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A Breeze
British Virgin Islands Trimarine: Cuan Law
Scottish owners, Duncan and Annie Muirhead, named their trimaran Cuan Law, Gaelic for "ocean mountain," as a nod to their roots. And the description is particularly apt. The largest built-for-cruising sailing trimaran in the world, Cuan Law looks like a snowcapped peak when all its canvas is hoisted on its 103-foot masts.
The Muirheads refer to Cuan Law as "the live-aboard with a difference," and cruising under romantically quiet wind power as you lounge on a 105-foot-long top deck is only part of the reason they say this. Although single divers and couples are frequently part of the manifest, much of the live-aboard's clientele are organizations and families who book as much as the entire boat. Cuan Law is not so much a sailing live-aboard as it is a luxury cruising yacht that offers passengers as much diving as they want.
Divers will delight not only in the ability to get three dives (including a night dive) in on the BVI's RMS Rhone, but to dive (when conditions and schedules permit) the wreck of the Chikuzen, a veritable fish magnet that, because it lies so far north, is rarely visited by land-based dive charters.
And nondivers enjoy Cuan Law because it not only sails one of the most-popular, pirate-storied stretches of water in the Caribbean, but sticks mainly to the calm waters of the Sir Francis Drake Channel. While three dives a day are offered (more if passengers so choose), nondiving diversions include Hobie Cat sailing, kayaking, waterskiing and frequent shore excursions, as well as the regular, weekly beach barbeque and expert massage. In fact, even "guerilla divers" have been known to skip a dive or two to enjoy what the BVI has to offer topside.
The trimaran layout allows Cuan Law to offer one of the most-spacious salons in the live-aboard world, perfect for groups. And as the ship's bell rings for only two things diving and write-home-about-it dining it's a sound that soon becomes music to passengers' ears.
Quick Guide
Cuan Law is a 105-foot sailing trimaran under 5,200 square feet of sail, with a beam of 44 feet, carrying up to 20 passengers in 10 double staterooms, served by a crew of eight. Nitrox is available, and diving is done from two 21-foot RIBs powered by 115 hp outboards and boarded via staircases from parking slots adjacent to the center hull. For more information: sportdiver.com/cuanlaw
