Pacific Bliss is a cruising catamaran semi-custom built for us by Catana, a yacht manufacturer located in Perpignan, France. The yacht is 43 feet long and 24 feet wide. It is built for comfort and has very little heeling or rolling. All lines go toward the cockpit for singlehanded control and easy tacking via electric winch. The catamaran configuration allows us to navigate in very shallow water and anchor close to beaches. It has an immense cockpit with easy access to the swim ladder and fresh  water shower, and plenty of room on the trampoline for seclusion and sunning. In addition, the large cockpit table can be transformed into a sleeping area comfortable for those tropical nights with a cool ocean breeze. Inside, the CAT  is spacious. It sleeps six easily, with two queen-sized berths and one double. The salon  can sleep one person as well. Click here to see the layouts for the upper deck and the interior.

Why we chose a Catana: For two years, we searched for the perfect  yacht to circumnavigate the world. We chose the Catana for the following  reasons:

Safety: Catana is the "Rolls Royce" of Catamarans. This means that corners are not cut and safety is paramount. A Catana can overcome extreme  conditions due to its seaworthiness and its ability to sail closehauled in difficult seas. One security factor is the shape of the hulls. Another is the  daggerboards that can be raised in heavy weather, allowing the vessel to drift  rather than raising the floater out of water. This should minimize the effect of strong gusts and heavy waves. Pacific Bliss is built with a number of structural  bulkheads, allowing each section to float if damaged. It uses high performance  materials with a Twaron Impact Process (Aramide/carbon/unidirectional). The yacht is therefore unsinkable, very strong, and yet lightweight. It has a ten-year structural guarantee.

Stability: Retractable dagger boards allow a sideways sliding movement, avoiding the risk of raising the windward floater. In the case of an impact against a wreck, container or a reef, the dagger boards will break  without damaging their casing or the hull structure. The crash-boxes formed by  the watertight bulkheads fore and aft keep the living areas free of water in a collision. Even totally filled with water, the yacht will not sink.

Performance: Since we are interested in cruising, not racing, speed is not the primary consideration, but what’s nice about the Catana is that she will  hold a good, average speed, in spite of the wind or the weather. In gentle winds, we should be able to sail about 1/3 faster than in average monohulls.In following winds, the spinnaker allows us to go much faster than in an equivalent monohull. The dagger boards allow us to sail to weather

During our entire circumnavigation, Pacific Bliss performed well, giving us a tremendous sense of confidence in her ability to withstand whatever nature could throw at her.  She was even unfazed by a Force 10 storm off of Cartagena, Colombia.  A follow-up check showed her rigging to be intact, with no adjustments needed.  The following photos show various sections of the boat.