Inside Our New Boat

It’s been busy here in Fiji as we packed up Sava and moved everything onto Go. Finally I have enough photos to provide a look inside our new boat.

About Go

Go is a Leopard 43 catamaran. She is 43 feet long, 22 feet wide, and has a 5 foot draft.

We jumped on Go because it’s equipped with everything we need to keep sailing around the world.

Inside Our New Boat Go

We’re loving all the lounge space on Go. Inside and outside, we’ve got loads of seating, meaning plenty of room for sundowners, games, and music nights with friends.

The galley has good counter space and lots of appliances, including a bread machine. It’s definitely an adjustment using glasses and leaving things out on the counter, but that’s the beauty of catamarans!

With two hulls, we are overwhelmed with space. Our new boat has four sleeping cabins and an equal amount of heads. We already designated one of the cabins as a garage, and we’re keeping our scuba gear in the adjacent head. We’ll live inside our new boat for a while before we make any major renos, but we have ideas.

The sleeping cabins are roomy, with high ceilings throughout. While we’re getting used to all the stairs, we love the extra space!

Another plus? Being able to see out the many windows. I mean portholes, obviously.

Outside Go

On Sava, we spent most of our time outside. On Go, we have more outdoor space, with seats in the bow to watch the dolphins and beanbag chairs to set on the trampoline in the breeze.

The cockpit has a big table for game nights and lots of seats. Brian is happy that the steering is centrally located and not separate from the cockpit. We are happy with our new boat home.

Decked Out

One of the reasons we made the decision to buy Go (formerly named Tusitala) so quickly is because she’s so kitted out for our lifestyle. Those of you who aren’t liveaboard boaters may find this boring, but it’s important to us, and Go ticked all our major requirements.

We upgraded Sava to lithium last year, and it was a game changer. We used to constantly worry about power and the lithium batteries relieved us of that stress. So that was a must-have for us, and our new boat delivers. With Go, we’ve got lots of power: 800 amp hours lithium and 2800 watts of solar.

She’s got a watermaker and two big water tanks, helping us stay self-sufficient in remote locales.

I can’t forget Go’s large dinghy with its 30 horsepower engine. We took it out for a spin the other day, and it runs great. Each of us had a turn helming “Dingo” and found it easy to handle for such a beast.

I also have to mention that Go is Canadian flagged. We bought her from Canadians, which made it very easy to transfer the ownership and keep her a Canadian boat. The name is registered Go in Canada, and once we are settled we’ll physically change the name on the vessel.

Getting Ready to Go

The last month has been hectic. On top of buying one boat and getting another ready for sale, we’re prepping for the voyage to New Zealand. With a cat on board, we’ve busied ourselves with mandatory vet appointments and permission forms. And fees. Bringing a cat to this region is proving as expensive as transiting the Panama Canal.

Next week, Domino will fly to New Zealand and spend 10 days in quarantine while we sail there on Go. We could have taken her via boat, but cruising friends recommended flying her. If we sailed with her, we’d have to wait the 10 days in New Zealand, and Domino doesn’t like sailing much anyway.

Since we have little experience sailing catamarans and barely know our new boat, we’ve hired a captain to join us for the 1000+ mile passage. We’ll wait for a good weather window and meet Domino in New Zealand in November. Wish us smooth sails and lots of fresh fish!

I hope you enjoyed seeing inside our new boat. If you have any questions about Go, post a comment.