Stray Cat is a model year 2000 Lagoon 380. Hull number 24. The Lagoon 380 is quite likely the most successful catamaran platform ever with in excess of 900 built to date.
She is an “owner’s version” 3 cabin model with the starboard hull dedicated to the owner’s cabin. This side features a large (queen size) berth aft, an office area with desk mid-ship and a head with separate shower forward. The head on this side is a Vacuflush with holding tank.
The port hull has an aft cabin very similar to the starboard, a head and shower combination mid-ship and a large V berth cabin forward. The head on this side is the traditional pump style to a holding tank. We have deleted the shower area on this side and converted it to house our washer / dryer with a cupboard above and a large drawer below. All of which faces the salon area.
There are bulkheads separating the forward cabins of both hulls from large “crash boxes” at the bows. These areas are accessible from the deck via hatches and are used for storage of items, our supplementary sails and the water maker components.
The bridge deck between the hulls features the salon (saloon) , galley and nav station.
Galley
When we got her there was a two burner LPG cooktop with a microwave below it. Just prior to our departure we changed this out to a two burner Dickenson LPG stove and oven combo and moved the microwave to the shelf above the fridge. We have also added an Engel freezer under the nav station. This required the nav station desk to be cut in half to facilitate opening the freezer. We have added a fresh water filter under the sink and a soap dispenser at the sink.
One of our favorite features of the lagoon 380 is the way the salon opens up to the cockpit. The main door slides to port and the window above the stove slides to starboard this provides easy access and conversation between the salon / galley area and the cockpit.
To make the space more useful in marginal weather we have added a fibreglass hardtop by Dedicated Marine biminihardtop.com in Florida and had the space enclosed with removable panels. The enclosure was done by LaFabrica in Vancouver.
Electronics and Navigation
Stray Cat is equipped with:
Raymarine instruments, chart plotter, depth sounder and digital radar.
Icom VHF’s (1 mounted at the nav station, 1 command mic at the helm and 2 handhelds).
An ICOM HF/SSB radio, opened ham frequencies, and a Pactor modem for email and weather.
An Em-Track AIS transceiver is also on board.
We carry an Iridium satellite phone and are equipped with both an EPIRB and AIS man overboard beacons.
The boat came with an Espar diesel fired furnace and we added 2 forced air heaters that use the engine coolant loop for additional heat on the trip north.
We have installed a 12 volt EchoTec watermaker to maintain our freshwater levels.
We have a small tv and a selection of DVD’s that we rarely watch and Sirus satellite radio.
We made a decision to do without a diesel generator. The boat had one for a number of years, but it died a few years ago and we chose at that time to go with batteries (6 golf cart for the house) and an inverter. With the long-term cruising upgrades, we added 1280 watts of solar power. We think this will provide enough power and storage capacity to keep us going with out having to run the engines just to charge the batteries. Just in case though each engine has a 115-amp alternator.
Engines and Propulsion
A couple of years ago the we replaced the factory installed 29 hp Volvo diesels and 120 series sail drives. At the time and one of the sail drives failed and it was only slightly more money to replace the engine and sail drive as a package than just the sail drive on its own. So we replaced everything on both sides.
Of course, being a guy that’s into machines, and having an opportunity to increase the horsepower out put at the same time how was I supposed to say no? So I upgraded to 40 hp engines. It just required a few modifications, like rebuilding the engine beds.
Stray Cat now runs 2 (one in each hull) Volvo D2-40 engines and series 130 sail drives which are all connected to MaxProp 16-inch feathering propellers.
Sails and Rig
We have 4 sails on board.
• Our main sail is a radial cut, Dacron sail with Profurl in boom furling system
• Head sail is a 115% Genoa also on a furling system
• We have a Geniker or Cruising spinnaker. You know those big bright coloured ones you see in all the sailboat pictures. Well ours is all purple. Do you remember the kids tv show that featured the big purple dinosaur? Can you blame us if we named the sail Barney?
• We also have a storm jib. Buried deep in a locker with the hope it’s never needed.
When we had all the standing rigging replaced in preparation for our trip we elected to go with Dyneema shrouds rather than stainless steel wire. This was partly due to the SSB radio antenna installation I was planning and partly because it was new technology and I wanted to give it a try. We’ll see how it goes.
The Pick Up Truck
Ok it may not look like a pick up truck to most of you but to cruisers that’s exactly what this little beast becomes. It shuttles you and what ever your chore of the day is, to shore and back. You load it full of groceries or fuel jerry cans. It takes you on your sightseeing trips, possibly some fishing, keeps you dry while you stand in it and scrub the sides of the main boat and maybe takes you to the neighbours for cocktails (sun downers).
In our case it’s a 10 and half foot, AB brand, aluminum hull, inflatable with a 20 hp Honda outboard. I have to admit its kind of a fun little boat to scoot around in.
We also have on board two inflatable kayaks for times when we want to be a bit quieter.
That’s our boat and our home. It’s cozy but it works for us.