Each boat designed has an amount of weight that they are comfortable carrying and if you go beyond it, you risk disturbing the safe operating parameters of the boat making for a dangerous situation.
We've been searching the internet, our owners manuals, and assorted magazines for the actual carrying capacity of our boat. Our boat is a Gemini 3200 and so far we've not been able to find out for sure how much we can safely carry.
What we've been able to find out is that a similar model, from the same manufacturer, the Gemini 105Mc, has a carrying capacity of 3,600 lbs. We've also found references to the fact that the Gemini 105Mc has a "much improved carrying capacity." But how much does "much improved" come out to?
We don't mind taking calculated risks. We would, for example, be:
- very comfortable assuming that our boat has at least 1,000 lbs carrying capacity
- comfortable assuming that our boat has at least 2,000 lbs carrying capacity
- not real comfortable that our boat has at least 3,000 lbs carrying capacity
Until we can find out for sure what we can carry, we will assume that we can carry 2,000 lbs safely on the boat. We will use the 2,000 lbs figure for our packing ceiling.
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Our family is much like yours and has also decided to go cruising after years of discussions. Lat year we came very close to buying a new Gemini, but backed out at the last minute. One of my biggest issues was the carying abilty and the generally low BD clearance. We dont necessarly think we'll go farther than the east coast/caribbean, we want the option to go further if we decide to do so. I'm worried about the 4 people and all we must carry. Were currently thinking about buying a Wharram cat, and there are a few available that we can afford. We plan to have the house sold and be gone from North Idaho by mid summer. We'll be heading over the the East coast to buy the boat then, and plan to spend next winter in the warm Caribbean! I hope you all do well, I'm sure we'll talk again.
ReplyDeleteChris Curtis
@Chris Curtis: Thanks for the comments Chris. You certainly are onto something with the low bridge deck clearance. We spent a lot of time talking and thinking about it. Based on what we could discern, for us, it wasn't a big enough of an issue to pass on the Gemini 3200 for our needs. The Gemini 3200 is a bit different than the newer 105Mc s. I'm not sure if you checked out the earlier incarnations of the Geminis. In our opinion, the earlier models are better suited to our particular goals and cruising approach. We discussed the Wharram too. That would have been a fine option for us as well. Our best to you and your family as you make the jump. Maybe next winter we will anchor up near each other in the Caribbean and talk about bridge deck clearances while the kids play!
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