A couple of posts ago we dropped our bombshell about hoping to have found a successor to our beloved Take It Easy. Well after the longest two weeks ever we are delighted to announce we are the very proud owners of Anui, a 52ft (15.9m) Crowther with dagger boards.
This is a long post, with lots of photos and videos. So grab a comfy seat and a cuppa and enjoy the guided tour.
Introducing “Anui”
Anui is a blue water performance cruising catamaran designed for fast passage making. She is a bit of a gun, sailing at wind speed off the wind. This means in 15 knots of wind on the aft quarter, she does 15 knots speed. That’s really fast! In comparison, TIE does 50% off the wind speed. So Anui is in a different league! She has long, slender hulls, she is light at 9 tons, has beautiful lines and she is luxuriously appointed inside – a Lock Crowther classic.
After seeing quite a number of boats we decided she was the one that really excited us, the one we kept coming back to… It was interesting to hear the advice of one of the multihull dealers: “Regardless of price, when you look at a boat, if you don’t feel a bit of spark when you step on board, she is probably not the one for you.” We saw some that ticked the boxes yet left us indifferent. But Anui stood out for us and there most definitely was a spark!
We hesitated for months because she was initially out of our price range, she is not a production boat, she is BIG, she is an older cat (2000), she is one of a kind and with a custom built boat you are dependent on the skills of the builder. But we kept coming back to her because of her slick lines, her high quality build, stunning interior and sailing performance. And she had a refit in 2016. The rigging, some of the sails, the electrics, the batteries, the gas fittings, the paint work are new. She looks like a new boat, and makes our heart beat faster! We both wanted her as badly as each other!
In the water where she belongs after a year on the hard, looking spectacular!
A year and a bit after first noticing her, things have changed. Her price came down a couple of times, making her more affordable. She was not totally perfect, but we realised we would never find the perfect boat and would have to compromise on some things. The few compromises are on the accommodation side only, because on the sailing side she is a weapon as Wade puts it! For instance the roof line in the bedrooms comes down lower than we would have liked on one side. Wade was quick to volunteer to sleep on that side!
And the dining table is in the cockpit rather than in the saloon, which just has a coffee table, although with splendid inlaid woodwork. It is not ideal but we can work around this, particularly in the tropics as the cockpit is well sheltered.
But these are really minor things. Her high gloss cedar internal fitout is spectacular, the galley and the two bathrooms are fantastic and exceed what we hoped for.
We may make some changes down the track, but don’t want to rush into it. Right now we want to see how things go and just get used to her.
Survey and Sea Trial
We had Anui surveyed on Monday, which confirmed she is a sound vessel. Our marine surveyor Geoff Cruise found a few things that need to be fixed as is often the case with second hand boats: some rot around the anchor locker hatch, a small amount of delamination in a couple of spots, and new solar panels to be installed. Scott Armstrong, owner-builder of Anui has been wonderful and has agreed to have all this sorted. It may require the boat to be at the marina for a few days, but we will see. It might be a blessing anyway because the tail end of a cyclone is coming down the coast and we would rather be tied up safely at The Boat Works than floating around in horrible winds and rain.
Anui going back in the water on the Sea Lift
As for the sea trial, it just confirmed she is the boat for us. We went out in the ocean in less than 10 knots of wind on Wednesday and put her through her paces: into wind, main up, jib up, reacher up, reef in, reef out, down wind, spinnaker up. Boy, does she fly! She is a powerful boat and very responsive at the helm. And the instruments are impressive, all top notch world cruising marine electronics, even though they are a little old. We were particularly taken by the remote control for the autohelm, and the digital displays.
With Scott, Geoff and Ian, the Catamaran Company broker, all on board, we really got the run down on how the sails work, and how Anui handles, plus asked lots of questions. We came back from the sea trial with our head spinning, knowing we would go ahead with the purchase, subject to the repairs being carried out. She will be perfect pretty soon but we are moving on board today anyway! We are so thrilled!
Anui is a fantastic mix of good aesthetics, sailing performance and liveability. She is a significant step up from Take It Easy and will be very comfortable for us and for our guests. We will take it even easier, faster and in style, that is after we get over the huge jitters of the transition! And the bonus: she is blue, not the usual plain white. How lucky is that?
For those interested in the significance of the name Anui, it means “the big canoe” in Polynesian. A big canoe indeed! And now it is time for the grand tour. Here is a set of photos and videos.
And here are three youtube videos:
- Anui sailing on the Clarence River. Look at her go!
- galley and starboard hull
- owners’ port hull
Sv-Anui 
Wow she is beautiful! Congratulations!
Thanks Vicki – very exciting and a bit daunting!
She’s indeed a beautiful boat, congratulations guys! 😎
Thank you John- so thrilled!
She looks so cool, I can’t wait to see her in person. You guys won’t know yourself.
She is a stunner, even if we say so ourselves! 💥
Fantastic looking boat. Well done.
You will love her Phil, comfort and performance… and they said we would not find that combination!
Wow. ‘Can’t wait to get on board. What would she be doing in our current conditions I wonder…we have 30 knots from behind. We are doing 10-12knots and we are a heavy cruiser. Anui would be taking off!
Oh it would be too scary – well over 20 we guess! She was doing 8.5 in less than 10 into wind! And it felt like we were crawling!
Magnificent cat. Best wishes for your continuing adventure. Rob
Hi Rob – Thanks for visiting. Yes she is quite something! We are very proud, and very nervous!
Yeeehaaa … well done ….
Plenty of space for you two!
Beautiful. What a fabulous Christmas present. She looks amazing. Enjoy. Have a lovely Christmas & smooth sail in 2019. Cheers 🌲
Thanks Caroline. Christmas will be really special this year!
Congratulations to both of you! Your newly acquired vessel is wonderful! Fantastic! 🙂
Thanks HJ – we are feeling a bit daunted but are really thrilled. And now we have to sell Take It Easy… seeing somebody who is interested later today. Fingers crossed!
What a great new chapter in your adventures!! Congratulations Wade and Christine. Hope you have many happy Anui years ahead…and maybe your first Xmas on board??
Yes, exactly, Waz! I have just postponed my trip to France till February… between the riots in France, the boat and the coming cyclone, it was just too much to handle!
2 words – big and luxurious! What a bonus that she’s a rocket ship as well! Have fun in your new home guys!
Thanks Elgar. She is pretty amazing. We might see you in January as we go and visit Waz and Lisa in Port Macquarie!
Brilliant! We’ll swap you home grown tomatoes and cucumbers for fresh caught fish!
You are on!
Congratulations Chris & Wade on a significant step up.
T&L
Thank you guys- it is very scary but so exciting!
Congratulations. What a boat!
She is amazing… daunting though!
There will be no stopping you now. The Pacific is your oyster!
It will be eventually, but we have to learn to sail her first. And I have to learn to bring her into jetties or marinas without fainting from nervousness!
Congratulations, she looks beautiful.
Hope you see her in the flesh soon 💕⛵️
Best of luck and good sailing with your new boat
Thanks Barbara – moving in today! Might be at the marina for a few days to get organised, then off we go!
Chris, the new Beast looks great congratulations. The important question does Benji approve? You two have a great Christmas and stay safe.
Jon
Hi Jon, so nice to get your message. Bengie is very inquisitive and checking out every nook and cranny! Very funny to watch. You too have a wonderful Christmas. Take care!
What more can be said but CONGRATULATIONS, Chris and Wade ! What with size, comfort, and performance ! I wish you all the best as you settle in, physically and emotionally !
Hi Doug, yes the pressure has been on in the past two weeks, but we can now move in. We will be at Boatworks for a few days, waiting for the wind to settle and to get organised with the physical move from Take It Easy to Anui.
Hi Guys, what a magnificent sailing vessel. Everything about it looks fantastic!
Hi Guys, so nice to hear from you. We are thrilled. Anui is everything we were looking for and more!
I see a problem though – you may be travelling too fast to catch fish!
Yap, but given our track record, I suspect it won’t make much difference!
Glad to hear your excitement and enthusiasm for this lovely boat
We are really thrilled, Murray. We have a few days of hard work to organise our gear on board, and clear out of Take It Easy, but after that we can go and play!
Wow. Amazing everything. What trips await you in this beautiful ship!
Yes, another level of adventure, Craig!
Nice boat😎 You should be both very proud, no more taking it easy at 15+ knots..
Hi Rusty! She has been known to get over 20 knots… there will be some squeezing of you know what at that speed! We’ll be reefing super early while we are learning to handle her, that’s for sure!
A great boat what you can call a real Hum-dinger. Looks like you had a lot of work to find this spectacular boat and it is Blue, Best wishes for good times a head CHEERS
Thanks Terry. It was a long process, but we were not in a hurry and as you say our patience was rewarded as Anui really is spectacular.
YES and if I was 50 years younger I would love to own TAKE IT EASY
And we would love Take It Easy to be going to a keen sailor who will look after her.
Congratulations you two. She is a beautiful boat, I can see why you fell in love. Natalie and Brad (Kitikana)
Hi Nat &Brad, we thought of you a lot in the past month as we were also checking out a very nice Privilège 495! But our heart went to Anui. Where are you now?
We are back at the lakes, but are planning to leave in again in June and head north to the Whitsunday’s for the season. We were really sorry to miss catching up with you at Paynesville but it just didn’t seem to work out. How funny you were looking at a Privilege 🙂
Where are you and do you think we will cross paths?
Hi Nat & Brad
We are currently at Boat Works on the Gold Coast getting a few things done on Anui. We are about to leave for Port Macquarie to visit friends, then Lord Howe Island in mid March/April.
Our plans from May onwards are to head north. We will head for the Southern GBR and the Keppels with friends on board then southern Whitsundays, but won’t spend much time at all in the popular part of the Whitsundays (too crowded) other than to hop out to the outer reef. We want to go further north for winter. We may well catch up with you which would be really nice. It might be on the way back down… We on’t want to spend another summer in QLD… too hot and muggy so after the annual maintenance at Boat Works in November we will sail south for a visit to VIC and a return to Tassie or an explore in South Australia for summer. That’s the plan anyway!
Congratulations on your beautiful Anui!! Great post and pics.
Thanks guys for the follow! Hope to meet up somewhere on the reef!