Hurricanes, FP Saba 50's, And How Many Hours Are Too Many Engine Hours?

In Episode 2 of Cat Chat Live: Life Between the Hulls, I'm joined once again by Catamaran Central's Mid-Atlantic broker, Bill Regan. We start the episode by talking a little about our own experiences as boat owners and how actually owning, maintaining, and cruising boats gives us a different perspective when helping clients navigate yacht ownership. For this episode's "Between Two Hulls" segment, we're talking hurricane season. We break down some of the most popular options for catamaran owners during the summer months, from heading south to Grenada and St. Lucia to spending the season in the Chesapeake or cruising New England. We discuss the pros and cons of each, along with considerations like insurance, boatyard infrastructure, cruising opportunities, cost, and accessibility. Next, we take a deep dive into the Fountaine Pajot Saba 50. We discuss why we think the Saba has stood the test of time, some of our favorite features and layouts, where we think the boat really shines, a few things we don't love, and what today's brokerage market looks like for these popular 50-foot catamarans. For our brokerage picks of the week, Bill highlights Singing Winds, a 2019 five-cabin Saba 50 located in Fort Lauderdale, while I take the shameless self-promotion route and choose Libra, a 2020 six-cabin Saba 50 currently operating in crewed yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands. We wrap things up with one of the questions we hear from buyers all the time: How many engine or generator hours is too many? We discuss why hours matter, why they don't always tell the whole story, and why maintenance history and how a diesel engine has been used can sometimes be more important than the number on the hour meter. As always, Cat Chat Live is unscripted, unedited, and centered around the conversations we have every day as catamaran brokers, owners, and enthusiasts. Have a catamaran make or model you'd like us to cover? A topic you want to hear us discuss? Or one of those questions you've always wanted to ask but were afraid was "stupid"? Send it our way—we may cover it in an upcoming episode.