two If I had done it with my old hobie.
the general rule is 3m for each knot of speed
surely 3hp would be plenty of OB you need it for manouvering , not speed
with a 14' beach cat your biggest worry will be room for all the gear

Safety should be your number one consideration.

Sailing with at least one other boat will radically improve your capacity to get prompt help, rather than relying on emergency services. Invite some other experienced sailors who have Caper cats ( or similar cats) to participate by fund-raising and bringing their boats on the trip. The end result will probably be more public awareness, more public interest, more funds raised, and less personal risk for sailors.

Check the hulls for leaks, both below and above the waterline.
Drill out the rivets, and remove the trim strips from each side of each hull of your Caper cat, and check that the fibreglass filler along the join has not cracked. Otherwise, your boat could take water into one hull during bad weather, and possibly capsize. A Caper cat may not leak in good weather, but in bad weather, 3 m of riveted keel strips and 15 m of hull join, ( which cannot be seen because of the cover strips ) can make discovery and repair of leaks difficult.

Check that the mast is watertight so that in the event of capsize, the mast is unlikely to fill with water. Spray diluted bubble mix on the mast. Drill one rivet from the mast, and use a compressor to put a few pounds pressure inside the mast. Put your finger over the hole, and look for leaks at rivet holes, fittings, and elsewhere on the mast. Repair leaks so that the mast holds pressure for at least 10 minutes.

Don’t try to sail without the boom, unless you have tested the boat in a variety of weather conditions.
You may be unable to flatten the mainsail sufficiently when sailing to windward in strong winds, if the boom is removed.

Minimize risk of dehydration, hypothermia, sunburn, rig failure, collision at sea, crocodile and shark attack.
Have contingency plans for radio communication, failure of navigation equipment, medical emergency, boats taking water, and for dealing with extreme weather. If a Caper cat starts taking water at sea, you cannot bail it unless you have installed bilge pumps, prior to your trip. I installed manual bilge pumps in each hull of my Caper cats before my longer trips along the reef. I also fitted inspection hatches in the floor of each storage bin, so that I could use a sponge to remove water from the lowest part of each hull.

Take 2 sand anchors and anchor ropes so you can avoid being blown against a lee shore.

Always sail with at least one other boat within a few hundred metres, so that crew can be quickly rescued in the unlikely event that rescue in needed. I have seen several rescues during 45 years of sailing. I’ve seen sharks near a boat which sank to the waterline, and a Caper which took water and capsized after seam failure. That boat could not be bailed out and sailed to safety. It could not be towed to safety. (It broke up when an attempt was made, because of the huge forces arising from it’s inertia, instability, drag, big seas, and the towline force. )

The best safety outcomes occurred when safety equipment was accessible on board, safety plans were known by the crew, and also prompt help from a nearby boat was available.

Norman Jones
Maroochydore
Phone 07 54796111

Hi Peter I dont know much about small fast cats but ive just arrived in Cairns on my 40 foot cruising cat (no lifting hulls here) The leg from Townsville to Cairns took a couple of days stopping at Orpheus island, Dunk Island Fitzroy and then Cairns .
Tips i can give are
#1as mentioned above SAFETY! if you havent got a vhf radio Its a must! I can lend you a good 5w handheld if you dont already have one .
#2 an e.p.i.r.b. 406 is something you must carry by law Im sure youve already thought of this one.
#3 the sailing is mostly all downwind, I would have been very frustrated if i didnt have a couple of spinnakers on board, So make sure you have a good downwind sail arrangement, Main and jib usualy only good for reaching and pointing.
#4 the wind is blocked by the mountains on Hinchinbrook so go up the outside! plenty of beaches on the east side for safety and no crocs. Theyre all on the inside
#5 im a big fan of internet on board, you can not only check the weather forecasts but you can also see whats actualy blowing if the forecast is wrong (good old seabreeze is good for this) If youve got room aboard for an internet compatible phone, bring it!- -Telstra has good coverage.

Hi Peter, what you are doing is very nobel and i am sure that there are others that would be prepared to jump in for a good cause, put a message up on "Beach Cats World Network"
This is a site with Members who love to sail Beach Cats. http://beachcatsaustralia.ning.com/
Another members Caper Cat.

Hello Peter
Used to have my own caper cat years ago and sailed it around a bit. Had numerous s/s stay wire break on me. (unexpectedly of course) but most were always close to the coast and I always carried spares. But the thing that caught me out the best was when a chain plate broke between Mackay and Brampton Island. (About an 18nm run). Fortunately it was on the leeward side while doing a down wind run and I managed to get the stay wire lashed down around the outside of the hull to the 2 righting ropes which were tied to the main beams. (while the mast waved around in the breeze being held up by the front & Starboard stay and the main sheet with the traveller right out to port). Its amazing how good a course you can keep steering with your toes while frantically trying to tie rope to S/S Stay Wire. Later on, an inspection of the starboard chain plate showed it also had a hair line crack. If I were you I would replace these prior to your trip. The other bit of advice is to make sure you are proficient at righting your boat. I learnt this by repeated tipping the boat over and practiced getting it back up (by myself) until I could do it in my sleep (well second nature anyway). Make sure you know how to drag the boat back into face the wind (before the mast sinks) so the wind gets under the sail and helps you lift the boat back. I also had a bracket made up that mounded a 2hp outboard motor on the back. The outboard was actually small enough to stow inside the hull. I needed it when I sailed around the Whitsunday Islands as there is not enough wind up against the islands. These are good boats and very stable. Just don’t go sailing thinking someone will help if you get into trouble. Good planning and watch the weather. Good Luck
I once sailed a Cherry 16 from Mackay to Townsville and the Caper Cat would easily have done that trip.
Crusoe

roller furling on the front works great make shure you go oversize with the drum and swivels cable etc when making up new cables for stays make shure you put 2 crimps on each end and double crimp those it cant hurt to go stronger good clevis pins the ones with a full stainless ring for all your chain plates

go to a cheap shop and buy some cheap pool noodles the ones with the holes down the middle in bright orange stuff them anyware you can and you can thread them onto any wire or stay

make shure your mast float is in good order if you dont have one get one mine has saved me more than once and i would not be without it

take plenty of saftey gear ah and get a good wet weather jacket

check to make shure you boom cant smack into your outboard i broke my 4hp this way since then i have made up a bar for the bracket to protect the outboard it goes in a horseshoe shape over the outboard

a good peice of tramp or net for the front is handy incase you need to get to the forestay i actually made up a plank in the middle out of an alloy ladder and hung tramp on both sides

on trips more than 50k i usually take

good cloth tape ,spare rope, repair resin ,sail repair kit ,flares ,handheld gps, lifejackets , hand drill , consitina rivit gun, butane camp stove , 10l water can 5l fuel can , v sheet , mirror, lighter, self powered torch, spare jib, 2 x sand anchors.

trust me its better to have it and not use it than to wish you packed it when somthing goes wrong