28 days on a 28′ trimaran
We moved aboard Esperanza, Corsair 28CR trimaran, in early Feb ’17 on a Florida marina mooring ball to get used to sailing her and learn her systems inside and out. Here’s what we learned:
- No surprise, but the small amount of ‘stuff’ we thought we were taking on board, was actually too much. For example, the nesting pans, bowls and storage containers we thought were minimal still took up too much space and we can get by with just 1-2 of each. One duffle of clothes for each of us worked well.
- Hanging nets are a God send, but when overfilled just get in the way.
- We didn’t spend as much time in the ‘outdoor space’ — the nets — due to the strong sun, but adding UV protection opened up the ‘patio’ to us a great deal more.
- Light weight sleeping bags work really well because they can be rolled up during the day.
- We love the fact that we have a head on this little boat, but getting in and out of it is a bear. So, I would take the door off to open it up and ask others to go up on deck for private time.
- Be patient with fellow crew member(s) and allow each other the space to ‘move around’ and get settled.
- Clothes pins, clips, bungees, velcro straps, hooks and duct tape always come in handy to pin things up and out of the way …and to keep things from spilling all over the floor.
- Move SLOWLY around the boat to avoid head, knee and foot banging.
- Things fixed don’t always STAY fixed. We needed to repair manual water pumps twice and other instruments issues, as well. We are trying to ‘go with the flow’, but hard not to get frustrated a bit.
- Living on the water is really fun despite the challenges. We enjoyed sunrises on the water with hot coffee and simple breakfasts and sunset cocktails on the ‘nets’. Dolphins would swim by occasionally and our neighbors were friendly and welcoming. The boat became a cozy little home and I find myself missing it while we are out for a few days taking a ‘boat break’.
