A catamaran is a type of boat consisting of two hulls joined together by a frame. In fact, the word catamaran comes from the Tamil words kattu, which means “to tie,” and maram, which means “wood” or “tree.” A catamaran is, quite literally, two trees tied together!The original catamaran was invented by the Paravas, an aristocratic fishing community on the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India. They were used as early as the fifth century A.D. by the Tamil Chola dynasty when they conquered the areas we now know as Burma, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The first mention of the catamaran in English comes from adventurer and pirate William Dampier who wrote about them in 1697 after visiting India in search of business opportunities. However, the catamaran we know today actually evolved from the swift sail and paddle boats made out of two widely separated logs and used by the Polynesians to travel from one island to another. In the 1870s, an American named Herreshoff began building Polynesian-style catamarans to his own specifications and their speed and stability soon made them popular pleasure craft.

In 1967 another American, Hobie Alter, produced the first 250-pound Hobie Cat 14 and two years later he introduced the Hobie 16. More than 100,000 Hobie 16s have been manufactured in the past thirty years and they are still in production!

Today, catamarans cover the full spectrum of boating, from small “Beach Cats” to huge super- and mega-cats that can exceed one hundred feet in length. There are even a number of powered catamarans available such as the Lagoon Power 44 shown below.

Perfect for recreational fun or even short-distance island transportation, this ingenious foldable canoe makes moving and storage a snap. Developed by an outdoors enthusiast who was frustrated with the awkward size of conventional watercraft, the Instaboat folds completely flat and can easily be tucked away when not in use. Composed of durable and lightweight aluminium and neoprene, the unsinkable boat can be unfolded and ready for use in just two minutes, and has an optional-use detachable 2hp motor. Ideal for portage, at only 30kg the boat can easily be carried by a single individual and has a capacity of about three average-sized adults. The Instaboat is a perfect sport fishing vessel, and as an added measure of safety, cannot be sunk even when filled with water.http://www.instaboat.com/

The Sealegs Amphibious Boat is a unique New Zealand invention designed to ease the difficulty of transporting small boats to and from the water, removing the need for boat trailers or even docks. Featuring three motorized wheels that can conveniently retract when the boat is submersed, Sealegs is the first amphibious product tailor-made for the recreational small boat user.

When on land, the boat is propelled by a hydraulic air-cooled motor, which can allow the boat to travel at speeds of up to 10KM per hour. The boat will drive for approximately 10 minutes before the motor requires a brief cool-down period, making it useful for short drives such as from a parking lot to the boat launch or beach. The wheels are suitable for navigating any terrain possible for a trailer boat and car, and as the boat can drive right off of a beach and into the water, they eliminate the need for dockage.

Applications for this unique product are widespread, and the company anticipates that the market for Sealegs will continue to grow. One particularly helpful use is with elderly or infirm boating enthusiasts, who may have difficulty with the physical requirements of conventional boat launching and retrieval. As the product considerably speeds up the time it takes to launch a boat, Sealegs may also have significant benefits during emergencies and for those in rescue professions.

Sealegs are currently commercially available in much of Asia, Australia, NZ and the UK.  Other international clients should direct their inquiries to the Sealegs headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.

http://www.sealegs.co.nz

Though I won’t belabor the intelligence of courts, a recent legal decision actually ruled that seaplanes are “not water craft” under certain provisions of the Jones Act. For anyone who spends much time around water craft, there’s not much doubt about the similarities between boats and the best of seaplanes. For people who regularly use a seaplane to reach an island destination, there’s another potent similarity…the need for a great way to dock your plane.

As with most real estate, there are three things to know about the type of dock you need for your island-bound seaplane: obviously, shape, shape, and shape (and you were sure I was going to say location). Because transportation of the dock to the island itself is important, it makes sense to use the best materials. While the actual choice should be left to an expert evaluation, more people are finding a shapeable dock to be a great choice. One reason is because the materials used in a shapeable dock are light and yet still durable. They are also relatively easy to put together, or take apart as the need for a reshaped dock may arise. Read more »

It’s all about seclusion on your new island. You may want to choose a tucked-away little corner, known only to yourself, to carve out a hidden spot for moorage and seaside serenity.

Nothing achieves that better than a modular dock and pier. The alternative, of course, is the possible burden and cost impact of hiring a crew to come to your island, leading an armada of barges and piledrivers to build a structure suitable to dockage for medium to large-sized watercraft. Fortunately, with products such as the Mod-U-Dock modular pier, creating a private nautical back-door has never been simpler. Read more »