In answer to Holly: we're very happy with Te Moana and I don't think we would buy any other catamaran if we were buying today. The options we would order with a new boat also would not be radically different. But here are a few thoughts:
We should have gotten the additional water tank, the extra 300 litres comes in handy when on a cruise. The additional weight is not much of an issue in a boat that's already 7 tons.
We have been frugal and have avoided fitting lots of electronic gadgets. We have the basics, UHF radio, fridge, FM Radio/CD player, GPS (1 fixed, one portable spare), autopilot (would not want to be without), log/wind instruments. I use my laptop with Plotter software when we're on longer cruises.
We have no air conditioning, heating, freezer and have no need for a generator to power them. We are just about to buy a small portable freezer for our cruise north later this year.
Thanks to our power frugality, we last for 2 - 3 days at anchor without re-charging the batteries (280 Ah house battery, religiously never discharged below 60%). I fitted a battery monitor with a % capaciy readout to make sure).
We purchased the bowsprit option with Te Moana, so we could deploy a spinnaker if necessary. However we bought a furling screecher (oversize unstayed genoa) instead which also deploys from the bowsprit. That comes in handy in light winds. Because the Lagoon is underpowered in light winds.
I've been very happy with the Volvo 2030 engines. Plenty of power and I would never want a cat with one engine again (except when it comes to paying to have two engines serviced...).
Obviously the "owner" version suits us better than the charter version. The en-suite shower is heaven to use, I'm 6"4 and can stand up and have a hot shower!
Holly and I finally did it. You can see our pictures of our 2002 Lagoon 380 at http://moblg.net/blog/hudson
We've sailed it from Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota and enjoyed the trip. Our option package included most everything except the generator and heater. We have the (shore side only) AC, extra water tanks, isolating transformer, bowsprit and genaker, Yanmar 27 HP, life raft, radar+gps+autopilot+cd+etc, and dinghy with 5 HP.
The batteries seem weak -- if we run our mooring light while on the anchor they are dead by morning. We've had to run the port engine to keep them charged.
You're right about being underpowered in light winds. We've had several 3 knot days in which we hardly moved. Without a whisker pole, the genaker doesn't seem to stay inflated very well. What sort of winds do you find necessary to deploy it?
Right now we're staying in a marina for a month as we get everything setup and working. Then we'll tackle the Gulf Stream on a trip up the East Coast of the US.
Trammell
Trammell and Holly:
Congratulations, enjoy your 380!
The battery issue doesn't sound right. We installed a battery monitor on the main "house battery" to monitor current and % capacity. We typically last two or three days at anchor before the battery needs to be re-charged (gets down to 50-60%). That includes use of anchor light, fridge, television, water pump, vhf etc. It sounds like the battery needs replacing. They don't like being discharged below 50%. Or something is drawing a heck of a lot of current... Worth looking into.
Regarding light wind performance... that's the "Lagoon compromise". We have comfort and safety in higher winds and use the engine if there is less than 5 knots of breeze.
Keep in touch,
marius