Our Boat

Our Boat is a 42 foot Manta Catamaran built in year 2000 that we named Namid, ( Pronounce Naa-Miy-d), which means "Star Dancer" in the Chippewa Native American language. We were looking for a name that, not only had special meaning to us, but also was unique enough that no other boat had it. Being the only "Namid" registered with the U.S. Coast Guard comes in handy on vessel locating websites like vesselfinder.com.

Namid docked in Downtown Corpus Christi, TX
Manta catamarans are not big "condo" style catamarans. They were designed for cruising couples with small kids, or occasional guests. They were built totally in the U.S.A . This means electrically, they had to adhere to U.S.A wiring standards (National Electrical Code), so the wiring on Namid is impressive. Also, Manta did not take any shortcuts on any of the structural aspects of the build. She is a solid boat designed for crossing oceans. What we really like is how easy she is to sail. We are somewhat new to sailing and are not getting any younger, so this is huge plus for us!

The Gulf of Mexico near Freeport, TX
One of the biggest reasons why we chose a Manta Catamaran was the price. We were looking to get a quality catamaran that we could pay cash for, and still have enough cash in our cruising kitty that we could still retire early. Also, since Manta Catamarans beam (Width) is narrower than most catamarans, we can haul the boat out of the water at boat yards that the bigger cats can't. This, over time, will be a huge savings. Would we like to have more room at times? Of course, but everything is a trade-off when it comes to boats. We are happy with our choice, so far.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) near Port O'Conner, TX
We have done quite a bit of refitting and upgrading since we purchased Namid. Almost all of it, with the exception of running rigging, fiberglass work and bottom painting, we have done ourselves. When you live on a boat, you must be willing and able to learn how to do everything you can, or have very deep pockets to pay contractors. If you think contractors are expensive for doing work on your house, you can almost double the price for marine contractors. It's crazy! We will go more into detail later on boat projects that we have completed, and also the ones in the works.