Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Is a Monohull (AMEL) the right choice?
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David Vogel <dbv_au@...>
I would agree with Danny, that the AMEL is "the" boat - not that I could ever claim to be objective about it.
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When I was seeking info and advice whilst considering relocating our new purchase south from Newport to Martinique, I had many council me that I was crazy about even thinking about taking my first owned boat - and a 'big' 53ft one at that - oceanic; rather than day-trips hugging the coast and laying up in safe harbour overnight. I 'get it'. And advice not to go offshore for at least 12 months, becuase 'things break', and 'bad things happen', until you know the boat, well, I get that too. However, my thinking was that, if ever there is a boat in which to be doing such stuff, then the AMEL is the one to be doing it in. That's exactly why we bought this boat, so how could we now NOT have confidence in that decision?
After 6 weeks doing full systems checks, laying in safety gear for "if things go horribly wrong" - new life raft, flares, EPRIB, we all know the score here - plus replacing the bodgy bits of kit (Dacron halyards, siezed turning blocks, incorrectly specc'd water pumps, and so on), retuning the rig to AMEL specs, updating COMMs gear and sundry other 'stuff', the shakedown to Annapolis could not find any reason (except my own nerves and confidence) why not to head on out to the deep blue. My decision to head on out considered, of course, equal counsel from those with vast expereince living abooard an AMEL (THANK YOU BILL R.) to '"trust your boat, she is designed exactly for this, and can handle more than you can". With able crew on-board, we encountered everything from 50+ hours motoring straight, to about 5 days of strong gales (35G42), seas steady 4-5m, a short time at 6+ and breaking, larger and steeper when encountering crossing wave-trains, and PERIGEE handled it all well within her capabilities. I did need to keep her reigned-in to keep the speed down into the 6.5 - 7.5kn range; she would easily and happily added 2 knots plus more surfing, but I was really trying to sail conservatively, despite the exhilaration of seeing 9s and above from time to time (with the boat moving comfortably, perhaps even more so, at the higher speeds). Nothing broke, except the printer and microwave (which were not properly secured - my bad - can't blame the design for that). This whole re-positioning trip validated everything I had come to hope for after a few years of study about AMELs, in comparison to all the other well-recommended bluewater cruisers out there. Now, with about 3 months on-board, and 2,500nm sailing our AMEL to date, I have absolutely no doubts that we did the right thing to take our time to save a little more, and look far and wide to find the right AMEL for us. This is even though we still have quite some work yet to be done to make her ready for prolonged remote-area cruising, and there may yet be some 'surpises' in store for us. Again, clearly I am not objective, but it is what it is. Hope this helps someone in their quest to find their boat, whether AMEL or not. Blue skies, David SV Perigee, SM#396, Martinique
On Thursday, February 2, 2017, 05:02, Danny and Yvonne SIMMS simms@... [amelyachtowners] wrote:
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