Karma2.0 - Excess13 Catamaran

Okay then...
So (as many of you know), we've decided to buy a new boat.
Not just a new-to-us boat, but a brand-new boat.
In fact – a brand-new model of boat, with only one hull currently in the water.
Which only leaves one question... What on earth were we thinking?!?

Okay, all fun aside, the last couple of weeks have been a giant cluster/mixture of excitement/eagerness and being completely overwhelmed.

Maybe it's the fact that it took so long for us to make this decision (or for our broker to suggest taking Karma1.0 as a trade-in, which allowed us to afford it), or maybe it's simply the nature of this kind of purchase (whether rushed or not), but this is obviously a huge decision, a huge amount of work, and so, so many smaller decisions yet to be discussed and made.

When we bought Karma1.0, everything was different.
Everything.
We knew nothing about boats or how to sail them. We knew nothing about buying a boat, knew nobody with a boat, and had never really discussed or planned on owning one (other than some daydreams while living in a van and staring at people who lived on boats out in the bay and thinking
"Wow, how perfect and calm/easy must that lifestyle be!").
Ha!!

It was literally a far-flung attempt at making our wildest dreams come true, the very underestimated assumption that a boat was "basically just a campervan with better access to the water" and trust in ourselves to figure it out as we went along.

This time around, it may also be a bit impulsive (it is - at least in the fact that we're risking our financial future for today's choices – but that's not really a new model for us, to be honest), but it's also far less foreign.

We now know and understand what it's like to live aboard a boat full-time. We know what we want from a boat and what we need. We know the pros and cons of almost every aspect and every system on a boat, and our choices are now based in experience (from good to bad, and from calm bliss to life-threatening).

The biggest part of this current decision was spending a lot of money for a new boat when we had a perfectly good boat sitting in French Polynesia (which would have also meant spending another 6–9 years in one of our happiest places on earth). The hardest part was giving up a boat that has become a member of the family (much like our van/bus before her).
Karma1.0 treated us well. She literally took us everywhere we wanted to go, despite how far or how remote those dreams were.

So... why did we just buy a new boat?

When we bought Karma1.0 (a Bali 4.0), most people thought the Bali range of boats weren't even seaworthy (and thought we were crazy to buy one) – much less when we set out to sail her alone across the Pacific... but now, many/most builders/brands are actually building boats more and more like the Bali layout (large/open floor plan traded for trampolines in the front of the boat and one combined space rather than separate indoor/outdoor spaces).

We "accidentally" sold several boats for Bali over the years simply by being one of the only liveaboards living full-time aboard on what most people considered a charter-only boat. In most cases, it was probably by the frequent statement we made about how – as liveaboards – we spend 90% (or more) of our time on anchor rather than sailing, so your boat should be comfortable rather than fast.

We still stand by that statement – but we have also learned a LOT more along the way. Primarily, that speed (as compared to comfort) is NOT the only indicator of a sailboat. Early on, while we were still teaching ourselves how to sail and maintain a boat, we had no idea what was important or not when we moved aboard... but the further we sailed and the more experiences we gained, the more we came to realize that comfort at anchor is also not the only important measuring stick.

Yes, Karma1.0 took us everywhere we wanted to go. No, we never minded being a bit slower than those we were sailing around. Slow travel and taking it all in is actually part of our DNA.

But... what we know now is that performance is entirely different than speed.
The ability to sail and control your boat safely in all (or at least most) conditions may be more important than both speed and comfort.

We had a few instances in the Caribbean that pointed to the issues – big winds/big seas where we fought weather helm and the boat wanted to turn directly into the wind despite those big winds and bigger seas (which is... terrifying).
Once we made our way into and across the Pacific, the issues became even more clear.

When hopping between the islands (or between archipelagos) of French Polynesia, there is zero protection from the massive Pacific and nothing to stop/slow down the building of seas – so we often found ourselves "stuck" by our need for high wind speeds.

Karma1.0 required pretty high wind speeds in order to sail (at any speed), which often meant facing big seas and uncomfortable conditions – or being forced to try and thread the needle at the beginning or end of a passing weather system, which often meant choosing between motoring or risking being out in weather we wouldn't choose to be in.

We loved Karma deeply... but she also taught us what we need and want in the next chapter. This isn’t just about getting a faster or fancier boat. It’s about choosing what lets us keep doing this - safely, joyfully, and longer.

At the end of the day, THIS is what made our decision to buy the Excess 13 a fairly easy one. Not only will she sail far faster than Karma1.0 – she'll also sail in VERY light winds, which also means smaller and far more comfortable seas... and for that, we are beyond stoked as we enter what we believe to be the last phase of our adventures as sailors/liveaboards.

There are other reasons, of course – like the desire for something (shiny) new and unknown, the promise of new adventures and new destinations, etc... but at the end of the day, this promise of being able to sail safely and comfortably in light winds and smaller seas was our deciding factor – and we can’t wait to experience it in real life!

With that decision made and final, we've now turned our time and energy and decisions toward the specifics of what goes into the build – what options are important to us, and what things belong in the "want" basket vs. the "need" basket (because our budget certainly doesn't allow for both... in fact, it barely allows for the boat).

More to come on those specific decisions, but at this point, it's a flurry of last-minute or all-too-late decisions as the boat finishes being built in the factory.

The clock is ticking. The final details are coming together, and we’re about to do the most terrifying, ridiculous, and thrilling thing we can imagine... again.