Good News from the Department of Redundancy Department

Of the many advantages afforded to the owner of the modern cruising catamaran, some are perhaps less readily apparent than others. Sure, there is the increased living space compared to monohulls, the greater access to sunlight, better stability, etc. But one less obviously useful--though by no means less obvious--feature of catamaran design is what I like to call "arkiness." Simply put, much of it comes in twos, for instance two hulls. It is in a very real way twice the boat that is a monohull (hence the joke among cat owners that monohullers own half a boat). This dualist design feature often enables catamaran owners to do something monohullers can only dream about--cannibalize their own boats.

Just a bit of rescrewing  and a starboard piece is perfect for port.

Just how handy this is only became apparent to me the other day when, as Jane mentioned in her post, I and an estimated year's worth of dry goods overcame the strength of the port forward berth frame and we all went tumbling down into the empty storage locker below.  I, inexplicably thinking like a monohuller, started measuring the irreparably damaged center strut in order to buy a piece of wood with which to replace it.  Jane, her usual savvy self, realized immediately that we already had a replacement onboard: the identical piece for the berth frame from the opposite hull.  Since that stateroom serves as my workroom, its previously preserved pile of parts are the perfect source for replacements. So not only did we take the center strut, we repurposed the corner braces as well. The few extra minutes it took to adapt the strut to the other frame were nothing compared to the time it would have taken to buy a new piece and then find someone to mill it for us.

Our berth frame stronger than before.

And all of this, I now realize is but a pittance compared to all that can be reappropriated from one hull or the other.  Pumps, hoses, valves, switches, breakers, outlets,  I've got a donor for every recipient.  But why stop there?  Take the whole faucet assembly, yank out an entire head, turn a door upside down, the list is virtually endless.  But we can do even more.  We don't need two sinks; we need a shower with two shower heads.  We need eight speakers in the master stateroom for that true surround sound experience.  And can you ever really have enough shelves for cookbooks on a boat, I ask you?

Oh yeah, I think some interior redesign is definitely on the agenda....