Some of you who are reading our blog have never been aboard Rum Doxy and those of you who have it's been a long time. So I'll take you on a virtual tour.

But first a brief history. She was originally named Avalon, one of 3  catamaran boats built in France by a designer named Coppelli in 1995. When Mike bought her in 2005  she'd been very neglected and pretty much abandoned in Phuket, Thailand. The intention was to do a few renovations, make some repairs and upgrade the navigation and electronics then we'd be off and sailing. 5 years later and all our money we had a totally redesigned boat, which Mike designed inspired by the famous, high performance, forward cockpit Gunboats.  When we finally launched and started sailing in 2010 she was basically brand new but an empty shell with two brand new motors, and a few old and worn out sails. There was no electricity, gas, plumbing or furniture. Instead we had buckets, a cooler, a camping stove, flashlights, a mattress on the floor, a compass, a portable GPS and hand radio. Over the next 3 years we built and installed all the basic necessities as we lived aboard and sailed around
South East Asia. By doing so we had a really good idea of where things should go and how things should be set up for safety, comfort and efficiency. 12 years later and 42,000 nautical miles she has evolved and become our perfect boat and home even with all her little quirks, minor leaks and missing paint.

Now, welcome aboard and I'll take you on the tour.

You can board from either stern and step down into our expansive aft cockpit. The entire area is covered  with the cabin top which provides a cool place in the shade and a relatively dry place from the rain. There are storage bins on both the left and right side which also serve as seating platforms, but other than that the space is free of obstruction. There is plenty of room to hang a hammock, open the teak dining table, set up a construction table or rig up the big propane burner and 8 gallon kettle for brewing beer. 

From the center of the cockpit you enter forward through the door into the main cabin.

Standing inside you'll notice the 360 degree view through full size tinted windows. This was my number one requirement if I was to go cruising. It's like living outside with the comfort and protection of being inside. The tinted windows give us complete privacy while also really cutting the heat and glare in the tropics.  We have the views of a 5 star resort and the exotic feel of an open air bungalow on the water.

The other thing you will notice when you first walk into the main cabin is that you can walk straight through another door to a forward cockpit. This is the design Mike borrowed from the Gunboat. It is brilliant in it's efficiency and safety in sail handling. All the sail handling is done from a deep well in the center of the boat right next to the helm which is located directly behind the cockpit inside the cabin where it is warm, dry and out of the wind. Unlike the majority of catamaran designs we're not standing out in the elements while steering, or slipping and sliding on the decks in order to trim the sails. It gives us great peace of mind to know when one of us is down below sleeping the other isn't going over board while reefing the mainsail.

Looking around the cabin the galley and a 4 seater bar is on the aft port side and the navigation station, all the electronics, radio and controls are on the forward port side with steps going down into the port hull in between. On the srarboard side lookng forward, where most catamarns have a settee that seats 6-8 we have a large, deep platform covering 6 large, easily accessible storage bins that is perfect base for my Japanese swivel recliner chair. In the aft starboard corner we have a day bed covering the refrigerator and freezer and on top of the daybed we have his and hers bean bag chairs where we spend most of our time, watching the world go by around us like a 360 degree movie theater.

You step down into the hulls on either side from the center of the main cabin. At the bottom of the steps on both sides there is a Dickinson diesel heater. These amazing little stoves kept us toasty, warm and dry while we were hunkered down in front of the glaciers in Chile. There are 60 gallon water tanks on both sides as well.  The port hull is the master cabin with a seating/storage area, a library, shelves made of netting for clothes and the head. In the starboard hull there is the guest bunk, the brewery and Mikes workshop where he has every tool, screw or spare known to man.

Topside, Rum Doxy's decks are flat and easy to walk around on with handholds where needed. There are 11 storage bins in the forward crossbeam and a large trampoline area between the hulls. On the cabin top there are 8 solar panels with still plenty of room for bean bag chairs or yoga mats.

The sails we use are a main which has 2 reef points, a small jib on a boom, a genny, a drifter and 2 spinnakers.

The 12 foot sailing dinghy lives in davits on the stern with SUPs and surfboards above and the 14 foot Hobie pedal kayak lives on the starboard deck. 

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell, our floating island, our home and one way ticket to the next destination.