Nomadness at the dock at the wonderfully congenial Fisherman's Resort Marina in Pender Harbour. The owner has an F-31 trimaran, so when I pulled in along with companions Wayne & Ann aboard the F-28 Fast Company it was like a reunion... and a couple just arrived today on an F-25.
The Nomadness name graphic. In this long shot, you can't see the background detail, which is sort of a mix of printed-circuit layout and floating numbers reminiscent of Matrix.
View forward of the starboard ama, showing access hatch. This is pretty roomy, and a good place for sloppy deck clutter like fenders, lines, inflatable kayaks, fishing gear, and so on.
The "root" of the forward port aka, or crossbeam. By undoing these bolts, the boat can be persuaded to fold from her normal 24-foot beam to a mere 9.5, making trailering possible.
The roomy cockpit, with fabric spanning dodger and bimini removed. I always wanted a pilothouse, but this is pretty nice... I may not be so sanguine in the winter!
One of the "command seats" in the cockpit. These look dorky until you sit in them... they are the place to be while sailing this boat (unless someone else... or an autopilot... is at the helm, in which case the best hangout is on the nets).
The 11-foot inflatable dinghy Nomadling on the starboard net. It's easy to launch and retrieve from here, and is much less messy than towing. This dink holds over 1000 pounds; I have hauled multiple humans, loads of gear, and full gas tanks with no difficulty.
15-horsepower Honda outboard with hydraulic retraction system... this is a lovely and quiet motor, and I'm now glad I don't have the inboard diesel version of this lightweight boat. Among other things, maintenance of these things is a snap (put it in a wheelbarrow and walk it down to Bob's Outboard Shop just about anywhere in the world). The best feature is the "vectored thrust" system - by tensioning that drooping line, the motor and the rudder are linked with a rigid tube, steering both with tiller movement. Given the width and windage, this is a livesaver in marinas.
Motor control unit
By law, multihulls must have an escape hatch for use if ever inverted... even though the only capsizes of these in recent memory have been during races, with the spinnaker flying, and with the crew arguing about whether or not to douse the sail. In practice, it's a great source of flow-through ventilation, and a stealthy way to exit the boat!
I just added this a few days ago... it works beautifully.
Rigging
Unusual single-diamond rotating mast with double headsails and a pair of cap shrouds. The rotation allows the deep chord of the spar to lead smoothly into the luff, vastly improving aerodynamics (to the point that the first reef point is simply centering the mast angle).
Carbon fiber bowsprit carrying the roller-furling jib and the Code-Zero screacher (an amazing and trouble-free downwind sail).
Deck spaghetti at the base of the mast. I know, I need some organizer bags! Under the clutter, you can see a compass affixed to the mast-angle control arm... allowing the nav computer to correct for rotation when dealing with masthead wind vane and anemometer data. Just forward of this, you can see a bit of the retractable centerboard trunk.
Looking up at the gooseneck... with rope clutches for the single-line reefing system. That gray Amsteel line to the left is the Cunningham and reefing hook.
Anchor locker with aluminum plow... so far used only once (in Cowichan Bay, holding nicely in 10-15 knots).
Electronics
Nexus instrument cluster. I have not yet gotten to know these very well, other than apparent wind, depth, and speed data. For GPS-based navigation, I depend instead on....
The amazing "Ray," a multifunction chartplotter. This includes detailed charts for the all waters between Puget Sound and the north end of Vancouver Island, which should keep me busy for a while. It's extremely easy to use, and will be even better when I export the waypoint data to my trusty helmswoman...
Tina the tillerpilot (Tina Turner, of course). She maintains a compass track with no fuss except for having a bit of a dislike for following seas, and the remote control lets me wander around and make manual course corrections. On the 34-mile trip from Nanaimo to Pender Harbour (including skirting the Whiskey Golf military area), I didn't touch the tiller at all between marinas.
A fine stereo, with Bose speakers in the salon and waterproof Pioneers in the cockpit. The unit below I just added... a Sirius satellite radio that transmits to the FM receiver above, simplifying installation. Mounting is a temporary kluge (hence the sloppy antenna wire); this will move later to the console system. This Sirius receiver has some great features compared to the one in my truck, including the continuous buffering of program material to allow replaying a song and the amazing ability to watch all channels for any artists or songs. Today's addition to the system is a dangling cable that plugs into the Mac.
My beloved MacBook Pro in use on the salon table. The ethernet and power cables are wandering up to the deck:
The "secret weapon" for getting decent Wi-Fi range: a 12db 2.4 GHz yagi antenna (called the Wi-Pod) from Radiolabs! This is owned by a Linksys WET11 ethernet-wireless bridge, with the original wimpy card replaced by a 300 mW Senao 2511CD PLUS EXT2.
Interior Views
The view aft from the, um, "master stateroom" in the bow. This is very spartan accommodation compared to the monohulls I've been considering, but if I think of it as camping, it's luxurious.
OK, I should have cleaned the galley before taking the photo. Just a simple 2-burner propane range and annoyingly shallow sink. The cabinet behind it is one of the few useful stowage locations on the boat; more will be created.
My berth in the forepeak. It's too short (of course - I'm 6'4"), and my plan is to reverse it so I crawl in head first (somehow I prefer to have my feet hanging off instead of my head). There is a demi-wall to port that will be a perfect "repeater" for the console system (including video and situation awareness displays).
The view above when I awake in the morning (which I have been doing much earlier of late, since sailing tends to connect one with natural light/dark cycles a bit more than a life of eBaying in a cold pole building in the woods).
View forward from the salon area. The settee on the right, currently occupied by bins of stuff, will be replaced by cabinetry and some useful food-preparation area.
The head, which is the wet sort (meaning that the whole room is the shower stall). The only annoyance so far, other than some sloppy detailing, is the medicine chest above the marine head. It is very important to keep the seat down, since after a rough crossing it can be a bit of a surprise to open the cabinet.
A peek down into the "aft stateroom," which is included in Corsair's optimistic assessment of how many people this boat can sleep (7, they say... no doubt very small and friendly folks). This will be the lab, with a seat to starboard facing a wrap-around workbench to port.
The icon of this shakedown expedition... purchased from a Coast Salish tribe member named Frank in Nanaimo. It represents the transformation of the Raven and the Eagle into the Whale.
Cheers from Nomadness,
Steve