In the continuing saga of The KindleKat Series and boats, this blog is dedicated to the boats from the second novel in the series Cyber Dead or Alive. As a reminder (not a spoiler alert) Cyber Dead or Alive is the prequel to Cyber Seventy-Seven. It explores the back story of Blaze and Carla Heaton, Kindle, KindleKat and how they all came to be part of an international cyber crime solving team.
As the fans of the series will recognize by now, bad guys tend to travel in power boats and good guys and gals go for sailboats. Preferably catamarans over monohulls since you’re much less likely to spill your martini on a nice stable catamaran than when you’re heeled over on a monohull.
Lagoon 450F – (KindleKat) This boat begins life as Mama Bear in the story and is renamed KindleKat by Blaze. Historically, it’s considered bad luck to rename a boat and perhaps it is, as we see later in the Cyber Dead or Alive story.
We chartered this boat in the British Virgin Islands as we were researching Cyber Dead or Alive and I can say without hesitation, it is a great live aboard boat with lots of room and its remarkably stable in stormy waters (we even have the video to prove it).
Lagoon 380 – (Baby Bear) In Cyber Dead or Alive, Baby Bear is one of three Lagoon catamarans in Joshua Solomon’s charter fleet based out of Panama City Beach, Florida. Baby Bear unfortunately meets an untimely end when Hurricane Michael hits the Florida coast in October 2018. https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en
Lagoon 52F – (Papa Bear) The third of Joshua Solomon’s Lagoon catamarans, Papa Bear is another staple of the catamaran charter world. Depending on configuration the boat can comfortably accommodate twelve passengers plus crew and is a great boat for entertaining. In Cyber Dead or Alive, Chapter Ten, Papa Bear encounters a bizarre series of events that only Mother Nature and the insurance agents from those ads on TV could believe. https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en
Highfield 340 – (KindleKitty) Large sailboats almost always need some type of run-about boat. Think of the catamaran as your house and the tender as your car for getting back and forth to the mall or grocery store. For Cyber Dead or Alive, our tender is a Highfield 340. A tough, roomy rigid inflatable that will handle a good sized outboard and enough gas to get you into and out of most trouble. https://highfieldnorthamerica.com/boats/classic-340/
Container Ship – (Dutch Express) In Cyber Dead or Alive, Viktor Koslov (bad guy) uses a “small” container ship as his base of operations. The ship pictured here is a typical example of the type of ship Koslov would have used. At 709 feet long and 108 feet wide, it is categorized as a “small” containership suitable for servicing islands and inland waterways. These types of ships are the lifeblood of remote locations around the world. But they also represent a nightmare of law enforcement and customs agents. Even a small ship such as the one depicted here is larger than any local policing agency could ever hope to search.
SeaRay Sundancer 40 – (Swift Dancer) Power boat? Must mean bad guys. In Cyber Dead or Alive, Swift Dancer is being chartered out of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. In a wild chase to overtake KindleKat, it’s our first opportunity to see how power versus sail holds up in a battle at sea. Catch all the action in Chapters 14 and 15. Spoiler Alert! The early parts of Chapter 14 are a bit steamy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZg9UL0LT4Y
Midnight Express 37 – The name pretty much says it all! If you need to get somewhere in a hurry this is your ticket. The Midnight Express carries three 450 horsepower Mercury Marine engines. Top speed? Not sure anyone’s been crazy enough to find out. In Cyber Dead or Alive, our two Massad assassins, Nao and Talia, take to this killer boat to hunt down Blaze, Carla, and KindleKat in the British Virgin Islands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExgO8TMk3Nk
