When you love sailing as much as Dan Sciscente does, you don’t just want to do it – you want to learn all that you can about the boat as well. Life-long nautical enthusiast Dan Sciscente considers sailing not only a hobby, but also a passion that holds a place deep in his heart.

One of the things that Dan Sciscente wants friends that are new to sailing to be able to discern is the difference between a catamaran and a typical ship.  While a standard ship has only one hull, a catamaran has two. With the extra hull comes extra stability, and not-coincidentally, that stability makes a catamaran able to navigate water that’s closer to land. Dan Sciscente enjoys the extra room that comes with a catamaran’s usable square footage.

Quite often people picture a catamaran as a smaller vessel, but that’s not always the case, informs Dan Sciscente. In land-locked places, pontoon boats are the most common size catamaran. They usually top out at 24 feet, but they can be as small as 15 feet. These will usually be spotted in freshwater lakes as they are used for simple day trips. However, when a catamaran is taken out to sea, the best size is at least 50 feet for comfort, control and safety. Dan Sciscente points out that although that might sound large, when one considers that the Atlantic Ocean is 106,400,000 miles long, a boat that’s over 50 feet long is a solid starting point.

According to Dan Sciscente, in the past, catamarans were powered by only the elements and a crew of able-bodied sailors. But, now these graceful boats are becoming motorized and the gas-powered versions are proving to be very popular. Because there is less work involved, these models are perfect for families who want to spend as much time playing as working, Dan Sciscente notes.

The history of the boats is as interesting to Dan Sciscente as the current models. It’s believed that catamarans have been sailing the oceans since around 283 BC, when King Ptolemy II of Egypt first commissioned them to be obelisk carriers. However, it wasn’t until the mid 17^th century that William Perry designed a new dual hulled ship that was faster and more solid than the previous version. Dan Sciscente explains that it was such an anomaly to sailors that it didn’t really catch on until the late 19^th century.

When Dan Sciscente thinks of sailing, he thinks of manning a stunning catamaran, and watching the world float effortlessly by.

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