Hurricane Katrina

You could say that we ran out of time or, you could say that my brother finally jumped ship (boy do I hate it when they escape like that) and I had to leave the boat at a public marina on the St. Lucie River, just west of the Port St. Lucie Lock. This was about 75 miles south of my destination and 110 miles south of where I live, but I figured I could find a new crew (it would be OK.. no Everglades this time) and bring her the rest of the way home the following weekend. But...it wasn't to be... As they say "the best laid plans of mice and men...".

From out of nowhere, a hurricane named Katrina decided to take aim at south Florida on it's way to devastating New Orleans. This hurricane formed very suddenly directly over the Bahamas, and gave almost no warning at all to eastern Florida. The National Hurricane Center was now predicting that Katrina was going to roll right over where I had docked the boat!! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Obviously, if we planned on still owning a boat, our plans had to be changed.

It was obvious that immediate action was required, and after hearing the latest hurricane update, I figured it was just barely possible to make it out of the path of the storm, but only if we acted immediately. So, with the National Hurricane Center website up for updates on the storm track,  I grabbed a map and calculated that if we could get underway and head north on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) to a protected anchorage about 40 miles north of Stuart, in Vero Beach by nightfall the boat should be fine. I figured we could make it to our marina in Melbourne, FL the following afternoon, just as Katrina came ashore. So, that was the plan and at dawn the following morning Linda and I headed south, directly into the path of the Hurricane.

As we arrived at the marina, the winds were already clocking at 25 mph with 35 mph gusts. There was a power problem at the marina and they took forever to settle the bill, so we didn't untie the boat until noon. I took advantage of the delay and called City Dock at Vero Beach to reserve a slip and tell them we were on our way. It took 30 minutes to clear the Port St. Lucie lock, and another 3 hours before we made the turn onto the ICW in Stuart Harbor because of a delay waiting for one of the bridges to open for us. We said a prayer, and headed north on the ICW.

Conditions were what we expected. There was a small craft advisory posted, with gusting winds and a violent chop. The ICW is a protected waterway, but even so, in a short time 3-4 foot chop developed and the wind was from the NE, which was almost on the bow. At least there wasn't any traffic as it looked like we were the only boat on the water. I had the sails down and both diesels at cruising speed. My GPS indicated we were making 6mph SOG but it was already 3:30PM, and because of the delays, there was no way we would make it to Vero Beach before nightfall. Unfortunately, we had run out of other options. By 6:00PM, the rain squalls in the outer bands of the hurricane began to catch us. Let me just say that you'd have to experience this to appreciate it. Suddenly visibility is reduced to 50 yards, with rain directly in our faces driven by 40 mph gusts. The boat is taking the chop on the starboard bow with enough force to cover us in spray. It was stimulating to say the least, and fatiguing, as hour after hour we plodded north away from the approaching storm. We began switching helm duty as the day wore on, as it didn't take long for conditions to take a toll on us. We learned a couple of valuable lessons. First, I needed a helm seat, (Yep I bought one) and 2nd I learned the futility of trying to outrun a hurricane in a sailboat.

As night fell, we were just short of Vero Beach, FL. It was pitch black, with horizontal rain and winds gusting to 50 mph directly in our faces. The ICW widens here and the fetch allowed the wave action to build to 6 footers. With Linda at the helm, we glided under the causeway bridge and eased our way into the anchorage. By this time we were soaked to the skin and must have looked like a couple of drowned rats. I was struggling to see, using the GPS to guide us from channel marker to marker and using our 1,000,000 candle power spotlight to identify them. Only a sailor knows what it's like to enter a strange anchorage in the dead of a moonless night in steady 50 mph winds and rain slanting in right in our faces. Let me say that the GPS made it possible to safely arrive at the City dock at Vero Beach, where we ignored the slip we were assigned, and tied up right at the fuel dock with doubled up dock lines and 4 fenders rigged as insurance. We were utterly and completely exhausted. We barely had enough energy to take showers before we collapsed and immediately fell asleep while the wind was howling through our rigging.

We were up before dawn, anxious to get underway as the winds were brisk and gusting and the sky was black as night and seemed to have no intention of allowing the sun to come up. We hurriedly gobbled down a breakfast bar with a cup of black coffee graciously offered by the guys at the City Dock, as we watched the Hurricane update on their TV. There was a slight shift in Katrina's path to the south during the night!! We were out of danger, but it was going to be a bumpy ride home. We left the dock at 7:00AM and headed north, in 3-4 foot chop and 50 mph steady winds which gusted to over 60 mph. In each gust we watched our boat speed slow as the wind was on our nose and catamarans aren't exactly aerodynamic. Condition did improve as the day wore on, as we were heading north and the hurricane was bending to the south. Every hour we put more and more distance between us and the approaching storm. We arrived at her new home in Melbourne, FL in early afternoon without incident just as Katrina came roaring ashore in South Florida. In reviewing the trip I can honestly say that the boat was level and stable the entire trip and overall she performed flawlessly. I feel like I've made a good choice in selecting a catamaran. Especially selecting a Catalac 8M!!

Time Passes

After almost 5 years of sailing (yes, my brother began speaking to me again), we're slowly getting to know her quirks and her strengths. In 10-15 knots of wind I regularly see 6-8 mph of boat speed, and once or twice have touched 8 1/2 mph, in a puff. All speeds (SOG) measured with my GPS.

Her best point of sailing is a broad reach with the 155 Genoa, but this sail is lacking for pointing.  I've found that we lose about a knot in speed when switching to the 105 jib but it's worth it as it points very well. I can maintain speed right up to 30 degrees apparent.

I find that it's faster Jibing than running. I know her 22 year old sails need replacing as the main is really stretched and baggy. It's possible that with the right set of sails we could see slightly increased speeds and more importantly, point higher. I continue to experiment with mast rake, and rigging tension in my quest to find her "sweet spot".


The stability and balance of this boat under sail is amazing. The rapid acceleration, good pointing ability and roomy interior were a pleasant surprise. It did take a while to get used to sailing completely flat. If you've never sailed a cruising catamaran, you just have to try it. Once you buy a Cat, there's no going back to a monohull.

Catalpa was designed as a pocket cruising catamaran. She has twin Yanmar 1GM10, 9 hp diesels which are in great shape. These engines are the smallest diesels Yanmar markets and have a reputation of running forever. At cruising speed they use fuel at slightly more than 1 pint an hour. With twin 12 gallon fuel tanks, this works out to a power cruising range of 600 NM, farther if you run on one engine which I commonly do when on flat water. These engines also allow tremendous maneuverability in crowded marinas. With the engines spaced about 12 feet apart, and new Morse engine controls, this boat turns on a dime. The only problems I've had with them are with the engines' cooling system. The lagoon I sail in has a lot of silt in it which eventually causes the water pump seals to fail.